Centre for Eye Health is committed to safeguarding the privacy of our patients. Privacy legislation regulates the way organisations can collect, use, store, and disclose personal information. We are bound by the Information Privacy Act 2009, the Privacy Amendment (Enhancing Privacy) Act 2012 and the Health Records and Information Privacy Act 2002 when collecting and handling personal information.
This page provides our patients with details of the purposes for which we collect their information, what information is held, and how this information can be accessed.
We are committed to safeguarding the privacy of our patients, and have implemented measures to comply with our obligations under the relevant legislation. In order to provide the best possible standard of care, we collect information about our patients. This information is considered sensitive, and is only used for the benefit of the patient.
We collect, use, and disclose information about our patients for the following purposes:
To assess our patients’ eye health needs and provide appropriate services, including (if required) ophthalmology services provided through South Eastern Sydney Area Health Service (SESIAHS).
To communicate with our patients’ referring practitioner and other relevant healthcare providers, as required.
To conduct valuable research and teaching in the area of eye health.
To enable us to contact our patients. This may include distributing useful and important information and booking appointments.
In the event of an emergency, we may disclose patients’ information to notify a family member or emergency contact person as specified by the patient.
We collect information relating to patients from a number of sources, including their referral form, registration form, their consultation, and their diagnostic tests.
We only collect information that is relevant and necessary. Information collected may include:
Name
Date of birth
Contact details
Medical history, and other information relevant to your eye health
Referral information
If patients choose not to provide these personal details, we may not be able to provide them with the services they require. We may also be limited in our ability to assist these patients.
We strive to keep patient information that is accurate, complete, and current. To assist with this, we ask that patients contact us if their details change, or if they believe that the information we have about them is incorrect.
Patient information will not be forwarded to a third party without prior consent from the patient, unless required by law. Except in the case of service provision and ongoing communication, patient information is depersonalised, so it is impossible for our patients to be identified. This means that patients names do not appear on any research or teaching material.
Occasionally, we may contact patients to invite them to participate in a research project. If patients do not wish to participate with research, they can opt out by contacting the Centre.
All our information is held on a secure database which can only be accessed by authorised staff.
If it is necessary for a consultant ophthalmologist to be involved in a patient consultation at Centre for Eye Health, that patient becomes registered with SESIAHS, and their information is shared accordingly.
We utilise My Health Record for the storage of reports. My Health Record is managed by the Australian Digital Health Agency. Information regarding My Health Record, including how to opt out, is found here. The Centre for Eye Health is bound by all My Health Records Acts, Rules and Regulations.
Patients have the right to request access to their information, or for their information to be provided to another healthcare practitioner. All such requests must be made in writing to the Executive Manager, Centre for Eye Health. To ensure security of patient information is maintained, if a patient requests access to their information, they will be required to validate their identity prior to being given access.
