Everyone has a duty to behave in an acceptable and appropriate manner. Staff have a right to work, as patients have a right to be treated, in an environment that is properly safe and secure. The following baseline definition of a non-physical assault was introduced in November 2003 as part of Secretary of State Directions on work to tackle violence against staff and professionals who work in the NHS and replaced any other definitions previously in use across the NHS.

 “The use of inappropriate words or behaviour causing distress and/or constituting harassment”.

Examples of the types of behaviour covered by this policy are summarised below, although the list is not exhaustive:

•  Offensive language, verbal abuse and swearing which prevents staff from doing their job or makes them feel unsafe
• Loud and intrusive conversation
• Unwanted or abusive remarks
• Negative, malicious or stereotypical comments
• Deliberate invasion of personal space
• Brandishing of objects or weapons
• Near misses i.e. unsuccessful physical assaults
• Offensive gestures
• Threats or risk of serious injury to a member of staff, fellow patients or visitors
• Bullying, victimisation or intimidation
• Stalking
• Spitting
• Alcohol or drug fuelled abuse
• Any of the above, which is linked to destruction of or damage to property

Such behaviour can be either in person, by telephone, letter or e-mail or other form of communication, for example: graffiti on NHS property.

A range of measures can be taken, depending on the severity of the non-physical assault, which may assist in the management of unacceptable behaviour by seeking to reduce the risks and demonstrate acceptable standards of behaviour; these may include:

1. Verbal warnings
2. Acknowledgement of Responsibilities Agreements (ARA)
3. Written warnings
4. Withholding treatment
5. Civil injunctions and Anti-Social Behaviour Orders (A.S.B.O)
6. Criminal prosecution

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.

All staff in this Practice have the right to do their work in an environment free from violent, threatening or abusive behaviour and everything will be done to protect this right. If you do not respect the rights of our staff we may choose to inform the police and make arrangements for you to be removed from our medical list.

Introduction

This policy is designed to protect both patients and staff from abuse or allegations of abuse and to assist patients to make an informed choice about their examinations and consultations.

Guidelines

Clinicians (male and female) should consider whether an intimate or personal examination of the patient (either male or female) is justified, or whether the nature of the consultation poses a risk of misunderstanding.

• The clinician should give the patient a clear explanation of what the examination will involve.

• The clinician should always adopt a professional and considerate manner and careful with humour as a way of relaxing a nervous situation. It can easily be misinterpreted.

• Always ensure that the patient is provided with adequate privacy to undress and dress.

• Ensure that a suitable sign is clearly on display in each consulting or treatment room offering the chaperone service.

There will still be times when either the clinician, or the patient, feels uncomfortable, and it would be appropriate to consider using a chaperone under these circumstances.  Patients who request a chaperone should never be examined without a chaperone present. Where a chaperone is not available, the consultation/examination should be rearranged for a mutually convenient time when a chaperone can be present.

Complaints and claims have not been limited to clinicians treating/examining patients of the opposite gender. There are many examples of alleged assault by female and male clinicians on people of the same gender.

There may be occasions when a chaperone is needed for a home visit.  The following procedure should still be followed.

Who Can Act as a Chaperone?

A variety of people can act as a chaperone in the practice, but staff undertaking a formal chaperone role must have been trained in the competencies required. Where possible, it is strongly recommended that chaperones should be clinical staff familiar with procedural aspects of personal examination. When suitable clinical staff members are not available, consideration should be given to defer the procedure.

Where the practice determines that non-clinical staff will act in this capacity, the patient must agree to the presence of a non-clinician in the examination and be at ease with this. The staff member should be trained in the procedural aspects of personal examinations, comfortable in acting in the role of chaperone and be confident in the scope and extent of their role. They will have received instruction on where to stand and what to watch and instructions to that effect will be laid down in writing by the practice.

Confidentiality

• The chaperone should only be present for the examination itself, and most of the discussion with the patient should take place while the chaperone is not present.

• Patients should be reassured that all practice staff understand their responsibility not to divulge confidential information.

Click here to link to the latest GMC guidelines for intimate examinations:

Intimate examinations and chaperones – ethical guidance summary – GMC (gmc-uk.org)

PROCEDURE

• The clinician will contact reception to request a chaperone.

• If no chaperone is available, a clinician may offer to defer the examination to a date when one will be available, if the delay would not have an adverse effect on the patient’s health.

• If a clinician wishes to conduct an examination with a chaperone present but the patient does not agree to this, the clinician must clearly explain why they want a chaperone to be present. The clinician may choose to consider referring the patient to a colleague who would be willing to examine them without a chaperone if the delay would not have an adverse effect on the patient’s health.

• The clinician will record in the notes that the chaperone is present and identify the chaperone.

• The chaperone will enter the room discreetly and remain in the room until the clinician has finished the examination.

• The chaperone will attend inside the curtain/screened-off area at the head of the examination couch and observe the procedure.

• To prevent embarrassment, the chaperone should not enter conversation with the patient or GP unless requested to do so or make any mention of the consultation afterwards.

• The chaperone will make a record in the patient’s notes after examination. The record will state that there were no problems or give details of any concerns or incidents that occurred. The chaperone must be aware of the procedure to follow if they wish to raise concerns.

The patient can refuse a chaperone, and if so this must be recorded in the patient’s medical record.

We welcome feedback about your experiences, as it lets the practice know what we are doing well and where we could improve.

Talk to us.

The Practice is committed to providing high-quality, person-centred care and treatment that’s both safe and effective. However, we understand that there are times when things go wrong. If something goes wrong, or you’re dissatisfied with what we have or haven’t done, please tell us, and we’ll do our best to make things right. If we can’t resolve matters the way you want, we’ll explain why it’s not possible to do as you suggest.

Understandably, you might be upset or distressed when formally raising concerns about you or your loved one’s care. Our practice team will treat you with respect and dignity throughout this emotional time. It’s expected that you will show them the same courtesy.

We hope that if you have a problem, you will use our practice complaints procedure. We believe this will give us the best chance of resolving whatever has gone wrong and allowing us to improve our services.

Who to talk to

If you have any concerns, you can talk to any member of our staff initially. We will work with you to resolve the issue without any formal process. It’s usually best to sort out concerns within the practice. However, if you need to make a formal complaint, you can do so through our Practice Manager using the email address: [email protected].

If you find it challenging to raise your concerns with us because, for example, there has been a breakdown in the patient-practice relationship, you can raise your complaint with the ICB, who commission and pay for the NHS services you use by:

Email: at [email protected]

Telephone: 01924 552150*

*Monday to Friday, 9- 4.30 pm, excluding bank holidays.

Please note that the team receives many telephone calls daily and may be unable to respond instantly.

In writing: West Yorkshire Integrated Care Board Complaints Team, White Rose House West Parade, Wakefield WF1 1LT

 Please note: You cannot ask the ICB to consider the same concerns or complaints you raised with us.

Citizens Advice Bureau also provides information and advice about making complaints.

Take it Further.

If you remain unhappy after receiving our final reply, you can ask the Health Service Ombudsman to review your complaint independently.

Before taking this step, we hope you would let us know what aspect of the complaint has not been dealt with satisfactorily and provide an opportunity for us to consider whether there is anything further that could be done locally to resolve matters.

The Ombudsman is independent of the NHS and free to use. It can help resolve your complaint and tell the NHS how to put things right if it has got them wrong.

The Ombudsman only has legal powers to investigate certain complaints. You must have received a final response from the Practice before the Ombudsman can look at your complaint. Unless there are exceptional circumstances, it will generally not investigate your complaint if it happened more than 12 months ago.

Address: Parliamentary & Health Service Ombudsman

Tower 30

Millbank

London SW1P 4QP

Phone: 0345 015 4033

Their lines are open: Monday to Thursday, 8.30 am to 5.00 pm | Friday, 8.30 am to 12 pm.

New Data Protection Regulations From May 2018 (GDPR)

Under the new data protection regulations introduced from 25th May 2018, we will continue to contact patients via text messages regarding the delivery of care if they have provided consent to do so.

If practices are sending messages about recommended treatment for the management of a specific health issue, then this is defined as providing appropriate care for patients, not marketing purposes.

If you would like to opt-out of any future contact via text messaging, then please complete the form and indicate in the marked section.

NHS England require that the net earnings of doctors engaged in the practice is publicised and the required disclosure is shown below.  However, it should be noted that the prescribed method for calculating earnings is potentially misleading because it takes no account of how much time doctors spend working in the practice and should not be used to for any judgement about GP earnings, nor to make any comparisons with other practices.

The average earnings for GPs working in the Oakwood Lane Medical Practice in the last financial year ending in 2022/23 was £70,605 before taxation and National Insurance.  This is for 2 full time GPs, 8 part time GPs and 1 locum who worked in the practice for more than 6 months.

Updated 08/04/2024

Confidentiality & Medical Records

The practice complies 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 the 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 Practitioners 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 the 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 patient consent unless we are legally obliged to do so.

If you wish to download a copy of this policy, please click here.

Who we are and what we do

As a GP practice we are responsible for your day to day medical care and the purpose of this notice is to inform you of the type of information that we hold about you, how that information is used for your care, our legal basis for using the information, who we share this information with and how we keep it secure and confidential.

It covers information we collect directly from you (that you have either provided to us, or from consultations with staff members), or we collect from other organisations who manage your care (such as hospitals or community services).

We are required by law to maintain records about your health and treatment, or the care you have received within any NHS service.

The name and contact details of our organisation.

Name: Oakwood Lane Medical Practice

Address: 2 Amberton Terrace, Leeds, LS8 3BZ

The contact details of our data protection officer:

Our Data Protection Officer is Aaron Linden and can be contacted on [email protected].

As a GP practice we are responsible for your day to day medical care and the purpose of this notice is to inform you of the type of information that we hold about you, how that information is used for your care, our legal basis for using the information, who we share this information with and how we keep it secure and confidential.

It covers information we collect directly from you (that you have either provided to us, or from consultations with staff members), or we collect from other organisations who manage your care (such as hospitals or community services).

We are required by law to maintain records about your health and treatment, or the care you have received within any NHS service.

Our Commitment to Data Privacy and Confidentiality

As a Practice, we are committed to protecting your privacy and will only process data in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the Data Protection Act 2018, the Common Law Duty of Confidentiality, professional codes of practice, the Human Rights Act 1998 and other appropriate legislation.

Everyone working for the Practice has a legal and contractual duty to keep information about you confidential. All our staff receive appropriate and ongoing training to ensure that they are aware of their personal responsibilities and their obligations to uphold confidentiality.

Staff are trained to ensure how to recognise and report any incident and the organisation has procedures for investigating, managing and learning lessons from any incidents that occur.

All identifiable information that we hold about you in an electronic format will be held securely and confidentially in secure hosted servers that pass stringent security standards.

Any companies or organisations we use we may use to process your data are also legally and contractually bound to operate under the same security and confidentiality requirements.

All identifiable information we hold about you within paper records is kept securely and confidentially in lockable cabinets with access restricted to appropriately authorised staff.

As an organisation we are required to provide annual evidence of our compliance with all applicable laws, regulations and standards through the Data Security and Protection toolkit.

Your information will not be sent outside of the United Kingdom where the laws do not protect your privacy to the same extent as the law in the UK. We will never sell any information about you.

In addition to our Data Protection Officer, we also have a senior person within the practice who is responsible for protecting the confidentiality of our records and ensuring that any use of your data is fair and appropriate – this person is the Caldicott Guardian. The Caldicott Guardian for the practice is: Dr Sarah Forbes.

The practice is registered with the Information Commissioners Office as a Data Controller- our registration number is: Z4951941 and you can view our registration here: Information Commissioner’s Office – Register of data protection fee payers – Entry details (ico.org.uk)

We will endeavour to maintain our duty of confidentiality to you at all times and will only share data about you if we genuinely believe that it would improve the care you provide for you.

Other than for the purposes of direct care or indirect care (such as healthcare planning), we will only share your information without your permission when we are required to do so under exceptional circumstances (such as a serious risk to yourself and others) or if it is required by law.

The categories of personal data we hold and the sources we obtain them from

• Details about you, such as your name, address, carers, biological gender, gender identity, ethnic origin, date of birth, legal representatives and emergency contact details are collected from you when you register with the practice via the GMS1 form and new patient questionnaire you fill in when your register.

• Information that you provide about your health when you consult with healthcare professionals at the practice, which will be recorded in your notes

• Any contact the surgery has with you, such as appointments, clinic visits, emergency appointments, etc. are recorded on our clinical system

• Notes and reports about your health- your historic notes are transferred to us from your old practice- this can happen electronically and your paper notes are transferred via an organisation called Primary Care Support England

• Results of investigations such as laboratory tests, x-rays, etc. which are sent to the practice electronically from hospitals

• Any consultations you may have had with “extended access” hubs, which the practice is part of.

• We are routinely informed of any A&E visits or outpatient appointments at local hospitals

• We are routinely advised of any contact with out of hours providers or NHS111

• We are hold details of any other relevant information from other health professionals, relatives or those who care for you. All information flows within the practice are routinely mapped as part of our GDPR compliance and compliance with the Data Security and Protection toolkit.

How we use your personal data (the purposes of processing).

As health professionals, we maintain records about you in order to support your care. By registering with the practice, your existing records will be transferred to us from your previous practice so that we can keep them up to date while you are our patient and if you do not have a previous medical record (a new-born child or coming from overseas, for example), we will create a medical record for you.

We take great care to ensure that your information is kept securely, that it is up to date, accurate and used appropriately. All of our staff are trained to understand their legal and professional obligations to protect your information and will only look at your information if they need to.

For provision of direct care:
In the practice, individual staff will only look at what they need in order to carry out such tasks as booking appointments, making referrals, giving health advice or provide you with care.

Primary Care Networks:

All practices in the UK are members of a Primary Care Network (PCN), which is a group of practices who have chosen to work together and with local community, mental health, social care, pharmacy, hospital and voluntary services to provide care to their patients.

PCNs are built on the core of current primary care services and enable greater provision of proactive, personalised, coordinated and more integrated health and social care.

We are members of Seacroft PCN along with Windmill Health Centre, Park Edge Practice and Foundry Lane Surgery.

This arrangement means that practices within the same PCN may share data with other practices within the PCN, for the purpose of patient care (such as extended hours appointments and other services), Each practice within the PCN is part of a stringent data sharing agreement that means that all patient data shared is treated with the same obligations of confidentiality and data security.

For commissioning and healthcare planning purposes:

In some cases, for example when looking at population healthcare needs, some of your data may be shared (usually in such a way that you cannot be identified from it). The following organisations may use data in this way to inform policy or make decisions about general provision of healthcare, either locally or nationally.

• Leeds City Council: Public Health, Adult or Child Social Care Services
• West Yorkshire Integrated Care Board (or their approved data processors)
• NHS Digital (Formerly known as (HSCIC)
• ResearchOne Database
• Other data processors which you will be informed of as appropriate.

In order to comply with its legal obligations we may send data to NHS Digital when directed by the Secretary of State for Health under the Health and Social Care Act 2012.

This practice contributes to national clinical audits and will send the data which are required by NHS Digital when the law allows. This may include demographic data, such as date of birth, and information about your health which is recorded in coded form, for example, the clinical code for diabetes or high blood pressure.

For research purposes:

Research data is usually shared in a way that individual patients are non-identifiable.  Occasionally where research requires identifiable information you may be asked for your explicit consent to participate in specific research projects.  The surgery will always gain your consent before releasing any information for this purpose, unless the research has been granted a specific exemption from the Confidentiality Advisory Group of the Health Research Authority

Where specific information is asked for, such as under the National Diabetes audit, you will be given the choice to opt of the audit.

For safeguarding purposes, life or death situations or other circumstances when we are required to share information:

We may also disclose your information to others in exceptional circumstances (i.e. life or death situations) or in accordance with Dame Fiona Caldicott’s information sharing review (Information to share or not to share).

For example, your information may be shared in the following circumstances:

• When we have a duty to others e.g. in child protection cases
• Where we are required by law to share certain information such as the birth of a new baby, infectious diseases that may put you or others at risk or where a Court has decided we must.

When you request to see your information or ask us to share it with someone else:

If you ask us to share your data, often with an insurance company, solicitor, employer or similar third party, we will only do so with your explicit consent. Usually the requesting organisation will ask you to confirm your consent, often in writing or electronically. We check that consent before releasing any data and you can choose to see the information before we send it.

The lawful basis for the processing.

We are required to tell you the legal basis that is used for the various ways we process and use your data. In order to process your personal data we must specify a lawful basis and if we process any personal  data that is deemed to be “special category” data we must also specify a separate condition for processing special category data.

The following table sets the main ways your personal data may be used and the corresponding legal basis and category of data. Each purpose is covered in more detail within this notice to explain what these mean in more practical terms.

The recipients and categories of recipients of personal data.

We share information about you with other health professionals where they have a genuine need for it to support your care, as follows.

From time to time we may offer you referrals to other providers, specific to your own health needs- in these cases we will discuss the referral with you and advise you that we will be sharing your information (generally by referral) with those organisations.

The details of transfers of the personal data to any third countries or international organisations.

As a GP surgery, the only occasions when this would occur would be if you specifically requested this to occur- the practice will never routinely send patient data outside of the UK where the laws do not protect your privacy to the same extent as the law in the UK.

National Data Opt Out

Whenever you use a health or care service, such as attending Accident & Emergency or using Community Care services, important information about you is collected in a patient record for that service.  Collecting this information helps to ensure you get the best possible care and treatment.

The information collected about you when you use these services can also be used and provided to other organisations for purposes beyond your individual care, for instance to help with:

• Improving the quality and standards of care provided
• Research into the development of new treatments
• Preventing illness and diseases
• Monitoring safety
• Planning services

This may only take place when there is a clear legal basis to use this information.  All these uses help to provide better health and care for you, your family and future generations.  Confidential patient information about your health and care is only used like this where allowed by law.

Most of the time, anonymised data is used for research and planning so that you cannot be identified in which case your confidential patient information isn’t needed.

You have a choice about whether you want your confidential patient information to be used in this way.  If you are happy with this use of information you do not need to do anything.  If you choose to opt out your confidential patient information will still be used to support your individual care.

To find out more or to register your choice to opt out, please visit www.nhs.uk/your-nhs-data-matters.  On this web page you will:

• See what is meant by confidential patient information
• Find examples of when confidential patient information is used for individual care and examples of when it is used for purposes beyond individual care
• Find out more about the benefits of sharing data
• Understand more about who uses the data
• Find out how your data is protected
• Be able to access the system to view, set or change your opt-out setting
• Find the contact telephone number if you want to know any more or to set/change your opt-out by phone
• See the situations where the opt-out will not apply

You can also find out more about how patient information is used at:

https://www.hra.nhs.uk/information-about-patients/ (which covers health and care research); and

https://understandingpatientdata.org.uk/what-you-need-know (which covers how and why patient information is used, the safeguards and how decisions are made)

You can change your mind about your choice at any time.

Data being used or shared for purposes beyond individual care does not include your data being shared with insurance companies or used for marketing purposes and data would only be used in this way with your specific agreement.

Health and care organisations have until 31/7/2022 to put systems and processes in place so they can be compliant with the national data opt-out and apply your choice to any confidential patient information they use or share for purposes beyond your individual care. Our organisation has reviewed the disclosures we make and is compliant with the national data opt-out policy.

Retention periods for your personal data.

As long as you are registered as a patient with the surgery, your paper records are held at the practice along with your GP electronic record. If you register with a new practice, they will initiate the process to transfer your records. The electronic record is transferred to the new practice across a secure NHS data-sharing network and all practices aim to process such transfers within a maximum of 8 working days. The paper records are then transferred which can take longer. Primary Care Services England also look after the records of any patient not currently registered with a practice and the records of anyone who has died.

Once your records have been forwarded to your new practice (or after your death forwarded to Primary Care Services England), a cached version of your electronic record is retained in the practice and classified as “inactive”. If anyone has a reason to access an inactive record, they are required to formally record that reason and this action is audited regularly to ensure that all access to inactive records is valid and appropriate.  We may access this for clinical audit (measuring performance), serious incident reviews, or statutory report completion (e.g., for HM Coroner).

A summary of retention periods for medical records can be found on the BMA website

The rights available to you in respect of data processing.

Under the GDPR all patients have certain rights in relation to the information which the practice holds about them. Not all of these will rights apply equally, as certain rights are not available depending on situation and the lawful basis used for the processing- for reference these rights may not apply are where the lawful basis we use (as shown in the above table in the section on “lawful bases”) is:

• Processing is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the exercise of official authority vested in the controller – in these cases the rights of erasure and portability will not apply.
• Legal Obligation – in these cases the rights of erasure, portability, objection, automated decision making and profiling will not apply.

Right to be informed

You have the right to be informed of how your data is being used. The propose of this document is to advise you of this right and how your data is being used by the practice

The right of access

You have the right of access You have the right to ask us for copies of your personal information- this right always applies. There are some exemptions, which means you may not always receive all the information we process.

The right to rectification

You have the right to ask us to rectify information you think is inaccurate. You also have the right to ask us to complete information you think is incomplete. This right always applies.

The right to erasure

You have the right to ask us to erase your personal information in certain circumstances- This will not generally apply in the matter of health care data

The right to restrict processing

You have the right to ask us to restrict the processing of your information in certain circumstances– You have to right to limit the way in which your data is processed if you are not happy with the way the data has been managed.

The right to object

You have the right to object to processing if you disagree with the way in which part of your data is processed you can object to this- please bear in mind that this may affect the medical services we are able to offer you

Rights in relation to automated decision making and profiling.

Your rights in relation to automated processing– Sometimes your information may be used to run automated calculations. These can be as simple as calculating your Body Mass Index or ideal weight but they can be more complex and used to calculate your probability of developing certain clinical conditions, and we will discuss these with you if they are a matter of concern.

Typically, the ones used in the practice may include:

Qrisk– a cardiovascular risk assessment tool which uses data from your record such as your age, blood pressure, cholesterol levels etc to calculate the probability of you experiencing a cardiovascular event over the next ten years.

Qdiabetes– a diabetes risk assessment tool which uses your age, blood pressure, ethnicity data etc to calculate the probability of you developing diabetes.

CHADS – an assessment tool which calculates the risk of a stroke occurring for patients with atrial Fibrillation

This is not an exhaustive list- other tools may be used depending on your personal circumstances and health needs, however whenever we use these profiling tools, we assess the outcome on a case-by-case basis. No decisions about individual care are made solely on the outcomes of these tools, they are only used to help us us assess your possible future health and care needs with you and we will discuss these with you.

The right to data portability

Your right to data portability This only applies to information you have given us- you have the right to ask that we transfer the information you gave us from one organisation to another or give it to you. The right only applies if we are processing information based on your consent or under a contract, and the processing is automated, so will only apply in very limited circumstances

The right to withdraw consent

Because under the provisions of Data Protection Law most of the data processing activities carried out by the practice are not done under the “lawful basis” of consent you cannot withdraw consent as such, however if you are not happy with the way your data is being processed you do have the right to object and the right to ask us to restrict processing.

There is a new national opt-out that allows people to opt out of their confidential patient information being used for certain reasons other than their individual care and treatment. The system offers patients and the public the opportunity to make an informed choice about whether they wish their personally identifiable data to be used just for their individual care and treatment or also used for research and planning purposes. Details of the national patient opt out can be found online.

In the past, you may have already chosen to prevent your identifiable data leaving NHS Digital, known as a Type 2 opt-out. All existing Type 2 opt-outs will be converted to the new national data opt-out and this will be confirmed by a letter to all individuals aged 13 or over with an existing Type 2 objection in place. Once the national data opt-out is launched, it will no longer be possible to change preferences via local GP practices.

The right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority.

If you are happy for your information to be used, and where necessary shared, for the purposes described in this notice then you do not need to do anything.

Should you have any concerns about how your information is managed at the practice, please contact us.

If you are still unhappy following a review by the GP practice, you can then complain to the Information Commissioners Office (ICO) via:

• Their website: ico.org.uk
• Email: [email protected]
• Telephone: 0303 123 1113 (local rate) or 01625 545 745
• Or by mail: The Information Commissioner

Wycliffe House

Water lane

Wilmslow

Cheshire

SK9 5AF

There is a new Central NHS Computer System called the Summary Care Record (SCR). It is an electronic record which contains information about the medicines you take, allergies you suffer from and any bad reactions to medicines you have had.

Why do I Need a Summary Care Record?

Storing information in one place makes it easier for healthcare staff to treat you in an emergency, or when your GP practice is closed.

This information could make a difference to how a doctor decides to care for you, for example, which medicines they choose to prescribe for you.

Who Can See it?

Only healthcare staff involved in your care can see your Summary Care Record.

How do I Know if I Have One?

Over half of the population of England now have a Summary Care Record. You can find out whether Summary Care Records have come to your area by looking at our interactive map or by asking your GP.

Do I Have to Have One?

No, it is not compulsory. If you choose to opt-out of the scheme, then you will need to complete a form and bring it along to the surgery. You can use the form at the foot of this page.

More Information

For further information visit the NHS Care records website.

Please go to ‘Our Documents’ page to download the opt-out form.

Here is a summary on what GPs can and cannot do regarding private medical care:

Referrals to Private Care

You can self-refer for private treatment without involving your GP.

Some private consultants may require a referral from a GP to see you.

GPs do not charge for providing a referral letter, as this is part of their NHS work.

Sharing Medical Information

You can share copies of hospital letters or access your medical records via the NHS app to provide information to private providers.

Your GP can provide a medical report summarizing your records to a private provider, but they may charge an administrative fee for preparing it.

Arranging Private Tests/Investigations

GPs are not required to arrange tests or investigations requested solely by private healthcare providers.

GPs may order tests if they deem them clinically necessary and can interpret/manage the results as part of your NHS care.

You can access results of any tests done by your GP and share them with private providers.

The results of any tests carried out by private providers remain the responsibility of that provider for interpretation and follow-up. Your GP can not respond to results from testing that they have not requested.

Prescribing Medications from Private Care

GPs can prescribe medications on the NHS if they agree with the private provider’s recommendations and feel competent managing the prescriptions.

If the GP is not comfortable prescribing a private provider’s medication, the prescribing remains the responsibility of the private provider.

Shared Care Arrangements

“Shared care” agreements formally define responsibilities shared between your GP and the specialist who is monitoring your condition.

GPs can decline entering into new shared care arrangements with private providers.

There are usually shared-care agreements already in place for commissioned NHS services.

Your GP has a responsibility to ensure they can safely manage any medications they prescribe. So, while shared care can be convenient, it is not automatic. Your GP will make this decision carefully based on their competence, your specific case, and their current workload capacity. If shared care is not possible, your medication prescribing and related monitoring will remain under the care of your specialist and their team.

In general, a clear separation is maintained between private care you pay for and the NHS services provided by your GP. Your GP will determine what falls under their NHS responsibilities for your care.