Patient Rights

• All practice staff have access to your patient information under strict confidentiality guidelines in compliance with the Data Protection Act.
• Smoking, eating, drinking and the use of mobile phones are not permitted in the Surgery.
• No member of the practice, patient or member of the public attending the surgery will be discriminated against.
• All patients aged 16 - 75 are entitled to a consultation every 3 years.
• Patients over 75 are entitled to a consultation every 12 months.
• If you require privacy at the checking in desk please ask and your discussion will take place in private.
• Please do not ask for information about anyone but yourself. We are not allowed to disclose any information whatsoever on another patient, even if it is your husband, wife, partner, parents or child over the age of 16.
• Children under the age of 16 years are not allowed to collect any prescriptions for safety reasons.

Abuse

We ask that you treat your GP and all Practice Staff properly - without violence or abuse.

If you fail in this you will be removed from the Practice list. We abide by the NHS Zero tolerance policy on physical and verbal abuse

Confidentiality

 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

The Freedom of Information (FOI) Act was passed on 30 November 2000. It gives a general right of access to all types of recorded information held by public authorities, with full access granted in January 2005. The Act sets out exemptions to that right and places certain obligations on public authorities.

FOI replaced the Open Government Code of Practice, which has been in operation since 1994.

Data Protection and FOI – how do the two interact?

The Data Protection Act 1998 came into force on 1 March 2000. It provides living individuals with a right of access to personal information held about them. The right applies to all information held in computerised form and also to non-computerised information held in filing systems structured so that specific information about particular individuals can retrieved readily.

Individuals already have the right to access information about themselves (personal data), which is held on computer and in some paper files under the Data Protection Act 1998.

The right also applies to those archives that meet these criteria. However, the right is subject to exemptions, which will affect whether information is provided. Requests will be dealt with on a case by case basis.

The Freedom of Information Act and the Data Protection Act are the responsibility of the Lord Chancellor’s Department. A few of its strategic objectives being:

• To improve people’s knowledge and understanding of their rights and responsibilities
• Seeking to encourage an increase in openness in the public sector
• Monitoring the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information
• Developing a data protection policy which properly balances personal information privacy with the need for public and private organisations to process personal information

The Data Protection Act does not give third parties rights of access to personal information for research purposes.

The FOI Act does not give individuals access to their personal information, though if a request is made, the Data Protection Act gives the individual this right. If the individual chooses to make this information public it could be used alongside non-personal information gained by the public under the terms of the FOI Act.

Complaints

We make every effort to give the best service possible to everyone who attends our Practice.

However,  if you have any complaints or concerns about the service that you have received from the Doctors or Staff working for this Practice, please let us know.

We hope that most problems can be sorted out easily and quickly, often at the time they arise and with the person concerned.  If your problem cannot be sorted out in this way and you wish to make a complaint, we would like you to let us know as soon as possible - ideally within a matter of days or at most a few weeks.  If it is not possible to do that, please let us have details of complaint:

.. within 12 months of the incident that caused the problem; or              

.. within 12 months of discovering that you have a problem

Paula Sharpe, our Practice Manager will be pleased to deal with any complaint.  She will explain the procedure to you and make sure that your concerns are dealt with promptly.  You can make your complaint:

In person - ask to make an appointment with the Practice Manager.

In writing - some complaints may be easier to explain in writing - please give as much information as you can, then send your complaints to the Practice for the attention of the Practice Manager as soon as possible.

Alternatively-  you may wish your complaint to be dealt with by the Primary Care Trust.  You can contact them at the following address:Complaints Team, Babington Hospital, Derby Road, Belper, Derbyshire. DE56 1WH   Telephone 01773 525099

WHAT WE SHALL DO:

Our complaints procedure is designed to make sure that we settle any complaints as quickly as possible.

We shall acknowledge your complaint within 3 working days and aim to have looked into your complaint within 10 working days of the date when you raised it with us.  We shall then be in a better position to offer you an explanation, or a meeting with the people involved.

When we look into your complaint, we shall aim to:

.. find out what happened and what went wrong

.. make it possible for you to discuss the problem with those concerned, if you would like this.

.. make sure you receive an apology, where appropriate.

.. identify what we can do to make sure the problem doesn't happen again.

At the end of the investigation your complaint will be discussed with you in details, either in person or in writing.

COMPLAINING ON BEHALF OF SOMEONE ELSE:

Please note that we keep strictly to the rules of medical confidentiality.  If you are complaining on behalf of someone else, we have to know that you have his or her permission to do so.  A note signed by the person concerned will be needed, unless they are incapable (because of illness) of providing this.

WHAT YOU CAN DO NEXT:

We hope that, if you have a problem, you will use our Practice Complaints Procedure.  We believe that this will give us the best chance of putting right whatever has gone wrong and the opportunity to improve our Practice.

However, this does not affect your right to approach the local Primary Care Trust.  If you feel you cannot raise your complaint with us or you are dissatisfied with the way we are dealing with your complaint, the Patient Advice & Liaison Service based at Derbyshire County PCT provide confidential advice and support, helping you to sort out any concerns you may have about the care we provide, guiding you through the different services available from the NHS.

Telephone 01283 731300 between 9.00-17.00 am/pm Mon-Fri.

If you remain dissatisfied with the responses to your complaint, you have the right to ask the Healthcare Commission to review your case.  The Healthcare Commission is an independent body established to promote improvements in healthcare through the assessment of the performance of those who provide service.  You can contact them on 03000 616161, Email: enquiries@cqc.org.uk  or write to them at:

St Nicholas Building, St Nicholas Street, Newcastle Upon Tyne, NE1 1NB 

HELP US GET IT RIGHT:

We constantly try to improve the service we offer.

Please let us know when you think we have done something well or if you have any suggestions as to how we can do something better.

GP Training

The Practice undertakes the teaching and training of health care professionals or persons intending to become health care professionals.