Our promise to patients
MyCareQuestions is built on trust.
We know that health information is deeply personal. If you choose to use MCQ, you are trusting us with information about your health, your worries, your priorities and the questions you want to ask your doctor.
Our job is to use that information carefully, protect it properly, and keep identifiable information for no longer than we need.
MCQ helps you prepare for a medical appointment by organising your own story, concerns and questions into a clearer MyLife Summary.
MCQ does not diagnose, triage, prescribe, recommend treatment or replace your doctor. It is a preparation tool.
What happens to your information?
When you complete MCQ, you may choose to share personal and health information with us. This may include your symptoms, worries, appointment details, priorities, questions and the information you want your doctor to understand.
We use this information to create your MyLife Summary and suggested questions.
Once your report has been emailed to you, our launch approach is to:
- keep anonymised database data so we can understand and improve the service;
- delete the identifiable parts of your questionnaire answers;
- delete the generated report;
- keep only the minimum records needed for security, legal and audit purposes.
This means that, at launch, we do not build a reusable patient profile or long-term identifiable health record.
In future, we may offer patient profiles so users can save, update and reuse their reports. If we do this, we will explain the change clearly and ask for the right consent before any profile is created.
For now, our approach is simple:
Use your information to create your report. Email the report to you. Keep anonymised database data. Delete the identifiable parts of your answers and the generated report.
Why we are taking this approach at launch
Health information deserves extra care.
At launch, we want to reduce data risk by avoiding long-term storage of identifiable questionnaire answers and generated reports.
Rather than asking patients to create an account, save a profile or store a long-term health record, MCQ is designed as a simple preparation tool.
You complete the questions.
We generate your MyLife Summary.
We email it to you.
We delete the identifiable parts of your questionnaire answers.
We delete the generated report.
We keep anonymised data to help improve the service.
This keeps the first version of MCQ simple, useful and safer.
What we may still keep
Even after deleting identifiable questionnaire answers and generated reports, we may need to keep limited records for security, legal and audit purposes.
This may include:
- consent records showing what you agreed to;
- technical logs needed to protect the website;
- email delivery records;
- support or complaint records if you contact us;
- anonymised usage and improvement data.
We keep this information to the minimum necessary and only for appropriate purposes.
Anonymised information
MCQ may keep anonymised database data to understand how the service is being used and how it can be improved.
For example, we may look at:
- which questions patients commonly want to ask;
- which parts of the service are most useful;
- how prepared patients feel before appointments;
- where patients may need clearer information;
- how the website can be improved.
Anonymised information should not identify you as an individual.
We do not use anonymised information to make decisions about your care.
AI and your report
MCQ may use AI to help organise the information you provide into a clearer summary and suggested questions.
AI helps structure your words. It does not make medical decisions.
AI does not diagnose you.
AI does not triage you.
AI does not recommend treatment.
AI does not replace your doctor.
Your report is based on the information you enter. You should read it carefully before sharing it with your healthcare team.
We do not use your identifiable health information to train public AI models.
Security
We use technical and organisational safeguards to protect personal information.
These include secure transmission, restricted access, supplier checks and internal controls.
Only people and service providers who need access for MCQ purposes should access personal information.
No online service can be guaranteed to be completely secure, but our launch approach is designed to reduce risk by avoiding long-term storage of identifiable questionnaire answers and generated reports.
You stay in control
Your MyLife Summary is sent to you.
You choose whether to share it with your doctor, family member, carer or anyone else.
MCQ does not automatically send your report to your healthcare team.
You can contact us to ask about your data, request deletion where applicable, withdraw consent where we rely on consent, or raise a concern.
Contact: support@mycarequestions.com
Medical safety
MCQ is not for emergencies.
If you have urgent symptoms, severe pain, chest pain, breathlessness, stroke-like symptoms, sudden deterioration, or any concern that needs immediate help, please contact NHS 111, 999, your GP, your hospital team or your local emergency service.
Do not delay seeking medical help because of anything you read or generate on MCQ.
Our launch standard
At launch, MCQ follows a minimum-identifiable-data approach:
We collect only what is needed.
We use it to create your report.
We email the report to you.
We keep anonymised database data to improve the service.
We delete the identifiable parts of questionnaire answers.
We delete the generated report once it has been emailed.
We keep only limited records where needed for security, legal and audit purposes.
Trust is not something we add later. It is the foundation of MCQ.
