Our Privacy Policy

Eastfield Health complies with the Privacy Act 2020 and the Health Information Privacy Code. Eastfield health has a designated Privacy Officer who is responsible for ensuring that the practice complies with our privacy policy.

Collection of your information

We collect your personal and health information so that we can provide you with care and treatment, communicate with you and inform you of health services that may be relevant to you such as screening programmes.

We collect information from you directly, or from someone you have agreed we can speak to, for example, whānau, a support person or a relative. We will talk to you first to collect information unless there is good reason not to, for example, if you are sick and cannot agree to the information being provided to us.

If we receive unsolicited third-party information, i.e. information about you that has been offered by someone else who is not your legal representative, or a clinician involved in your care, we will verify the information with you before accepting it.  There are exceptions to this if refusing it would prejudice the health and safety of any person (including yourself).

To provide health services to you, your information is collected from other health care providers and organisations. These providers will have their own policies for sharing your information with us. Health providers we work with and receive information from can include:

• other doctors
• specialists
• hospitals
• laboratory, radiology and other results providers
• allied health providers
• ambulance services
• screening programmes (e.g. bowel, breast or cervical screening)
• community and social service providers
• social workers
• other health professionals such as dental and optometry providers
•  ACC and insurers
• Ministry of Social Development and other Government organisations
• Police
• employers, e.g. relating to fitness to work

We will take reasonable steps to make our patients aware of the health information we collect from other health care providers, including through this notice and, where appropriate, within a reasonable timeframe after collection.

Collection of information is authorised under the Health Information Privacy Code 2020 and Privacy Act 2020 and related health legislation like the Health Act 1956.

Eastfield Health will only collect and view information that is relevant and required for the purpose of treating an individual, monitoring quality of care or administrative purposes.

Health information will be stored securely with safeguards to prevent access by unauthorised people or its loss. We maintain safeguards to protect privacy of information both electronically and physically.

You can access and request to correct personal information held about yourself.

If you enrol with another Practice, your medical records and other information will only be transferred to them when we have received a written request from you.

Please note Eastfield Health is contributing to, and accessing healthcare information from HealthOne –

What is HealthOne?

HealthOne is a South Island based secure electronic record that allows registered healthcare providers directly involved in your healthcare, to quickly access information such as your test results, allergies, medications, GP summaries and hospital information. HealthOne strictly adheres to the principles of the Privacy Act 2020 as well as the Rules set out in the Health Information Privacy Code 2020.  Access is only possible via an approved highly secure healthcare information network which is regularly audited and tested.  Privacy auditing is used to check that only those directly involved in your care are accessing your information.  To find out more about HealthOne please visit https://healthone.org.nz/.  Please note that you are entitled to restrict the sharing of your healthcare records by contacting 0508 837 872 or emailing HealthOne.privacy@pegasus.health.nz”

Working Alongside Practice Plus and Ka Ora Telecare

We partner with Practice Plus and Ka Ora Telecare to provide after-hours and urgent care consultations for our patients. Practice Plus and Ka Ora clinicians can access relevant health records held by our practice to support continuity of care. Practice Plus and Ka Ora handles your health information in line with the Health Information Privacy Code. You can read their privacy policies at https://kaora.co.nz/privacy and  https://practiceplus.nz/privacy-policy

Complaints

If you make a complaint about the care or services we provide, we may disclose relevant health information to our insurers, indemnity providers, or legal advisers for the purpose of managing and responding to the complaint.