Access to Patient Information & Patient Rights
We ask you for information about yourself so that you can receive appropriate care and treatment. We keep this information, together with details of your care, because it may be needed if we see you again. Sometimes, the law requires us to pass on information, for example, to notify a birth. You have a right to access your medical records. You may be charged a fee for this.
EVERYONE WORKING FOR THE NHS HAS A LEGAL DUTY TO KEEP INFORMATION ABOUT YOU CONFIDENTIAL
You may be receiving care from other people, as well as the NHS. So that we can all work together for your benefit, we may need to share some information about you.
We will only ever use or pass on information about you, if people have a genuine need for it, in your and everyone’s interests. Anyone who receives information from us is also under a legal duty to keep it confidential.
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.
Complaints
We always try to provide the best services possible, but there may be times when you feel that this has not happened. The Practice operates a complaints procedure, as part of the NHS system for dealing with complaints.
Our complaints system meets national criteria. We hope you will use it to allow us to look into, and, if necessary, correct any issues that you have identified. If you wish to make a complaint, please write to our Complaints Manager, Mrs. D. Hardy.
You will be contacted within three days of receiving the complaint to discuss how the complaint will be addressed.
Violence Policy
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.