BCRD/BSPAR / For participants / Protecting your information

Protecting your information

Please be assured that the information about you and your treatment is kept very securely.

Everybody associated with the studies completes training around data and information protection before working with study data. Everyone signs forms to say that they will treat study data confidentially.

Information is sent to the studies via a secure web-based system. Our data and information security is reviewed for use by NHS Digital (formerly Health and Social Care Information Centre; HSCIC) who make sure that our security standards are acceptable for handling digital information. The University of Manchester has its own policies, which can be found here.

Any information that we hold on paper is kept locked away at the study offices. The offices have a 24-hour security service and are protected by an alarm system. There is no public access to these offices and no identifiable information is ever left on desks or on a computer screen unattended.

The study can be examined at any time by organisations including NHS Digital, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), and The University of Manchester, to make sure that it is being run safely and correctly.

You may be aware that new data protection laws have been recently introduced in the UK, known as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). It is important that you know how we use your personal data and what your rights are under the law; a new ‘transparency sheet’ has been developed to explain this further.

If you have any questions about this please do not hesitate to contact the office and we will be happy to help.