Welcome to the Registration Authority

Purpose:

Our website contains information on the Registration Authority processes and procedures that relevant parties are working to. In addition, it holds documents and reference material that may assist the trusts in the local management of Registation Authority.

Patient information must be kept as confidential and secure as possible. Having a common and rigorous approach to how users register, and are given access, to the NHS Care Record Service and other NPfIT services is an integral part of protecting the confidentiality and security of every patient's personal and health care details. For more information see an article on how registration fits into the overall information governance framework from the UK Caldicott Council.

The NHS takes seriously its commitment to protecting patient confidentiality and has set out the principles that will govern how patient information is held in the NHS CRS and the way it is shared, in the NHS Care Record Guarantee. All staff in the NHS are bound by this.

A Registration Authority (RA) manages the registration and access control processes required to ensure that individuals who need to access the NHS Care Records Service or other NPfIT services like Choose and Book, have had their identity rigorously checked and are assigned appropriate access.

The Registration Authority is set up by every NHS organisation. It might be an existing group concerned with information governance specifically or one that is interested in broader governance issues. Where it is set up specifically for this task, it should have a clear line of accountability to the Executive Management Board and be linked to other information governance processes and structures within the organisation. It is responsible for ensuring that all aspects of local registration services and operations in the organisation are performed in accordance with Department of Health/ NHS Policy, Procedure and Information Governance requirements.

By helping to manage access control, Registration Authorities:

• Assure patients their medical records are secure and safe
• Ensure compliance with Government guidelines
• Ensure compliance with best practice
• Implement single national NHS policy and process
• Provide assured identity
• Provide the basis for a national access control framework

By operating a robust registration process and following the policy and processes recommended within these pages, we are contributing to the very important business of protecting patient confidentiality.