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Mastek secures highest level of compliance with Information Governance (IG) Toolkit

Reading, UK – 22 April 2013 - Mastek, the global IT solutions provider, has today announced successful compliance with the NHS Information Governance Toolkit (IG Toolkit) review, which assesses organisations’ compliance with information governance requirements. The latest accreditation showcases Mastek’s commitment to maintaining a high-level of data protection and security.

There are a number of legal requirements surrounding  information governance, particularly within public sector bodies such as the NHS, which  the Department of Health has interpreted in a clear set of guidelines setting out  how NHS organisations ‘process’ or handle information. It is NHS policy and a legal requirement for all NHS Trusts to comply with these guidelines. Providers such as Mastek, who work with the NHS, are also obliged to meet the same information governance standards, but as with trusts themselves, the current policy relies on a self-declaration.  As a result, Mastek assessed itself against the entire IG Toolkit and declared Level 3 compliance. As part of the process, Mastek had to meet the following criteria:

Prove that it has adequate governance in place to support the current and evolving Information Governance agenda

Outline its ability to access expertise across the confidentiality & data protection assurance agenda and  the information quality and records management agenda

Assess staff training needs and ensure that specific information governance training is provided to all employees

The IG Toolkit was produced by the Department of Health to support trusts in demonstrating compliance. NHS Trusts were required to reach a minimum of Level 2 performance against these standards by March 2011. Despite this, a year on in March 2012, nearly 50% of NHS organisations were still non-compliant, meaning patient data is still at risk.

Dominic Carter, Business Development Director, Healthcare says, “Mastek’s declaration of Level 3 compliance demonstrates our continued commitment to information governance. As a provider of solutions which support trusts in protecting Patient Identifiable Data, we decided to put ourselves through the IG Toolkit to reassure trusts that we treat these requirements with the utmost importance.”

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