Privacy Policy
Use and Confidentiality of Your Health Information – Fact Sheet
Your privacy and confidentiality will be fully respected. Here is why we collect your information and how it will be used:
Purpose: We collect your health information to provide a record of care.
This helps you receive safe and quality treatment and care when you need it.
We also collect your health information to help:
• Keep you and others safe
• Carry out authorised research
• Prepare and publish statistics
• Plan and fund health services
• Train healthcare professionals
• Improve government services
Confidentiality, Information Sharing and Accuracy
• Your privacy and the confidentiality of your information is really important to us.
• Your health practitioner will record relevant information from your consultation in your notes.
• Your health information will be shared with others involved in your healthcare and with other agencies with your consent or if authorised by law.
• You have the right to know where your information is kept, who has access rights and, if the system has audit log capability, who has viewed or updated your information.
• Your information will be kept securely to prevent unauthorised access.
• We are required to keep your information accurate, up-to-date and relevant for your treatment and care
Use of Your Health Information
The following are examples of how your health information is used:
• Your practice is contracted to Western Bay of Plenty Primary Health Organisation (WBOP PHO). The WBOP PHO may use your information for clinical and administrative purposes, including obtaining subsidised funding for you.
• Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora uses your information to provide treatment and care, and to improve the quality of its services. • A clinical audit may be conducted by a qualified health practitioner to review the quality of services provided to you. They may also view health records if the audit involves checking on health matters.
• When you choose to register in a national screening health programme, relevant information may be shared with other health agencies.
• The Ministry of Health uses your demographic information to assign a unique number to you on the National Health Index (NHI). This NHI number will help identify you when you use health services.
• The Ministry of Health holds health information to measure how well health services are delivered and to plan and fund future health services. Auditors may occasionally conduct financial audits of your health practitioner. The auditors may review your records and may contact you to check that you received those services.
• Notification of births and deaths to the Births, Deaths and Marriages register may be performed electronically to streamline a person’s interactions with government.
Indirect Collection of your Health Information
By accepting health care services from us, you agree we can collect information about you from other agencies for the purpose of maintaining an up-to-date health record and providing safe and quality primary health care.
This may include: From other health providers and shared health records:
• Receipt of laboratory, radiology or other results Health Information Privacy Statement May 2026
• Accessing authorised national or regional health information systems to support your care by checking your medical history, laboratory or radiology results and current prescribing
• Receipt of correspondence from hospitals, emergency departments, after-hours providers, specialist services, allied health providers or other secondary and community care providers – including discharge summaries, outpatient or specialist letters
• Proactively contacting a hospital or specialist service to follow up on a referral or seek advice or an update on your care, where that contact results in information about you being shared with us • Receipt of letters from screening programmes (such as bowel, breast or cervical screening), including results, or notifications regarding attendance or non-attendance From non-health agencies and organisations • Contact from or correspondence with Police, legal representatives, Oranga Tamariki, insurance companies, Ministry of Social Development (Work and Income New Zealand) and the Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC)
• Receipt of correspondence from employers, regarding, for example, fitness to work
• Information from the New Zealand Police regarding firearms licences Complaints: If concerns are raised about the care or services we provide, we may disclose relevant health information to our regulators, insurers, indemnity providers, or legal advisers for the purpose of managing and responding to the concerns.
Research
Your health information may be used in research approved by an ethics committee or when it has had identifying details removed.
• Research which may directly or indirectly identify you can only be published if the researcher has previously obtained your consent and the study has received ethics approval.
• Under the law, you are not required to give consent to the use of your health information if it’s for unpublished research or statistical purposes, or if it’s published in a way that doesn’t identify you.
Right to Access and Correct
You have the right to access and correct your health information under rules 6 and 7 of the Health Information Privacy Code.
• You have the right to see and request a copy of your health information this practice holds about you.
• You can ask for health information about you to be corrected. Practice staff should provide you with reasonable assistance. If your healthcare provider chooses not to change that information, you can have this noted on your file.
• Patient portals allow you to book online, request repeat prescriptions and view some of your health records. Ask your practice if they offer a portal so you can register.
Complaints
It’s OK to complain if you’re not happy with the way your health information is collected or used. Talk to your healthcare provider in the first instance. If you are still unhappy with the response, you can call the Office of the Privacy Commissioner toll-free on 0800 803 909, as they can investigate this further.
Further Information
• Visit www.legislation.govt.nz to access the Health Act 1956, Official Information Act 1982, Health Information Privacy Code 2020, and Privacy Act 2020.
• The Health Information Privacy Code 2020 and Privacy Act 2020 is also available at www.privacy.org.nz.
• A copy of the Health and Disability Ethic Committee’s Standard Operating procedures can be found at http://ethics.health.govt.nz/operating-procedures.
