You paid a private clinic for treatment. But your medical information doesn't necessarily stay inside that clinic.
Why NHS England Requests Data From Private Providers at All
NHS England Digital publishes guidance confirming that private hospitals, hospices, clinics, care homes, and dental practices that operate independently of the NHS may receive information requests from NHS England. The stated purpose is to evaluate and improve the quality and safety of care across different healthcare settings — not marketing, not insurance underwriting, and not sale to third parties.
Whether You Can Opt Out Depends Entirely on How the Treatment Was Funded
This is the detail that surprises most people, and it genuinely depends on payment source:
- If your private treatment was privately funded — through medical insurance, a workplace health scheme, or paid for yourself — you can tell your private healthcare provider that you don't want your information shared with NHS England, either in full or for specific parts of your information.
- If your private treatment was actually funded by the NHS (for example, an NHS-commissioned procedure carried out at a private facility), sharing that information with NHS England is a legal requirement, and there is no opt-out available for that specific episode of care.
One more detail worth knowing: your opt-out only applies going forward from the moment you tell your provider. Data already shared with NHS England before that point cannot be retroactively deleted.
How to Actually Find Out If This Applies to You
Your private healthcare provider is not required to notify you individually each time NHS England makes a specific information request. Instead, this information should be disclosed in the provider's own privacy notice, which should be available on their website (and available as a paper copy on request), including contact details for their data protection officer if you want to ask more directly.
What This Means Practically
- Read your private provider's privacy notice specifically for what it says about NHS England data sharing — don't assume "private" means your data stays fully private by default.
- If your treatment was privately funded, you have a real opt-out right — exercise it directly with the provider if you want it.
- If your private treatment was NHS-funded, understand that sharing is mandatory for that episode of care, regardless of preference.
- Remember that an opt-out only stops future sharing — it doesn't undo data already shared before you opted out.
Related Kibbo Tools
Sources
- NHS England Digital — Information sharing between private healthcare services and NHS England, guidance for patients. digital.nhs.uk