Additional Capacity Fund – reflections and lessons learned: privacy notice (June 2026)

The Welsh Government are conducting a survey to gather your views regarding the operation of the Additional Capacity Fund, with the aim of learning and improving how such funds are implemented in the future

The Additional Capacity Fund is a non-recurrent funding stream used within General Medical Services that was introduced to provide support to practices experiencing short-term workload pressures, capacity gaps, administrative strain, and operational challenges.

The survey will inform policy development, decision-making and drive improvement and good practice regarding the utilisation of flexible funding within GP settings to stabilise capacity.

Our aim is to understand how the ACF has been used in the past and the challenges and opportunities you wish to share.

The information collected will shape the production of a lessons learned summary. Once all responses have been analysed, we will share the survey outputs with you.

Personal data is defined under the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) as ‘any information relating to an identifiable person who can be directly or indirectly identified by reference to an identifier’.

You will be asked within the survey to provide personal data relating to:

• your name
• your work email address
• your health board

Upon receipt of the information, the Welsh Government becomes the data controller for it.

The lawful basis for processing information in this data collection exercise is our public task. That is, exercising our official authority to undertake the core role and functions of the Welsh Government.

Participation is voluntary. Surveys such as this are important for the Welsh Government to collect information and actionable evidence about its ability to deliver government priorities. The information collected in this research, for example, will be used to:

• understand the impact of the ACF within GMS
• understand how the funds have been allocated and utilised
• identify challenges and successes in reconciliation and reimbursement
• explore variations in implementation across different Health Boards
• collect lessons learned and suggestions for implementation for any future similar schemes
• inform future contract negotiation mandate items

Personal information provided to Welsh Government is always stored on a secure server. The data can only be accessed by a limited number of Welsh Government officials working on this project. Welsh Government will only use this data for research purposes and to make recommendations to Welsh Ministers and a limited number of stakeholders within NHS Wales and GPCW.

The data from the survey will be collated by Welsh Government using Smart Survey. After the survey is closed, the data will be transferred from Smart Survey to our secure server. The data will be analysed by Welsh Government officials.

All data gathered through this research will be reported in an anonymised format. It will not contain your contact details and any identifiable or personal information in open ended answers will be removed. The Contract Strategy Team will use the information gathered as part of a report that will be used to make recommendations to the ACF Short Life Working Group and Welsh Ministers.

As Health Boards and GPCW will nominate specific representatives to complete this survey, it may be possible for members of the Short Life Working Group to identify which organisation or representative submitted a response, even where names and email addresses are not included in the final report. Identifiable data will only be shared with a limited number of Welsh Government officials and select stakeholders within NHS Wales and GPCW for the purpose of analysing and interpreting the findings. All wider reporting will remain anonymised.

The survey will be open for 3 weeks. The data provided when you take part in the survey will be held on SmartSurvey servers for the 2 weeks the survey is open, as well as an additional week for the data to be transferred to Welsh Government’s secure servers. After the transfer, your data on Smart Survey will be deleted.

Welsh Government will hold the data for 12 months after it is transferred to support analysis. After the work is completed, the data will be deleted, however the report will be kept.

Under UK GDPR, you have the following rights in relation to the personal information you provide as part of this project, you have the right:

• to access a copy of your own data
• for us to rectify inaccuracies in that data
• to object to or restrict processing (in certain circumstances)
• for your data to be ‘erased’ (in certain circumstances)
• to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) who is our independent regulator for data protection

Contact details for the Information Commissioner’s Office:

Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF

Phone: 0303 123 1113

Website: Information Commissioner’s Office

The Welsh Government is committed to handling your personal data safely, securely and only for as long as we need. 

If you have any concerns about how we use your personal data, we encourage you to raise them with the relevant team in the first instance. 

You can also contact the Data Protection Officer by emailing DataProtectionOfficer@gov.wales or writing to the DPO at: 

Welsh Government 
Cathays Park 
Cardiff 
CF10 3NQ

If you wish to make a formal complaint about how the Welsh Government has processed your personal data, you can complain about Welsh Government

We will acknowledge your complaint and respond within an appropriate timescale, in line with data protection legislation and our complaints process.

If you have any further questions about how the data provided as part of this survey will be used by the Welsh Government or wish to exercise your rights using the UK General Data Protection Regulation, please contact:

Name: Sara Taylor
Email: sara.taylor010@gov.wales 

The Welsh Government’s Data Protection Officer can be contacted at:

Welsh Government
Cathays Park
Cardiff
CF10 3NQ 

Email: dataprotectionofficer@gov.wales