I’m being the Hospice’s Caldicott guardian today at a meeting with a local hospital. The email comes from the ‘PA to KGC and Risk’. I had to look to see what this is: ‘Knowledge, Governance and Communications’; fancy having a job title like that with Risk added to it. You could turn this round and become the director of Grack. We’re hoping to come to an agreement to share information between the hospice and one of our local hospitals.

You don’t know what a Caldicott guardian is? This is serious stuff. Basically, I’m supposed to speak up for confidentiality and privacy of the Hospice’s patients and clients in the Hospice’s management forums. Health and social care agencies are all supposed to have one, including social services departments. When I was given this extra job role and registered with the guy who keeps the national list, I was welcomed to the Caldicott community (but only by email, so it wasn’t a socially exciting welcome, not even a peck on the cheek). It seems that’s about the extent of the community.

However, if you want one, too, you can go to the Department of Health Caldicott website: http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Managingyourorganisation/Informationpolicy/Patientconfidentialityandcaldicottguardians/DH_4100563. this contains a manual of good practice, largely a list of other websites, and quite a nice paper of examples of good practice.