I have lost many hours of my life talking about Information Governance (IG) and to make it worse it is not the subject that makes my heart sing.

I worked on the National Programme for IT and I have to say, despite what people might say, Information Governance was taken very seriously. So much so that the technical solutions that we worked on to create the best possible situations for holding and sharing the very sensitive information about people became increasingly elaborate and in many cases the solutions themselves were beyond my understanding. I think if we fell into a trap it was that one about increasing complexity making the issue worse, not better, and that we should have gone back to the citizen and kept it very simple.

We had complex use cases that tried to cover every possible sensitive scenario and tried hard to find solutions to them all.

It was hard and not very enjoyable work. But I do think we tried, we tried really hard to make sure it was the best it could be. I’m not sure we succeeded – my test for this is whether the debates have abated, they have not – but I know we put in much determined effort.  I was glad when I moved onto other more interesting and engaging work for me.

I know IG is a sensitive issue. I get it. I do my training every year and I am clear about my personal responsibilities. I have read Caldicott 2 and I understand not only my responsibility to protect information but also my duty to share when it the best for the patient.

I contrast this effort and experience with my visit to clinic on Friday which I tweeted about at the time. I arrived to the reception desk, in front of a very full, busy waiting area. The seats face the place you stand to book in and are actually quite close. The receptionist is lovely. Both this time and the last time I attended the same clinic I watched her offer very compassionate help to a number of people. But the booking in process stinks! I was asked for my name, address, date of birth and GP in front of the full waiting room; everyone must have been able to hear. I certainly heard every person who followed me recite their information.

I don’t think its OK to blame technology or the people who work in informatics and this feels like where the debates circle. I understand that electronic information can be accessed and shared potentially more widely than that single clinic with the 25 people who were sat observing but I have to say these are people who may well know me, my friends or my family, as they are local. Thank goodness it was ophthalmology clinic and not sexual health.

I accurately gave the feedback about my experience in the exceedingly small feedback box on the friends and family card including the feedback about the lovely receptionist.

Information governance is not just about IT!