NSW Health is committed to safeguarding the privacy of patient information, and has implemented measures to comply with its obligations under the Health Records and Information Privacy Act 2002. All staff working in the NSW public health system, including doctors, nurses and other staff, are bound by law, by the NSW Health Privacy Policy, and by a strict code of conduct to maintain confidentiality of patient information.
If you have a complaint relating to your privacy on the grounds that you believe a health service provider involved in your care has contravened a Health Privacy Principle or Health Privacy Code, you may wish to request an internal review to be carried out by that health service.
If you are dissatisfied with the outcome of the internal review, you may lodge an appeal with the Administrative Decisions Tribunal who will further investigate your complaint.
For further information about privacy inquiries or complaints:
NSW Health has obligations for patient privacy under the Health Records and Information Privacy Act 2002. These obligations will sometimes restrict the data that can be presented in Health Statistics NSW. In particular, results may not be included in tables and graphs if they include very small numbers of individuals, or are calculated from very small populations where there is an increased risk that an individual or small community could be identified from the data.
Several strategies are used to manage the reporting of small numbers in Health Statistics NSW. Tables and graphs may be re-formatted to aggregate groups, or results may be averaged over several years. In some cases, such as reports by Local Government Area, more sophisticated statistical smoothing algorithms are used to represent patterns from areas with very small populations. These methods provide an estimate of numbers and rates of diseases and health conditions in each LGA rather than the actual count.
There are also important statistical reasons for not reporting results based upon very small numbers. In many cases, the relative variability of any statistical estimates based upon these numbers can be so large that any statistical inferences are compromised.
NSW Health has strict policies regarding access to unit-level health data (NSW Health Privacy Manual). If you need more detailed data than that provided in Health Statistics NSW either go to the Health Outcomes Information Statistical Toolkit (HOIST – only available to NSW Health staff) or submit a special request for data as outlined in the description of the rights of the public to information at http://www.health.nsw.gov.au/gipaa/index.asp.
Further information about privacy issues and the reporting of small numbers in Health Statistics NSW can be found at: Health Statistics NSW: Privacy Issues and the Reporting of Small Numbers
If you have a general privacy enquiry or privacy complaint regarding the NSW Ministry of Health, please contact:
The Privacy Officer
Legal Branch
NSW Ministry of Health
Locked Mail Bag 961
North Sydney NSW 2059
Phone: (02) 9391 9606
Fax: (02) 9391 9604
Email: privacy@doh.health.nsw.gov.au