Is IG within the NHS going to implode?

With increasing expectations around data protection/GDPR/IG maturity, the simple answer is Yes.

IG teams cover everything from pre-birth to post death and everything in between plus need to be involved in almost every data sharing activity/data use activity within an organisation, especially within the public sector.

“Involved” could just include have you sought advice – if the average team for around 8000 staff is 3-4 there is only so much they can do, even where they simplify processes.

As an example try making a simple Register of Processing Activity (RoPA) – there is a reason why you might start off with ten columns and then it expands all the time – that is because someone always says “What about this, what about that, have you picked up on this?”.

If IG was simple or could be simplified, it would have been that simple from the start and NHS England are doing a disservice to IG staff within the NHS by pushing that message.

The truth is life is not that simple, organisations are not that simple, most contracts are not that simple.

So going back to the question – Yes, IG teams within the NHS are going to implode, not because they are not any good, but simply because organisations are not recognising that the service users they are dealing with and what is needed to support them cannot be fixed with quick fix answers.

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