How we manage your data

Your privacy matters to us

Your privacy is important to the University of Birmingham and our team here at Thiscovery. We keep your information safe and secure.

This research will help us understand how the death certification reforms and statutory medical examiner system are working in practice, and identify where improvements can be made.

Who is collecting your information?

This survey is hosted on Thiscovery, a secure online platform for health research. Thiscovery is run by THIS Labs, an independent organisation that helps with health research. We are collaborating with the University of Birmingham to carry out this research.

Thiscovery collects your survey answers for the University of Birmingham. We follow strict rules to keep your information safe.

What information will we collect?

Your answers about:

• Your experiences of implementing and delivering the death certification reforms
• How the medical examiner scrutiny process is working in practice
• Your interactions with bereaved people and other professionals and services involved in the death certification process
• What is working well and what challenges have arisen
• Any training, development or support needs

Information about you:

• Your professional role and experience
• The region where you work

Your contact details (optional):

• Your name and email address
• Only if you want updates about the research results, to find out about future relevant projects or to be emailed a certificate evidencing participation for your Continuing Professional Development (CPD) or training portfolio.

Important: We don’t collect your name during the survey. But the mix of information you give us might make it possible to work out who you are.

Right to withdraw: You can stop taking part at any time and choose not to answer any questions. If you opted to provide an email address at the end of the survey, you can withdraw personal and/or research data up until one week after the survey closes.

If you did not provide an email address, you will be unable to withdraw as Thiscovery will not be able to identify your responses.

To withdraw from the project please email help@thiscovery.org

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University Research Ethics and data protection: This research is conducted in accordance with The University of Birmingham’s Data Protection Policy and UK GDPR data protection laws.

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Why can we use your information?

For your survey answers: We need this so the University of Birmingham can do research that helps to understand how the death certification system and statutory medical examiner service is working, and identify any ways in which it could be improved.

For special category data (health): We may need to understand experiences across different demographic groups to ensure the system works well for all populations.

For your contact details: Only if you choose to give them to us. You can change your mind at any time.

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How will we keep your information safe?

We keep things separate:

• Your contact details are kept separate from your survey answers
• Your survey answers use a number instead of your name
• This means we cannot link your name to your answers

We use secure systems:

• All information is encrypted (scrambled) and stored safely
• Only the research team can see your information
• We follow the University of Birmingham Code of Practice for Research and Code of Ethics
• We use certified deletion tools when we remove data

Data analysis and transfer:

• Thiscovery will first look at your survey answers and write a report for the University of Birmingham
• After completing the analysis, Thiscovery will securely transfer your survey answers (with your name removed) to the University of Birmingham, who will securely store data in accordance with their ‘Data Protection’ and ‘Information Management and Security’ policies
• Once University of Birmingham confirms they have received the data safely, Thiscovery will securely destroy their copy

Important: Sending information over the internet is never 100% safe. We do our best to protect it, but we cannot promise complete security.

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How will the University of Birmingham use your answers?

Further analysis by the University of Birmingham

The University of Birmingham will use your survey data for analysis by the research team to:

• Understand experiences and views of the healthcare professionals who have taken part, and to look at differences between different groups
• Write reports and articles about what they found
• Inform improvements to the death certification system and statutory medical examiner service

Your answers will be mixed with everyone else’s answers. No one will be able to tell which answers are yours.

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Who will we share your information with?

We will share your data with:

• University of Birmingham (who are leading this research)

If you give us your contact details, only Thiscovery or University of Birmingham will contact you about the research.

How long will we keep your information?

Your survey answers:

• Thiscovery will securely delete all answers after the analysis has been completed and secure transfer to the University of Birmingham has taken place – this will be a maximum of 24 months after the survey closes
• University of Birmingham keeps data for 10 years in line with their research data management policies

Your contact details:

• Deleted immediately if you ask us to remove them
• Deleted 24 months after the end of the project unless you consent for us to stay in contact with you

Research summaries: May be kept indefinitely to help inform future studies (but these won’t identify you).

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Your choices and rights

You can:

• Stop taking part at any time during the survey
• Skip questions you don’t want to answer
• Ask to see what information we have about you
• Ask us to correct wrong information
• Ask us to delete your contact details (we will do this immediately)
• Complain if you’re not happy

Important:

• If you don’t give us your contact details, we might not be able to remove your survey answers later. This is because we won’t know which answers are yours.
• Once we transfer your survey data to the University of Birmingham we cannot get it back or delete it from their systems.
• University of Birmingham will use your data for ongoing research analysis, which may limit their ability to delete individual responses.

Your healthcare or professional role will not be affected by taking part or not taking part in this research.

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Research results

If you give us your contact details, Thiscovery and the University of Birmingham will tell you:

• What the research found out
• How the findings are being used to improve the death certification system and medical examiner service

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Contact us

Questions about the survey: Email Thiscovery at help@thiscovery.org

Questions about the research: Email Dr Alisi Mekatoa at A.Mekatoa@bham.ac.uk

Questions about how University of Birmingham uses information: University’s Data Protection Officer at data-protection@bham.ac.uk

Complaints: If you have any concerns and you would like to contact someone independent of the study, please contact: Professor Rana Jawad, Head of Research, School of Social Policy and Society, University of Birmingham: R.Jawad@bham.ac.uk

Data protection problems: Information Commissioner’s Office – ico.org.uk

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Your consent

By taking part in this survey, you agree that:

• The University of Birmingham can use your answers to undertake this research on the death certification reforms and statutory medical examiner system
• Thiscovery can collect your answers for the University of Birmingham
• You understand your information will be shared with the University of Birmingham
• You have read and understood this privacy notice

You can stop taking part at any time.

Thank you for helping us understand how the death certification reforms and medical examiner system are working, and how they can be improved.