Guidance

National Postmortem Toxicology Database: privacy notice

Published 27 March 2024

Applies to England

© Crown copyright 2024

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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-postmortem-toxicology-database-privacy-notice/national-postmortem-toxicology-database-privacy-notice

Introduction

The National Postmortem Toxicology Database is managed by the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID) in the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC). It contains data on psychoactive drugs detected in postmortem toxicology.

Coroners commission toxicological analysis of biological samples collected from the bodies of people who have died, to look for the presence of drugs. This happens where the information may help to establish the cause or circumstances of the person’s death.

Laboratories that conduct postmortem toxicology analysis can send the results of individual toxicology analyses to OHID, if psychoactive drugs were found to be present. They can do this where coroners have given them permission to do so. OHID then collects these results into the National Postmortem Toxicology Database and analyses them to monitor and report on drug-related deaths trends.

The database is part of cross-government work to reduce harm and death from illicit drugs, particularly synthetic opioids.

Data controller

DHSC is the data controller.

What personal data we collect

For people who have died and for whom coroner-commissioned postmortem toxicological analysis has detected the presence of psychoactive drugs, we will collect their:

  • name
  • date of birth
  • date of death
  • sex
  • coroner area the person died in
  • details on the substances found in the tested sample

How we use your data

Results of relevant toxicological tests will be sent by laboratories to a secure DHSC inbox and entered into a national database. We will analyse the database to:

  • identify and respond to dangerous drug incidents
  • monitor trends in drug misuse deaths using the most up to date information possible
  • improve the quality and completeness of official national statistics on drug misuse deaths

Under the UK General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the legal bases we rely on for processing your information are:

  • Article 6 (e) We need it to perform a public task
  • Article 9 (2) (i) We need it to perform a task in the area of public health
  • Article 9 (2) (j) We need it for statistical purposes

Who your information may be shared with

We will share the data we collect with the Office for National Statistics (ONS) for matching with their register of drug poisoning deaths, to improve the quality and completeness of that data.

International data transfers and storage locations

Personal data will be processed in the UK only.

How long we keep your information

Fully identifiable personal data will be held for a maximum of 6 months before being pseudonymised. Pseudonymised data is processed in a way which means it can no longer be attributed to a specific person without additional information. It will only be identifiable to matching personal data that has been processed in the same way. Pseudonymised data will be held for 24 months before being deleted.

The information we will retain indefinitely is:

  • age at death (in 5-year bands)
  • sex
  • date of death
  • coroner area the person died in

How we keep your data secure

Access to the National Postmortem Toxicology Database and to the secure inbox for receiving toxicological test results will be strictly controlled.

DHSC staff are trained to understand their duty to protect information and handle it appropriately.

Sharing of personal data collected through this project with ONS and with the UK Health Security Agency will be underpinned by data sharing agreements and by appropriate safeguards.

Your rights

By law, you have a number of rights and this processing does not take away or reduce these rights under the UK GDPR and the UK Data Protection Act 2018.

You have the right to:

  • ask for and receive copies of information about you
  • get information about you corrected if you think it’s inaccurate
  • limit how your information is used, for example, you can ask for it to be restricted if you think it’s inaccurate
  • object to your information being used
  • get information deleted

Some of these rights might not apply when the information is being used for research. We will let you know if this is the case.

Automated decision making or profiling

No decision will be made about individuals solely based on automated decision-making (where a decision is taken about them using an electronic system without human involvement) which has a significant impact on them.

Contact us or make a complaint

If you are unhappy about how your personal data is being used, or if you want to complain about how personal data is used as part of this programme, you should email data_protection@dhsc.gov.uk or write to:

Data Protection Officer
1st Floor North
39 Victoria Street
London
SW1H 0EU

If you are still not satisfied, you can complain to the Information Commissioners Office (ICO). You can find out how to contact them at the ICO website. Their postal address is:

Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF

Changes to this privacy notice

This privacy notice is kept under regular review, and we will update it if necessary. All updated versions will be marked by a change note on this notice’s publication page.

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