Council Meeting
23 January 2024
Present
Dr Arjun Dhillon (Chair), Dr George Fernie (Vice-Chair), Dr Neil Bhatia, Dr Chris Bunch, Prof Martin Crook, Helen Dyer, Christopher Fincken, Darren Lloyd, Mr Adrian Marchbank, Allison Newell, Dr Erum Nomani, David Riley
Guests
Daphne Franks
Observers
Raz Edwards, Claire Rafferty, Dr Gabrielle Tamura Rose, Debbie Topping
Secretariat
Ryan Avison, Helen Bauckham
Apologies
Carey Bloomer, Rhidian Hurle, Dr Matt Noble, Brig Duncan R Wilson
Declarations of interest
Can be found on register of interests. No other new interests were declared.
Notes of previous meeting and matters arising
Council reviewed the notes of the 28 September 2023 Council meeting and accepted them as an accurate record. There were no matters arising.
Action log
The UKCGC Chair and Council members reviewed the action log. An update was provided by the Chair on the four open actions.
UKCGC Child Safeguarding
The Chair provided an update on documentation in development by the UKCGC which aims to support Caldicott Guardians in responding to requests for patient information to safeguard of children.
The Chair once again thanked Dr Neil Bhatia and Christopher Fincken for their work on this document and acknowledged the difficulty in balancing the ethical and legal considerations within the document. The Chair apologised to Council for the late submission of the document to Council following his review, and asked Council members for their thoughts on the document.
Council members were broadly supportive of the document, commenting that it would be helpful to Caldicott Guardians in their decision-making processes when considering child safeguarding requests. Council members did however, comment that the guidance could make clearer that Local Authorities are the lead statutory organisation for child safeguarding. This is important to note when safeguarding requests come from other organisations, who might be less appropriate to be approaching services for patient information. Council members also deliberated the complexities of multi-agency public protection arrangements.
Chair and Vice Chair’s report
Caldicott Guardian Conference: The Caldicott Guardian annual conference is taking place on Tuesday 21 May 2024. UKCGC are working together with HC-UK to develop an exciting programme. The Chair thanked all Council members who have agreed to present at the conference.
UKCGC Bulletin: the next UKCGC news bulletin is set to be distributed in February 2024. This bulletin will cover information about upcoming UKCGC events, including breakfast clubs, evening classes and the Caldicott Guardian conference.
Breakfast Clubs: The last breakfast club took place on 22 December 2023. The next breakfast club is on 31 January 2024.
Evening Classes: Helen Dyer (Council member) is running a series of evening classes for Caldicott Guardians. The next evening class is taking place on Wednesday 07 February from 5:30-6:30pm and will be on “Recording considerations: recordkeeping for CGs”
Attended NDG Panel: The UKCGC chair has attended two NDG Panel meetings since the last UKCGC meeting in September 2023. Topics have included:
An update from NHS England on OpenSAFELY
The use of General Practice Data for planning and research
Work form the NDG office regarding Pre-Hospital Emergency Medicine (PHEM)
An update from NHS England on the Outcomes and Registries Programme
General Updates from Council Members
This agenda item in Council meetings is a dedicated space for Council members to discuss updates on working groups, breakfast clubs, evening classes and UKCGC representation on meetings.
Helen Dyer provided updates from the breakfast clubs and evening classes for Caldicott Guardians.
Requests for advice to Council
Council discussed recent requests for advice. The Chair noted that requests were mostly routine questions where the secretariat signposted inquirers to the relevant guidance.
Predatory Marriage
Daphne Franks (freelance communication skills teacher and campaigner) attended Council to discuss predatory marriage and her campaign to try and change the law since she lost her mother, who had dementia, and was a victim of predatory marriage.
Daphne began by explaining predatory marriage as a situation when a (usually younger) person marries a (usually older) person who lacks capacity to marry, with the express intention of acquiring access to their estate upon their death. Daphne provided a powerful and devastating account of her mother as a victim of predatory marriage and the challenges she has faced following the loss of her mother.
Daphne emphasised to Council members the importance raising awareness of associated difficulties with power of attorney and lasting power of attorney. Daphne hopes that through her campaigning, she may encourage the introduction of specific safeguarding training for wedding registrars and hopes the legal future of wills and weddings in England may be shaped by her campaign.
Council members thanked Daphne for attending Council and sharing her personal experience and subsequent campaigning. Council members will raise awareness of the issue in breakfast clubs and through any other appropriate routes.
UKCGC Priorities 2024
The UKCGC Chair and Vice-Chair presented several ideas for UKCGC priorities for 2024 and discussed with Council members to confirm a finalised set of priorities.
Council members agreed that the main priority in 2024 should be for the UKCGC to continue to act as a key channel for Caldicott Guardians for support and advice, being a central point for relevant resources and updates. Council members emphasised the importance for UKCGC to remain committed to ensuring support for Caldicott Guardians is accessible and relevant to all four nations.
The Chair/Vice-Chair and Council members agreed that UKCGC needs to engage more with Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) and ensure that the Caldicott Guardian role develops and evolves within the new ICB landscape.
Council members suggested one of the UKCGC’s priorities in 2024 should be to review and revise the UKCGC constitution. The UKCGC constitution is currently applicable to the period of 2021-2024, and therefore will need to be refreshed for before the end of 2024.
Council members recommended that UKCGC should be involved in discussing emerging technologies and areas of work, for example predictive analytics and artificial intelligence. One suggestion was to consider this as an item for discussion at a future Council meeting or evening classes, to ensure a proactive discussion with Caldicott Guardians to understand how this may be relevant to those performing the Caldicott Guardian function.
Council members discussed the role of the Caldicott Guardian sitting within the wider team, and how the responsibilities differ from the role of the data protection officer (DPO) and senior information risk officer (SIRO).
Council members agreed on the following UKCGC priorities for 2024:
Caldicott Guardian Conference 2024 (with HC-UK)
Advice, guidance and engaging with Caldicott Guardians
Updating the Caldicott Guardian Manual
Succession planning (Chair/Vice-chair)
Update the UKCGC constitution
Other Business
No other business.
Next meeting
The next meeting will be held virtually on 20 March 2024 from 13:00-16:30pm.