Frequently Asked Questions
The wording of the text message will be consistent with the national advice and will change in line with this guidance:
Hi <First Name>, The NHS & Cancer Research UK are funding Heartburn Health, a research programme for heartburn, indigestion & acid reflux. By joining, you could improve care for people with these symptoms. Find out more here: [Link]
Thank you. <GP Practice Name>.
Yes, patients who receive an SMS message will have the following readcoding applied to their patient record:
Readcode v2 - 9N3G - SMS text message sent to patient 9Nj8 Readcode v3 - XaMiI - SMS (short message service) text message sent to patient
The GDPR requires an identified legal basis for the processing of personal data (Article 6) - the ‘public task’ legal basis generally applies to the processing of personal data for the programme purposes.
Where the processing of special category data is required, a processing condition (Article 9) must also be identified - this is generally the 'health purposes' processing condition.
No – it is not necessary to collect consent from patients to communicate with them.
The GDPR does not regulate communication with patients, instead it is more about the legal basis to process an individual’s data and their rights.
NOTE: Many practices allow patients to specify how they like to be communicated with – this is contact preference management and should not be confused with consent as a legal basis under the GDPR