ACCESS TO PATIENT INFORMATION
Confidential patient data will be shared within the practice heath care team and with other
health care professionals to whom you are referred for care. Your data may be
used by those clinical teams providing your care for the essential purpose of
clinical audit.
Confidential patient data may also be required for the
broader purposes of public health and audit, research, the provision of health
care services, teaching and training. Data disclosed will be kept to the minimum
required to serve the purpose and if possible will be anonymised before disclosure.
Confidential and identifiable patient information will not be disclosed otherwise without explicit
consent, unless;
- it is a matter of life and death or serious harm to you or to another individual
- it is overwhelmingly in the public interest to do so
- there is a legal obligation to do so.
In all of these circumstances the minimum identifiable information that is essential to
serve the purpose may be revealed to someone with a legal entitlement to access the data for that purpose.
All individuals with access to your data have a professional and/or contractual
duty of confidentiality.
If you are concerned about any of the ways in
which your confidential data is used, further information is available from the
practice manager. You are entitled to register an objection, which will be respected
if this is possible.
PATIENTS' RIGHTS
- Patients with problems which are considered urgent will be seen the same day.
- Patients will be provided with information about the services provided in the practice
via the practice leaflet and the internet.
- Protocols will be followed for the management of common chronic conditions when appropriate.
- NHS treatment should be readily available locally when this is feasible.
- If the practice/patient relationship breaks down, patients have the right to register with another
practice. The practice also has the right to remove that patient from their list. This would generally only
follow a warning that had failed to remedy the situation and we would normally give the patient a specific
reason for the removal
PATIENTS' RESPONSIBILITIES
- Patients should attend their appointments at the arranged time. If this is not possible
they should notify the surgery as soon as is possible.
- Patients should be aware that individual appointments are for one person only.
- Requests for visits and advice during out of hours should be for true emergencies only.
- Patients should be aware that home visits are made at the doctors' discretion.
SUGGESTIONS AND COMPLAINTS
We aim to provide a high quality
service for our patients. Should you have any useful suggestions or indeed any
complaints regarding the service we provide, please contact the practice manager,
Linda Pratt, who will be happy to help you.
We welcome any comments about
the practice and its services. A suggestion box is situated adjacent to the public
telephone.
For independent advice you can speak to the Patient Advice
and Liaison Service (PALS) at Redditch and Bromsgrove Primary Care Trust on 0845 602 4820.
Violent
patients - Zero Tolerance
The NHS operates a Zero Tolerance
Policy with regard to violence and abuse and the practice has the right to remove
patients form 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 are obliged to 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 circumstances leading to it. The PCT is then responsible
for providing further medical care for such patients.
Patient choice
If a patient requires a referral for further care, a choice of provider will be offered by their doctor and a booklet explaining this choice will be given to the patient.
Freedom
of Information - Publication Scheme
The Freedom of Information
Act 2000 obliges the practice to produce a Publication Scheme. A Publication Scheme
is a guide to the 'classes' of information the practice intends to routinely make
available. This scheme is available from the practice manager.
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