GDPR – Recording of Telephone Calls Important information for patients
The purpose of call recording is to provide a record of incoming and outgoing calls which can:
- Identify practice staff training needs
- Protect practice staff from nuisance or abusive calls
- Establish facts relating to incoming/outgoing calls (e.g. complaints)
- Helps us identify ways to improve so that we can provide the best quality care to our patients
Purpose
The purpose of this policy is to ensure that call recording is managed in line with data protection and data retention requirements.
The practice will make every reasonable effort to advise callers that calls are recorded. This will normally be via a recorded message within the telephone system, on the practice website and posters within the waiting area.
Where a patient requests to listen to a recording then this should be allowed within the general provision of data subject access under the Data Protection Act 2018.
Scope
All calls via the telephone system in the practice will be recorded, including:
- All external incoming calls
- All external outgoing calls made by the practice staff
- All internal incoming and outgoing calls made by the practice staff
- Call transfers
Recording will automatically stop when the staff member ends the call.
Playback/Monitoring of Recorded Calls
Monitoring of the call recordings will be undertaken by The Data Controller at the Practice who is the Practice Manager. Playback of recordings will take place in a private setting and where applicable, individuals should be given the opportunity to listen to the relevant recordings to receive feedback and developmental support.
Requests for copies of telephone conversations can be made under the Data Protection Act as a “Subject Access Request”. This must be done in writing and after assessing whether the information can be released, the requestor can be invited to the practice premises to hear the recording.
Confidentiality
The Data Protection Act allows access to information that is held about them and their personal data. This includes recorded telephone calls.
If there is a request from an external body relating to the detection or prevention of a crime (e.g. police), then requests for information should be directed to the Practice Manager.
All call recordings are stored securely for 30 days and then deleted and access to these are controlled and managed by the practice Data Controller.
