NHS Frimley Integrated Care Board (ICB) is the NHS organisation responsible for planning and delivering health and care services across the Frimley Health and Care system. Learn more about NHS Frimley ICB here: NHS Frimley ICB | Frimley Health and Care.
Your privacy matters to us
Your privacy is important to NHS Frimley and our team here at Thiscovery. We keep your information safe and secure.
This survey helps us understand how patients make healthcare choices. Your answers will help us improve NHS services in your area.
Who is collecting your information?
NHS Frimley has asked us to do this survey. They want to improve NHS services for local people.
Thiscovery collects your survey answers for NHS Frimley. We follow strict rules to keep your information safe.
Your GP practice may have sent you information about this survey. They have not shared your contact details with us.
What information will we collect?
Your answers about healthcare:
- Where you go for health advice (like family, internet, pharmacy, GP)
- How confident you feel managing health problems at home
- What you think about different NHS services
- What matters most to you when you need healthcare
Information about you:
- Your age group
- Your ethnic background (this is “special category” data that gets extra protection)
- Whether you work, study, or are retired
- If you have any long-term health conditions (this is “special category” data that gets extra protection)
- How confident you are using computers and smartphones
- Which GP practice area you live in
Your contact details (optional):
- Your name and email address
- Only if you want updates about the survey results
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.
MRS Code compliance: This survey is conducted in accordance with the Market Research Society Code of Conduct and UK data protection laws.
Why can we use your information?
For your survey answers: NHS Frimley has a legal duty to plan and improve NHS services. This survey helps them do this job.
For special category data (health and ethnicity): We need this to understand how health conditions and ethnic background affect the choices people make. This helps us plan better services for all communities.
For your contact details: Only if you choose to give them to us. You can change your mind at any time.
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 NHS security rules
- We use certified deletion tools when we remove data
Data analysis and transfer:
- Thiscovery will first analyse your survey answers and create an insight report for NHS Frimley
- After completing the analysis, Thiscovery will securely transfer your pseudonymised survey data to NHS Frimley
- NHS Frimley wants to keep this data for their population health team to do further analysis
- Once NHS Frimley confirms they have received the data safely and all necessary checks have been made, Thiscovery will delete their copy
- Your contact details are transferred separately if you choose to provide them
Important: Sending information over the internet is never 100% safe. We do our best to protect it, but we cannot promise complete security.
How will NHS Frimley use your answers?
First analysis by Thiscovery:
- Analyse your survey answers to understand healthcare decision-making patterns
- Create an insight report showing what the survey found
- Look at differences between different groups of people
Further analysis by NHS Frimley:
NHS Frimley will then use your survey data for ongoing analysis by their population health team to:
- Make NHS services easier to access
- Help people understand which NHS service to use
- Create better health information for patients
- Plan services that work better for local people
- Compare findings with other health data they have
- Track changes in healthcare needs over time
Your answers will be mixed with everyone else's answers. No one will be able to tell which answers are yours.
Who will we share your information with?
We will share your survey data with:
- NHS Frimley (who asked for this survey)
- Other NHS organisations for planning services
- Regulators who check NHS services
- The survey data we share will not include your name or email
We will not share with:
- Your GP or other healthcare providers
- Companies for marketing
- Anyone who might identify you
If you give us your contact details, only Thiscovery will contact you about the survey.
How long will we keep your information?
Your survey answers:
- Thiscovery keeps them for 24 months after the project ends
- NHS Frimley keeps them for health planning (usually 5-10 years)
Your contact details:
- Deleted by Thiscovery immediately if you ask us to remove them
- Deleted by Thiscovery when you haven't been active for 24 months
Survey summaries: May be kept forever to help plan NHS services (but these won't identify you)
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 NHS Frimley, we cannot get it back or delete it from their systems.
- NHS Frimley will use your survey data for ongoing population health analysis, which may limit their ability to delete individual responses.
Your healthcare will not be affected by taking part or not taking part in this survey.
Survey results
If you give us your contact details, Thiscovery will tell you:
- What the survey found out
- How NHS Frimley are using it to improve NHS services
- Examples of changes NHS Frimley are making
Contact us
Questions about the survey: Email Thiscovery at help@thiscovery.org
Questions about how NHS Frimley uses information: NHS Frimley - Privacy Notice
Complaints: NHS Frimley - Complaints and compliments
Data protection problems: Information Commissioner's Office - ico.org.uk
Your consent
By taking part in this survey, you agree that:
- NHS Frimley can use your answers to plan NHS services
- Thiscovery can collect your answers for NHS Frimley
- You understand your survey answers will be shared with NHS Frimley, which will not include your name and email
You can stop taking part at any time.
Thank you for helping us improve NHS services in your area.
