Confidentiality

Your Information and Confidentiality

Everyone working for the NHS has a legal duty to keep information about you confidential.

We adhere to high standards of confidentiality as laid down by the Data Protection Act 1998, the Caldicott Principles and the Health and Social Care Act 2001.

You may be receiving care from other organisations as well as the NHS (for example Social Services), we may need to share some information about you so we can all work together for your benefit. We only ever use or pass on your information if others involved have a genuine need for it. We will not disclose your information to third parties without your permission unless there are exceptional circumstances, such as when the health or safety of others is at risk or where the law requires information to be passed on.
 
Anyone who receives information from us is also under a legal duty to keep it confidential
 
We are required by law to report some information to the appropriate authorities. For example:
 
· Infectious diseases which may endanger the safety of others, such as meningitis or measles (but not HIV/AIDS)
· Where a formal court order has been issued
 
Our guiding principle is that we hold your records in the strictest of confidence.

Access to Medical Records

In accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998, patients have right of access to their health records provided:

• Application is made in writing (form available from reception or via the link at the bottom of this page)
• A fee is paid
  - Access only £10.00
  - Access and copies £10.00 up to £50.00 (dependent upon work involved)

Information may be withheld if it could seriously harm your mental or physical health, or identify a third party.

We must ensure that you are entitled to see the records you are asking for, if  you are not the patient we will need identification and proof that you have written consent from the patient or that you have been appointed by a court to act for the patient. Where a patient is incapacitated and unable to give consent,  information can only be released if it is in the patient's best interest,  the application should therefore be supported by specific details.

Children under 16 who have the capacity and understanding to take decisions about their own treatment are also entitled to view their own health records, providing the are judged by professionals to understand their choices and the potential outcomes of sharing information. Case law has established that such a child is known as 'Gillick Competent'. You can also view the health records of a child for whom you have parental responsibility subject to the approval of the health professional and the agreement of the child if they are deemed competent to understand fully what is proposed.

Access to the record has to be provided within 21 days of a written application from the patient where the record has been made in the last 40 days. Records written more than 40 days before the application must be provided within 40 days. We may charge up to £10 for access to records, or up to £50 if you need copies. If any information has been recorded in the 40 days before your application, access is free of charge, but copies may still be charged for.

APPLICATION FOR ACCESS TO HEALTH RECORDS over 16

APPLICATION FOR ACCESS TO HEALTH RECORDS under 16

Suggestions & 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.

Simply contact the Business Manager, Mr Richard Jarman, by letter addressed to him at the surgery , by email to  richard.jarman@gp-m81040.nhs.uk or telephone him on 01299 872859 and he will set all the necessary wheels in motion.

Further written information is available on the complaints procedure from reception. We are continually striving to improve our service. Any helpful suggestions would be much appreciated.

Compliments Comments and Complaints

Complaints form

How We Aim To Help You

The doctors and staff of this practice are committed to giving you quality health care including prevention and health screening. You will be given full information regarding all the services we offer and we will welcome any comments you may have on ways to improve these services

You will be treated with courtesy and respect at all times. Staff involved in your care will give you their names and ensure you know how to contact them again if necessary.

All information regarding you and your treatment will be treated as strictly confidential by all members of your primary health care team.

You will be advised about how and when to obtain the results of any tests or x-rays you have had.

The doctors, nurses and receptionists in this practice are all human beings and, although every effort is made to minimise errors, we do sometimes make mistakes. Complaints will always be checked thoroughly and dealt with promptly.

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How You Can Help Us To Help You

Please read our practice booklet. This will help you to get the best out of the services we offer.

Any comments or suggestions you wish to pass on to us may be either given to a member of staff or ‘posted’ into the box in the entrance lobby of the surgery.

We ask that you treat the doctors and staff with the respect and politeness you would expect to receive from them.

Valuable staff time is often spent in ‘tracking down’ patients who have failed to let us know that they have changed their name or address. Please inform us of any such change as soon as possible.

Please do not call before the suggested time.

If you are unhappy with our service, complaints can be made either to any member of your health care team or, if preferred, to the practice manager in writing. Remember that aggressive or abusive behaviour is not helpful and in extreme circumstances an offending patient will be reported to the police and may be removed from the list.

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Violence And Abuse

This is a zero tolerance practice and any incidence of abusive or violent behaviour will lead to the person involved being removed from the practice list and advised to seek another practice.

Freedom of Information Act

Information about York House Medical Centre is available upon request.

Your request should be made in writing and addressed to the Practice Manager.

We are an approved University of Birmingham Medical Training site for final year students.

At times you may be offered an appointment with a final year medical student. These consultations are carried out initially by the student alone and will be reviewed by the supervising doctor from the practice. They provide invaluable experience for the fifth year university students and feedback from patients who have seen students has always been very positive. You may also be asked if you would be willing for the consultation to be videoed, the video is used only for training purposes and is not seen by anyone other than the student and the supervising doctor. Any recordings made will not be kept but erased once used for student training purposes.

All your information remains confidential as it would if you were seeing a doctor from the practice in the usual way.

Your consent to be seen by a student or to have the consultation with a student videoed is always requested before the consultation and you will be asked to sign a consent form on arrival at the practice. This is in keeping with the rules set for obtaining consent for any patients to be seen by student doctors as requested by The General Medical Council.