Security and confidentiality

At the heart of the NJR is a database of all the joint replacement information that is collected by hospitals, including patients' personal information (subject to patient consent). To avoid sending paper records through the post and to ensure maximum data security, the NJR uses an electronic system for collecting the data and encryption for transferring the data to the database.

Who can use the data?

Patients’ personal data is treated as confidential at all times and cannot be used outside of the NJR. It is only available to the patient that it relates to and their surgeon.

Procedures are in place to protect the information and to keep it confidential. Data collected via the NJR may be used for medical research, where it has passed ethical review and where the outcomes are expected to provide significant benefits to the healthcare of patients. However, any data provided will be anonymised so that it is not possible to identify individuals.

Patients can request a copy of the personal data held about them on the NJR at any time, in accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998. Please contact the NJR Centre for further information.