Practice Policies & Patient Information
Care Data
Information about you and the care you receive is shared, in a secure system, by healthcare staff to support your treatment and care.
It is important that we, the NHS, can use this information to plan and improve services for all patients. We would like to link information from all the different places where you receive care, such as your GP, hospital and community service, to help us provide a full picture. This will allow us to compare the care you received in one area against the care you received in another, so we can see what has worked best.
Information such as your postcode and NHS number, but not your name, will be used to link your records in a secure system, so your identity is protected. Information which does not reveal your identity can then be used by others, such as researchers and those planning health services, to make sure we provide the best care possible for everyone.
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 any concerns or wish to prevent this from happening, please speak to practice staff or visit our Summary Care Record page to find out how you can opt out.
You can find out more on the NHS Care Data website:
Care Data Website
Complaints
We make every effort to give the best service possible to everyone who attends our surgery.
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.
If you wish to make a formal complaint, please do so as soon as possible – ideally within a matter of a few days. This will enable us to establish what happened more easily.
To pursue a complaint please contact the practice manager who will deal with your concerns appropriately.
The practice manager, Nicola Falcon, can be contacted on 01895 632677 or via email to wlmc.patientenquiries@nhs.net
Confidentiality – Virtual Consultations
Virtual Consultations
We are pleased to be offering new ways of consulting with out patients including video consultations and eConsults. These are convenient ways for our patients to access healthcare and advice. The highest confidentiality and security standards are applied to ensure patient data acquired by these methods is always kept secure.
Photographs
You may send a photograph as part of your assessment in an email, as part of an eConsult, or via text. This photograph will be put in you patient care medical record and be protected under the Data Protection Act 2018. This means the picture will only be used for the purpose of your care and will be kept secure.
Please note the photograph may need to be process by administrative staff members and may need to be assessed by another clinician other than who you may have specified, dependent on which doctor or nurse is on duty.
AccuRx
AccuRx is a new software enabling a Practice to communicate with patients via SMS. Messages are sent regarding appointment bookings, health advice, blood results and other administrative matters.
If you want to opt out of this new service, please email wlmc.patientenquiries@nhs.net.
GDPR
What is GDPR?
In May 2018, The General Data Protection Act comes into force, a Europe-wide law that replaces the Data Protection Act 1998 in the UK.
Please see our leaflet about GDPR, by clicking on the file below:
Privacy and Fair Processing Notice
Our Privacy and Fair Processing Notice explains why we collect information about you and how that information may be used to deliver your direct care and manage the local health and social care system.
The notice reflects:
- What information we collect about you;
- How and why we use that information;
- How we retain your information and keep it secure;
- Who we share you information with and why we do this.
- The notice also explains your rights in relation to consent to use your information, the right to control who can see your data and how to seek advice and support if you feel that your information has not been used appropriately.
How do we comply with Subject Access Requests?
If you would like to make a request for your medical record, please email the request to hillccg.sar@nhs.net
When emailing a request please ensure you include:
Full Name, Date of Birth, Address
What specific information you require i.e. clinic letters, consultations, problems list
Please ensure you specify the period of time the request is relevant to i.e. the past 3 years
- Please be aware under GDPR:All third party information must be redacted, this requires a member of the administration team to go through your record and redact out any mention of third parties.
- We have one month to respond to a request – if an extension is required we may ask for one. Under ICO guidelines, we can extend the time to respond to a request by a further two months, if the request is complex or we have received a number of requests from an individual.
- In most circumstances we cannot charge a fee; however, if we believe the request is manifestly unfounded or excessive we may charge a “reasonable fee” for the administrative costs of complying with the request. A fee can also be charged for repeated requests.
- If a request is made via a third party i.e. a solicitor, we require written consent from the patient to release their medical information to a third party before a request can be processed.
- In certain cases we can refuse to comply with a request if the subject access request is considered manifestly unfounded or excessive.
Data Breach Notification Policy
Privacy Notice
Please see below the Privacy Notice for this practice:
GP Earnings
Contractual Publishing of Practice Income
NHS regulations require GP practices to publish their net earnings/income and the number of GPs who work at the practice. Please find WLMC’s details below for the last financial year pre-deduction of Tax/National Insurance/Employers and Employees Superannuation.
The average pay for GPs working in Wood Lane Medical Centre in the last financial year was £70,197 before deduction of tax and national Insurance. This is for 3 full time GPs and 3 part time GPs.
Named GP
The practice is required by the Government under the terms of the latest GP contract to allocate all patients a named GP who is responsible for your overall care provided by the practice. It is important to remember that you can continue seeing any GP of your choice at the practice. Individual patients will be informed of their named accountable GP at the first appropriate interaction with the practice.
Your named GP will usually be the named doctor you are registered with. If you wish to be told the name of your named GP, please ask reception when you are next in the surgery.
Where a patient expresses a preference as to which GP they have been assigned, the practice will make reasonable efforts to accommodate this request.
Your named GP will not be available at all times and if your needs are urgent, you may need to discuss them with an alternative doctor.
Summary Care Record
There is a new Central NHS Computer System called the Summary Care Record (SCR). It is an electronic record which 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.
Opt Out Form
Further Information: If you would like to opt out permanently, please send us your request in writing to the attention of the Practice Manager or click and use the opt out form below and hand into reception:
Further Information
For further information visit the NHS Care records website or the HSCIC Website.
Zero Tolerance
The Practice takes it very seriously if a member of staff or one of the doctors or nursing team is treated in an abusive or violent way.
The Practice supports the government’s ‘Zero Tolerance’ campaign for Health Service Staff. This states that GPs and their staff have a right to care for others without fear of being attacked or abused. To successfully provide these services a mutual respect between all the staff and patients has to be in place. All our staff aim to be polite, helpful, and sensitive to all patients’ individual needs and circumstances. They would respectfully remind patients that very often staff could be confronted with a multitude of varying and sometimes difficult tasks and situations, all at the same time. The staff understand that ill patients do not always act in a reasonable manner and will take this into consideration when trying to deal with a misunderstanding or complaint.
However, aggressive behaviour, be it violent or abusive, will not be tolerated and may result in you being removed from the Practice list and, in extreme cases, the Police being contacted. In order for the practice to maintain good relations with their patients the practice would like to ask all its patients to read and take note of the occasional types of behaviour that would be found unacceptable:
- Using bad language or swearing at practice staff
- Any physical violence towards any member of the Primary Health Care Team or other patients, such as pushing or shoving
- Verbal abuse towards the staff in any form including verbally insulting the staff
- Racial abuse and sexual harassment will not be tolerated within this practice
- Persistent or unrealistic demands that cause stress to staff will not be accepted. Request will be met wherever possible and explanations given when they cannot
- Causing damage/stealing from the Practice’s premises, staff or patients
- Obtaining drugs and/or medical services fraudulently
We ask you to treat your GPs and their staff courteously at all times.
zero-tolerance-practice-policy
Removal From the Practice List
A good patient-doctor relationship, based on mutual respect and trust, is the cornerstone of good patient care. The removal of patients from our list is an exceptional and rare event and is a last resort in an impaired patient-practice relationship. When trust has irretrievably broken down, it is in the patient’s interest, just as much as that of the practice, that they should find a new practice.
An exception to this is on immediate removal on the grounds of violence e.g. when the Police are involved.
Removing Other Members of the Household
In rare cases, however, because of the possible need to visit patients at home it may be necessary to terminate responsibility for other members of the family or the entire household. The prospect of visiting patients where a relative who is no longer a patient of the practice by virtue of their unacceptable behaviour resides, or being regularly confronted by the removed patient, may make it too difficult for the practice to continue to look after the whole family.
This is particularly likely where the patient has been removed because of violence or threatening behaviour and keeping the other family members could put doctors or their staff at risk.