Personal Data Protection Statement

We recognise the importance of the personal data you have entrusted to our institutions and this Data Protection Statement is to assist you in understanding the purpose of collection, use and disclosure of your personal data by us as a member of the National University Health System (NUHS).

We are committed to protecting your personal data, and will manage and process your personal data in accordance with the requirements of Singapore's Personal Data Protection Act 2012 (the "PDPA"), the Ministry of Health's guidelines and directives, and other relevant legislation.

As part of our efforts to ensure that we properly manage, protect and process your personal data, we will be reviewing our policies, procedures and processes from time to time and reserve the right to amend this Data Protection Statement at our discretion.

1. Personal Data

"Personal Data" refers to any data, whether true or not, about an individual who can be identified
(a) from that data; or
(b) from that data and other information to which we have or are likely to have access, including data in our records as may be updated from time to time.

Your personal data includes data you provide for registration purposes, e.g. name, NRIC number, date of birth etc., medical information, diagnostic imaging, photographic films, financial information and any other personal information provided by you or your next-of-kin, which will be collected when you present yourself for medical examination or treatment.

2. Collection, Use & Disclosure

By voluntarily providing your personal data in order to obtain medical care, it shall be deemed that you have consented to the collection, use, disclosure and processing of your personal data by us for the purposes directly related to the provision of medical care to you by our staff and other public healthcare institutions, which includes referrals to other healthcare professionals, institutions and other associated purposes, e.g. billing, Medisave applications, improvement of services, etc.

When you seek care from other healthcare providers, we will share the relevant data with them through trusted information systems such as the National Electronic Health Record (NEHR) system.

We may use your personal data to invite you to participate in suitable care programmes, health education programmes, or shortlist you for participation in relevant research studies.

As a public healthcare institution, we may also share relevant data and participate in national and multi-agency efforts to review healthcare policies and programmes that ensure patient safety and improve the quality of healthcare services,  conduct disease surveillance and to train future generations of healthcare professionals.

We may remove details that identify you when using your data for purposes which do not require your personal data and will implement safeguards against re-identification of your data.

3. Confidentiality

We take patient confidentiality very seriously. To safeguard your personal data from unauthorised access, collection, use, disclosure, copying, modification or any similar risks, we have endeavoured to put in place appropriate administrative, physical and technical processes such as up-to-date anti-virus protection, encryption of documents and system, and by limiting access to personal data.

4. Retention of Your Personal Data

Your personal data will be retained in accordance with the Ministry of Health's guidelines on the retention of patient data. For any other personal data collected by the NUHS, we will periodically review to determine if that data is still required and will only retain it as long as the purpose for which it was collected remains and until it is no longer necessary for any other legal or business purposes.

5. Your Obligation

It is your obligation to ensure that all personal data submitted to us is complete, accurate, true and correct.

6.  Our Obligation

We will process your request  to access your  personal  data in our possession in accordance with our hospital policies  and the access requirements of the PDPA. A fee may be charged for processing an access request.

Upon your request, we will correct your personal data as soon as practicable unless we have reasonable grounds to believe that a correction is not required.
 

We are obliged to advise you on the likely consequences to you if you choose to withdraw your consent for the collection, use and disclosure of your personal data in our possession. The medical care and services you would receive from us or other healthcare institutions shall be affected.  

7. How to Contact Us

If you require further information on our Data Protection Policy or clarification relating to data protection, please contact us at:

Data Protection Office

Telephone No: 1800-7789243

Email: [email protected]

We Respect and Keep Your Data Safe

The Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA) protects your Personal Data while enabling organisations to use your data reasonably to serve you. We, as a public healthcare institution, respect and keep your data safe by:

• Limiting access to only doctors and healthcare personnel who are involved in your care, and the supporting internal processes;
• Conducting regular checks to ensure only authorised persons have accessed your data, and
• Removing details that identify you when using your data for internal purposes as far as possible.
  

Serving You as a Public Healthcare Institution

When you seek care from other healthcare providers, we will share relevant data with them through trusted information systems such as the National Electronic Health Record (NEHR) system. We may use your personal data to invite you to participate in suitable care programmes, or shortlist you for participation in relevant research studies. 

As a public healthcare institution, we share relevant data and participate in national and multi-agency efforts to:

• Review healthcare policies and requirements;
• Review programmes that ensure patient safety and improve the quality of healthcare services;
• Conduct disease surveillance to address public health concerns, and
• Train future generations of healthcare professionals.

Please be assured that if your personal data is collected, used or disclosed for these purposes, we will protect it as required under the PDPA and other relevant legislation such as the Private Hospitals and Medical Clinics Act. ​