Confidentiality & Medical Records
We comply with data protection and access to medical records legislation. Identifiable information about you will be shared with others in the following circumstances:
- To provide further medical treatment for you e.g. from district nurses and hospital services.
- To help you get other services e.g. from the social work department. This requires your consent.
- When we have a duty to others e.g. in child protection cases anonymised patient information will also be used at local and national level to help the Health Board and Government plan services e.g. for diabetic care.
If you do not wish anonymous information about you to be used in such a way, please let us know.
Reception and administration staff require access to your medical records in order to do their jobs. These members of staff are bound by the same rules of confidentiality as the medical staff.
Freedom of Information
Information about the General Practioners and the practice required for disclosure under this act can be made available to the public. All requests for such information should be made to the practice manager.
Access to Records
In accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998 and Access to Health Records Act, patients may request to see their medical records. Such requests should be made through the practice manager and may be subject to an administration charge. No information will be released without the patient consent unless we are legally obliged to do so.
GDPR
GDPR Privacy Statement for patients
Data Protection Notice for patients
How to request medical records
SAR Form to complete for record request
GDPR is a new law that determines how your personal data is processed, kept safe and the legal rights that you have in relation to your own data.
YOUR DATA:
- must be processed lawfully, fairly and transparently.
- collected for specific, explicit and legitimate purposes.
- must be limited to what is necessary for the purposes for which it is processed.
- must be accurate and kept up to date.
- must be held securely.
- It can only be retained for as long as is necessary for the reasons it was collected.
PATIENTS/STAFF RIGHTS
- Being informed about how their data is used.
- To have access to their own data.
- To ask to have incorrect information changed.
- To restrict how their data is used.
- Move their patients/staff data from one organisation to another.
- To object to their personal information being processed (in certain circumstances).
Complaints
We make every effort to give the best service possible to everyone who attends our practice.
However, we are aware that things can go wrong resulting in a patient feeling that they have a genuine cause for complaint. If this is so, we would wish for the matter to be settled as quickly, and as amicably, as possible.
To pursue a complaint please contact the practice manager who will deal with your concerns appropriately. Further written information is available regarding the complaints procedure from reception.
Violence - Zero tolerance
The NHS operate a zero tolerance policy with regard to violence and abuse and the practice has the right to remove violent patients from the list with immediate effect in order to safeguard practice staff, patients and other persons. Violence in this context includes actual or threatened physical violence or verbal abuse which leads to fear for a person’s safety. In this situation we will notify the patient in writing of their removal from the list and record in the patient’s medical records the fact of the removal and the circumstances leading to it.
Continuous improvement
We are committed to ensuring quality of care. We participate in a continuous cycle of quality improvement work. We aim to deliver effective, efficient and sustainable care to our patients.
Current projects:
- Reducing the use of hypnotics (sleeping tablets) and anxiolytics (anti-anxiety medications) where appropriate, to reduce the risks of over-sedation, falls and medication dependence.
- Reviewing the way that we process prescriptions, to improve efficiency and safety of medication reviews.
- Consolidating medications for the frail elderly.
Past projects:
- Accessing to appointments with the right person at the right time - we increased the number of nurse appointments that we offer, employed an additional GP to offer more appointments and an extra receptionist to deal with your queries and prescriptions.
- Reducing antibiotic use,
- Offering screening for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) to at-risk patients,
- Reviewing patients on migraine medication to offer them preventative treatments,
- Improving the safety of monitoring systems for potentially dangerous medications like warfarin (blood thinner) and arthritis drugs such as methotrexate.
Can I get involved?
We may ask you to complete a questionnaire or survey about the care that you have received, and we welcome your feedback. There may also be opportunities to join a patient participation group. If you would like to volunteer please give your name and contact details to the Practice Manager.