Practice Policies

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 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.

Duty of Candour/Being Open Policy

The Practice acts in an open and transparent way with clear, honest and effective communication with patients, their families and carers throughout their care and treatment, including when things go wrong.

The Practice recognises the importance of the following attributes and strives to implement them at all times.

• Openness – Enabling concerns and complaints to be raised freely without fear, and questions asked to be answered.
• Transparency – Allowing information about the truth, about performance and outcomes to be shared with staff, people who use the service, the public and regulators.
• Candour – Any person who uses the service and who is harmed by the provision of a service provider is informed of the fact and an appropriate remedy offered, regardless of whether a complaint has been made, or a question asked about it.
• Apology – An ‘apology’ is an expression of sorrow or regret in respect of a notifiable safety incident. It is not an admission of guilt.
• Appropriate Written Records – Records are complete, legible, accurate and up to date. Every effort must be made to ensure records are updated without any delays.
• Cancelling Treatment – where planned treatment is not carried out as a direct result of the notifiable safety incident.

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 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.