Dr Gillian Henderson My name is Dr Henderson rm a cardiologist at a london hospital The highly trained team of which investigation, and am part deals with the diagnosis, treatment of patients with all forms of heart disease, including cardiac transplant tion and some sorts of vascular disease None of our work would be possiblewithout the support of other people in the hospital team-the triage nurses, the receptionists, and soon. Their work is vital to the smooth running of the department when pain patients arrive for the first time personal information is taken name, address, telephone numbers next of kin for contact in case of emergency and other of 110 ess the information such as their GP's name and address. their NHS number and their unique hospital number. We deal with a large catchment area and also deal with referrals from outside the area. tourists. visitors to A&E.private patients and so on. so the potential for confusion is great unless the data that are taken are accurate and the systems secure At various stages of patients'contact with the hospital. information is checked to make sure it is correct and mation that the patients can confirm their identity For example, on arrival at a clinic patients might be asked their GP's name or part of their telephone number for example the Last three numbers. Then during the consultation a nurse or a doctor might also phone ask their date of birth All this is for the benefit of the patient to ensure the hospital team re who does not make mistakes and people do not use patients details fraudulently We can then turn to dealing with the patients treatment n safety