Stop Smoking Service Privacy Notice

Waltham Forest Public Health are part of the Families and Homes Division of the London Borough of Waltham Forest.  Public Health is about helping people to stay healthy and protecting them from threats to their health.  We commission our public health services from a range of health providers including GP practices, the Waltham Forest Federated GP Network (FEDNET) and external providers, for example the Queen Mary University of London who provide our Stop Smoking Service. 

FEDNET is comprised of and managed by Waltham Forest GP’s sharing resources and offering enhanced services such as evening and weekend appointments.  The remit of FEDNET is to share responsibility for delivering high quality, patient-focussed services for the local community as an organisational entity, working together within the local health economy. Waltham Forest public health works with FEDNET to inform adult smokers of the help and support their GP and the local stop smoking service can provide to help them quit.  We are asking FEDNET to send a text with contact details for local stop smoking support to all adults recorded as current smokers on their GP record, who have provided their mobile numbers and have consented to receive messages concerning their healthcare. 

If you have questions regarding this service or our privacy practices, you can contact us by e-mail or in writing at the address below

FEDNET will access patient records as governed by their Privacy Notice to facilitate care services provided on behalf of GP practices and to manage and deliver contracts with commissioners.  Public Health as a commissioner will never have access to patient information.

We may use your provided mobile phone number to contact you about relevant clinical services to support your healthcare and send you health promotion messages and appointment reminders.

(a) Consent:

Patients registering with their GP practice have provided their mobile number and given consent to this being used to send an SMS for notification of clinical services.  Patients may at any time withdraw this consent by contacting their GP surgery.  Practices will routinely check contact details with patients.  Clinical Services means the provision of healthcare, encompassing consultation, assessment, therapy, medication management, and care related to mental and physical health needs. 

SystmOne practices will be required to undertake a search for their eligible patients and provide a list/table of mobile phone numbers to Fednet via secure nhs.net email

EMIS searches will be undertaken by Fednet and no data will be shared externally.

The data will be retained for as long as it is required to generate the text message. 

The phone numbers will be used by FEDNET once and then deleted once the text message has been sent and in any event within 7 days.

Our Data Protection Officer is Mark Hynes. You can contact him at Data.ProtectionOfficer@Walthamforest.gov.uk 

Please see the relevant section of the Corporate Privacy Notice

Please see the relevant section of the Corporate Privacy Notice

These are included in the relevant section of the Corporate Privacy Notice.

If we’re unable to resolve your complaint to your satisfaction, you can make a complaint to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO).