Information about opting out

To make sure our research findings are fully representative of the general population, AvonCAP GP2 would like to access the health care records of all adults who are diagnosed with chest infections or worsening of heart failure, asthma or COPD in the GP surgeries taking part in the study. We will only collect information on people who meet these criteria.

Wherever possible, the study team will ask people for permission to use their data. All patients who are eligible for the study will be phoned, and asked for consent to use their data, and they will have the option to refuse consent (opt out) or withdraw it later.

For patients who lack capacity to make the decision, we will approach a friend/family member and/or a health or social care worker who knows them to find out the patient’s wishes (we will not collect data on these patients without speaking to a friend/family member or care professional).

For patients who opt out or withdraw from the study, we will collect a small amount of non-identifiable data only, including their age, gender, ethnic group (white or Black, Asian and Minority ethnic), a measure of how wealthy the area where they live is, whether they are eligible to take part in the study and, if so, their qualifying illness (e.g. a chest infection or worsening of asthma, COPD or heart failure), how bad their illness is (scored by the GP as mild, moderate or severe), the date of the appointment and the type of setting they were seen for their illness (e.g. GP practice, out-of-hours GP appointment or Emergency Department). Collecting this information is important as it will allow us to estimate the number of chest infections more accurately and to capture if there is a difference between patients who choose to take part and patients who choose not to take part. 

Opting out will not affect the patient's medical care in any way. For more information about how to opt out of the study, see 'How to opt out of this study' below.

Sometimes, despite efforts to contact the patient, we will be unable to make contact with them. To get a more complete picture of the number of chest infections, we would still like to include their information in the study even without consent. We hold specific approval from the Health Research Authority’s Confidentiality Advisory Group to undertake research using this data without individual consent. The data will be anonymised - there will be no way of identifying the patient from the data.

How to opt out of this study

We understand that you may not want your data to be used in this research study and respect your wishes if this this is the case.

Under the Data Protection Act 2018, you have a right to know what personal data belonging to you we hold. Where requested, by contacting us at the address below, we will provide you with a copy of your personal details and study status we have on record.

We will need to confirm your identity before supplying you with this information to ensure confidentiality and to comply with the Data Protection Act.

If you want to let us know your decision on how your records are used, including how you can opt out please:

1. Read all the information, and get in touch if you have any questions.
2. Let us know - please email, phone or write to us and let us know that you do not want your data to be used in this study. You can also complete the ‘opt out’ form online or via the post using the stamped addressed envelope provided.
3. Remember, if you do not want to take part in this research, it is important that you opt out.

If you wish for us not to use your data (opt out) or want to discuss this in further detail, please contact us at:

Online opt out form: Click here to open the form

If you would rather speak to someone outside of the AvonCAP GP2 study, you can contact someone from the University of Bristol who is not part of the AvonCAP GP2 research team:

Information Governance Manager

Henry Stuart

Information Governance Manager & Data Protection Officer

University Secretary's Office

University of Bristol

Beacon House

Queens Road

Bristol, BS8 1QU

Email: henry.stuart@bristol.ac.uk