IMPORTANT CHANGES IN INFORMATION PRACTICES
New Patient Registration and Management System.
The University Maternity Hospital, as one of the hospitals in the University Of Limerick (UL) Hospitals Group, is a participant in the new national patient registration and management system called iPM, which is currently being implemented across the UL Hospitals Group.
What is iPM?
Integrated Patient Management (iPM) is a new computer system that facilitates the recording and sharing of personal healthcare information across all hospitals in the UL Hospitals Group to support integrated care. The UL Hospitals Group includes St. John’s Hospital, the University Hospital Limerick (Dooradoyle), University Maternity Hospital, Croom Hospital, Ennis Hospital and Nenagh Hospital.
What information will be shared?
The information shared will include the personal data provided to this hospital directly from service users, from persons acting on behalf of service users or from persons providing health and social care services to service users e.g. General Practitioners (GPs). This data may include, for example, service user’s name, date of birth, address, next of kin, contact details, their health and/or social history, test results and records related to the care and services they have received from another service provider.
What are the benefits of iPM?
All patients in the UL Hospitals Group will have a single patient identity number which will be used across all hospital sites within the UL Hospitals Group. Benefits for service users include:
- Accurate and speedy identification of patients and their healthcare record across the UL Hospital Group using a single electronic record
- Faster care through the electronic sharing of healthcare information safely and seamlessly across all hospitals in the UL Hospitals Group
- Greater patient safety through reduced duplication and risk of errors
How will privacy and confidentiality of information be protected?
The University Maternity Hospital will ensure that service user’s personal information is handled legally, securely, efficiently and effectively in order to deliver the best possible care to them. Privacy and confidential of information will be protected by ensuring:
- Compliance with the Data Protection Acts 1988 and 2003
- Confidential information is not unlawfully or inappropriately accessed
- Service user’s personal health information is only disclosed to those who legitimately need to know it in order to carry out their role.
The University Maternity Hospital will ensure the protection and appropriate use of service user’s personal information.
What is the change in information practice?
The important change in Information Practices for the University Maternity Hospital is that it will no longer be able to store personal healthcare information collected from service users independently, for example, when information about a patient is entered on the hospital iPM System, it will automatically be available to all other five hospital sites in the UL Hospitals Group. Equally, when information is entered on any one of the other five hospital sites, it will automatically be available to University Maternity Hospital.
Implementation of the Integrated Patient Management System will also see the sharing of historic personal information (personal information already held by the University Hospital Limerick) with the other five hospitals in the region and vice versa.
Safeguards, as outlined above, will be in place to ensure the service users healthcare information is shared in a confidential manner in line with legislation.
The University Maternity Hospital is required to work with the other hospitals in the UL Hospitals Group to support the implementation of the national integrated patient management system (iPM).
Introduction of the new iPM System may initially result in us taking a little longer than normal to register your details. We ask for your patience and understanding during this period of change and we apologise for any inconvenience which may be caused.
Your rights.
Under Data Protection and Freedom of Information legislation, you have the right to access personal information held about you and have any factual inaccuracies corrected. Your request for such access should be addressed to the University Maternity Hospital, Ennis Road., Limerick.
How to obtain further information or make a complaint.
If you wish to obtain further information, raise a concern or make a complaint about the hospital’s information practices, contact the University Maternity Hospital on (061) 327455..
If you need further information about your rights, you can contact the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner on or LoCall 1890 252 231 or telephone 057 8684800