Confidential information from your medical records can be used by the NHS to improve the services offered so we can provide the best possible care for everyone.

The information along with your postcode and NHS number, but not your name, are sent to a secure system where it can be linked with other health information.

This allows those planning NHS services or carrying out medical research to use information from different parts of the NHS in a way that does not identify you.

You have a choice – if you are happy for your information to be used in this way you do not have to do anything.

If you have concerns or wish to prevent this from happening, please speak to practice staff, or see the links below for further information.

www.nhs.uk/caredata

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.

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 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.

Please open the attached links under the “our Documents” page for further information regarding the electronic data-sharing model.

There is more information about existing guidelines at http://www.nhscarerecords.nhs.uk/carerecords.

Electronic Data Sharing Module

You may have seen or heard about the eDSM in the news or if you have recently visited other clinical services in the area. This will allow patients to consent or dissent to sharing information on their record with other services using SystmOne.

SystmOne is a computer system that we use in the practice to record your clinical information and various other NHS care services use the same programme such as the District Nursing team and Podiatry. By consenting to a share this will allow immediate access to your clinical information inputted outside of the practice instead of us having to rely on letter and fax notifications.

The program will go live on our system from 24^th July and so you will need to inform your GP during your next consultation if you wish to consent or dissent. Please see the menu on the right for further information.

How we Keep Your Records Confidential

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

Maintain full and accurate records of the care we provide to you

• Keep records about you confidential and secure.
• Provide information in a format that is accessible to you (e.g. large type if you are partially sighted).

We will not share information that identifies you for any reason unless:

• You ask us to do so.
• We ask and you give us specific permission.
• We have to do this by law.
• We have special permission for health or research purposes, or
• We have special permission because the interests of the public are thought to be of greater importance than your confidentiality—for example, if you had a serious medical condition that may put others you had come into contact with at risk.

We Hold Your Records in Strict Confidence

Who are our partner organisations?

We may share information with the following main partner organisations:

• Strategic Health Authorities (SHA’s).
• NHS Trusts (Hospital’s, PCT’s).
• Special Health Authorities.
• Ambulance Service.

We may also share your information, with your consent and subject to strict sharing protocols on how it will be used, with:

• Social Services
• Education Services
• Local Authorities
• Voluntary Sector Providers
• Private Sector

Anyone who receives information from us also has a legal duty to:

Keep it Confidential!

Why we Collect Information About you:

In the National Health Service, we aim to provide you with the highest quality of health care. To do this we must keep records about you, your health and the care we have provided or plan to provide to you.

These records may include:

• Basic details about you such as an address, date of birth, next of kin.
• Contact we have had with you such as clinical visits.
• Notes and reports about your health.
• Details and records about your treatment and care.
• Results of x-rays, laboratory tests, etc.
• Relevant information from people who care for you and know you well. such as health professionals and relatives.

It is good practice for people in the NHS who provide care to:

• Discuss and agree with you what they are going to record about you.
• Give you a copy of letters they are writing about you, and.
• Show you what they have recorded about you if you ask.

How Your Records Are Used

The people who care for you use your records to:

• Provide a good basis for all health decisions made in consultation with you and other health care professionals
• Deliver appropriate health care
• Make sure your health care is safe and effective, and
• Work effectively with others providing you with health care

Others may also need to use records about you to:

• Check the quality of health care (such as clinical audit)
• Protect the health of the general public
• Keep track of NHS spending

• Manage the health service
• Help investigate any concerns or complaints you or your family have about your health care

Some information will be held centrally to be used for statistical purposes. In these instances, we take strict measures to ensure that individual patients cannot be identified.

We use anonymous information, wherever possible, but on occasions, we may use personally identifiable information for essential NHS purposes such as research and auditing.

However, this information will only be used with your consent, unless the law requires us to pass on the information.

 Notification

The Data Protection Act 1998 & General Data Protection Regulations 2018 require organisations to notify the Information Commissioner of the purposes for which they process personal information.

All GP practices are required to declare the mean earnings (e.g. average pay) for GP’s working to deliver NHS services to patients at each practice.

The average pay for GPs working in Lepton & Kirkheaton Surgeries in the last financial year was £79,382 before tax and National Insurance. This is for 3 full-time GP’s and 2 part-time GPs who worked in the practice for more than six months.

There is a new Central NHS Computer System called the Summary Care Record (SCR). It is an electronic record that 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.

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.