Privacy Notice: BHF Blood Pressure Support Programme

You have been invited by your GP practice to take part in the Blood Pressure Support Programme. This free, flexible support to help you better manage your high blood pressure.  

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Northamptonshire Neighbourhood Heart Health Support Pathway (referred to as the ‘Blood Pressure Support Programme’) is a programme funded by the British Heart Foundation (BHF) to reduce uncontrolled hypertension (high blood pressure) in working-age adults. This programme is delivered by a team of partners, each with different responsibilities:

  • NHS Northamptonshire Integrated Care Board (ICB): coordination and commissioning of this programme.
  • Individual GP surgeries: holders of patient data.
  • General Practice Alliance (GPA): processing of patient data on behalf of GP surgeries and the provision of Community Clinics in the Northampton central area.
  • 3Sixty Care: processing of patient data on behalf of GP surgeries and the provision of Community Clinics in the Wellingborough area.
  • My MHealth: provision of the myHeart app
  • University of Northampton: Provision of ISOband exercise bands and exercise booklets.
  • An external evaluator

We only share your information where necessary and appropriate. GPA run reports on GP systems to invite eligible patients via text message. Should you consent, GPA will process your data to deliver this programme and invite you to attend a local community clinic and/or download the myHeart app.

GPA will securely share pseudonymised data only (no direct identifiers such as name or NHS number) for evaluation purposes to the ICB; neither the ICB nor the external evaluator can identify you. If you agree, GPA will also share your contact details (name and phone/email) with an external evaluator so that they can invite you to interviews or focus groups – this is optional, and you can still take part in the programme even if you choose not to take part in the evaluation. The only other data shared with the external evaluator will be anonymous.

If you download the MyHeart app, MymHealth Ltd processes your app data separately under their own privacy arrangements. If you downloaded the app, your GP surgery will be notified of this, but no other data from the app will be shared that can identify you. Patients enter their own data onto the myHeart app.

We take your privacy seriously and ensure that access is restricted to authorised staff who hold appropriate training, and secure NHS systems are used.

Data held on GP systems and the myHeart App will be retained according to primary care retention periods. Any other pseudonymised or identifiable data about you will be kept until 31st  October 2027, after which it will be securely deleted in line with NHS retention requirements

Purpose of processing

We are delivering a programme to support adults aged 18–69 with high blood pressure in Northampton Central and Wellingborough. Participation in this programme is optional, and if you agree to enter this programme following a text message invitation, your data will be collected and used to:

  • Identify and invite eligible patients
  • Deliver direct care
  • Monitor progress and outcomes
  • Evaluate the effectiveness of the programme to improve services, including assessing changes in blood pressure and wellbeing.

We only collect information that is necessary for the programme. This includes:

Personal information

  • Name
  • Date of birth
  • NHS number
  • Contact details (phone number, email)

Demographic information

  • Age
  • Gender
  • Ethnicity
  • Deprivation quintile, calculated using full postcode

Health and care information

  • Blood pressure measurements and change
  • Body mass index and smoking status
  • Referrals to health services
  • Programme participation (clinic attendance, exercise band use, downloading of myHeart app)

Patient-reported information

  • Lifestyle questionnaires
  • Wellbeing measures

You have the right to:

  • Be informed about how your data is used
  • Access your personal data:
  • Request correction of inaccurate data
  • Withdraw consent for evaluation activities or contact for interviews
  • Request the deletion of data held for evaluation purposes.

To enact these rights, please contact General Practice Alliance (GPA) in the first instance via email: [email protected]
For data held in the MyHeart app (if you have downloaded this), please contact myMhealth.

Lawfulness conditions and special categories

We process your information under the following legal bases of UK GDPR:

  • Article 6(1)(e) ‘…necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority…’
  • Article 9(2)(h) – ‘necessary for the purposes of preventative or occupational medicine for the assessment of the working capacity of the employee, medical diagnosis, the provision of health or social care or treatment or the management of health or social care systems and services…’
  • Article 9(2)(i) – “processing is necessary for reasons of public interest in the area of public health, such as protecting against serious cross-border threats to health or ensuring high standards of quality and safety of health care and of medicinal products or medical devices…”
  • Article 9(2)(a) ‘the data subject has given explicit consent to the processing of those personal data for one or more specified purposes…’