Terms & Conditions
1. Introduction
1.1. These are the terms of use (“terms”) for the Digital Health Identity (“DHI”) service. The Department of Health (‘DoH’) has overall responsibility for DHI, which has been developed as a tool to support secure access to online health and social care services, for citizens in Northern Ireland. Support for DHI is provided by Cranmore Consulting, 73 Church Avenue, Holywood, Co Down, BT18 9LM. DHI utilises the NI Direct Identity Assurance (NIDA) service, provided to citizens of NI by the Department of Finance.
1.2. These terms apply to the DHI only. There are separate terms of use that apply to NIDA, available via www.nidirect.gov.uk
2. Purpose of the DHI service
2.1 The purpose of the DHI service is to enable citizens to use their Northern Ireland Identity Assurance (NIDA) account to access digital health and social care services in Northern Ireland.
2.2 In the first instance, this is providing citizens with an opportunity to access ‘My Care’; enabling them to manage hospital appointments, see hospital test results and communicate with their health and social care team in Health and Social Care trusts.
2.3 As other online health and social care services are developed for Northern Ireland, DHI will be used to help support access to those services; ensuring that access is secure, and that information is processed in accordance with the Data Protection Act 2018 and UK GDPR.
3. How does DHI work?
3.1. When you use your verified NIDA account to request access to a digital health and social care service, DHI matches your NIDA verified details to the details that the Business Services Organisation (BSO) has registered you with, and has used to assign your allocated ‘Health and Care Number’ (HCN).
3.2 If your NIDA details match the BSO records, access is granted automatically.
3.3 If your details don’t match, access is not provided. Your application for access is held until someone can check your details; and ensure that only you are able to access the right service, and your information. Access will only be granted once staff managing DHI, and the service you wish to access, are able to ensure that the details provided are valid, and that they can be matched to the correct HCN. You will likely be contacted, and asked to provide further information.
3.4 Once your NIDA account has been matched to the correct HCN, DHI will remember that match. The next time that you use the service, you will be able to get through automatically, unless your circumstances have changed. Changes may require you to go through the verification process once again.
3.5 DHI receives the NIDA account details that you have registered with. DHI does not share your health information with the Department of Finance, (who provide the NIDA service) or other government departments.
3.6 DHI presents the personal details of your NIDA account, and matched HCN, to the service you are trying to access, at the point of access. This ensures that you only see information belonging to you.
4. Your right to use DHI
4.1. DHI was developed for the DoH, and it and its contents belong to the DoH, and it is protected by intellectual property laws. As long as you comply with these terms, you have a personal, perpetual, non-transferable, revocable, limited licence to use DHI for your own personal use, accessing health and social care services. The Department of Health reserves all other licence rights not expressly permitted under these terms.
4.2. For the avoidance of doubt, any attempt to misuse the service, or to attempt to access the service by making a false representation is prohibited. Your use of the service is granted within the limit of these terms.
5. Our liability to you
5.1. The DHI service is offered for use to the extent permitted by law. The Department cannot guarantee that the DHI will be available on an uninterrupted basis.
5.2. Without limitation, we will not be liable to you for:
5.2.1. any use of the DHI solution / service that does not comply with these terms
5.2.2. any business loss (including but not limited to loss of profits, revenue, contracts, anticipated savings, data, goodwill or wasted expenditure)
5.2.3. any loss or damage arising from an inability to access and/or use the DHI solution / service
5.2.4. any indirect or consequential losses that were not foreseeable to both you and us when you commenced using the DHI service
5.2.5. any loss or damage caused by a virus, or other technologically harmful material, that may infect your device or data due to improper use of the DHI service
5.3. Nothing in ‘clause 5’ excludes or limits our liability for death or personal injury arising from our negligence, or our fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation, or any other liability that cannot be excluded or limited by law.
6. Continuity
6.1. We reserve the right to suspend, terminate or otherwise alter access to some or all of the DHI service at any time and without notice.
7. Security
7.1. If you discover a potential security vulnerability or suspect a security incident related to the DHI solution, please report it to the DoH's Chief Digital Information Officer at CDIO@health-ni.gov.uk.
8. Miscellaneous
8.1. We may revise these terms at any time and your continued use of the DHI solution / service will be deemed acceptance of such revised terms. Any such revisions take effect when this page is published.
8.2. These terms are governed by the law of Northern Ireland.
8.3. These terms do not provide rights to, and may not be enforced by, any third party.
8.4. Each of the clauses in these terms operates separately. If any part of these terms is determined to be invalid or unenforceable then the remainder of these terms will remain in full force and effect.