Council Meeting
22 June 2022
Present
Dr Arjun Dhillon (Chair), Dr Chris Bunch (Vice-Chair), Prof Martin Crook, Dr George Fernie, Christopher Fincken, Mr Adrian Marchbank, Allison Newell.
Guests
Dr Claire Bloomfield, Rebecca Cosgriff, Ayub Bhayat, Kimberley O’Hara, Tania Tailor, Ming Tang.
Observers
Ryan Avison, Carl Beesley, Alex Crowe, Jonathan Osborn, Sophie Reed, Gaby Tamura-Rose, Debbie Topping.
Apologies
Dr Faouzi Alam, Gill Bennett, Carey Bloomer, Helen Dyer, Andrew Harvey, Rhidian Hurle, Dr Julian Marks, Prof. Robert McClelland, Dr Matt Noble, David Riley, Col Rob Russell, Dr Cait Taylor, Brig Duncan Wilson.
Declarations of interest
Can be found on register of interests. No other new interests were declared.
Action log
The action log was reviewed. Five actions remain open with an update provided by the Chair on progress for each. All other actions were agreed as having been completed prior to this meeting.
Chair and Vice Chair’s report
The Chair and Vice Chair updated Council on recent activities and the key meetings they have attended including:
Dawn Monaghan (Director of IG Policy, Ethics and Head of Profession) from NHS England & Improvement to discuss the Caldicott Guardian function within ICBs
Introductory meeting with MedConfidential
Attended the UKCGC virtual workshop hosted by Helen Dyer ‘Exploring the fundamentals of the Caldicott Guardian role’
Regular meetings with Dr Nicola Byrne (National Data Guardian), discussing priorities and assessing how the UKCGC can support the work of the NDG
Attended the National Data Guardian Panel meetings in May and June
UKCGC breakfast clubs and workshops continue to be arranged for the year with the support of Council and the Secretariat
Requests for advice to Council
Council discussed recent requests for advice. The Chair noted that requests were mostly routine questions regarding the requirement to have a Caldicott Guardian and which organisations the National Data Guardian’s guidance on Caldicott Guardians applies to. Queries relating to safeguarding and issues of capacity were also discussed.
Data for research and development programme update
Dr Claire Bloomfield (NHS England) presented an update on the work of the Data for Research and Development programme. The programme aims to develop the health data research infrastructure within the NHS by providing the right data for the right people.
Dr Bloomfield explained the progress the programme had made since their last update to Council with a particular focus on how they intend to utilise Secure Date Environments (SDEs) and the potential benefits they bring in relation to security, transparency and privacy.
Council was supportive of the work being done to build trust in the programme and was interested in exploring how they could support this work as it develops to ensure there are no surprises for patients in how their confidential information is used.
Council thanked Dr Bloomfield for attending and providing a useful and informative presentation and discussion.
The Federated Data Platform (FDP) programme
Ming Tang (NHS England) attended with her team to present an overview of the work NHS England are doing to procure a platform to enable transformation improvements across the NHS. Ming explained that the vision for the platform is that it will provide frontline staff with the information they need, ensure organisations across the NHS have access to reliable data to inform planning and co-ordination of care and increase transparency and understanding for patients in how their data is used.
Council was supportive of the stated aims of the project and the potential for it to improve how information is used across the health and social care system.
Council thanked the team for attending to provide an overview of the programme and outlined its eagerness to understand how the programme will ensure the programme is trusted as it develops.
Working collaboratively to improve safety and reduce harm
Dr Alex Crowe (NHS Resolution and Council Observer) provided an overview of the work of NHS Resolution which is an arm’s length body of the Department of Health and Social Care tasked with resolving concerns and improving safety of NHS services to benefit patients.
Dr Crowe explained the benefits of sharing information to enable learning from harmful events and how the type and volume of such events impacts NHS resources.
Dr Crowe explained challenges such as effective anonymisation of data so that it can be used as a catalyst for improvements in NHS services.
Council thanked Alex for attending to discuss this important work and suggested channels for further engagement on this area.
Other Business
No other business was raised.
Next meeting
The next meeting will be held virtually on Tuesday 16 August 2022.