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 of care 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. diabetes 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 staff 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 

You have the right to request access to view or obtain copies of the information the practice holds about you and to have it amended, if it is factually inaccurate.

Your request must be in writing and we have one month to respond.

If you want to see information from another provider e.g. a hospital, you should write to them directly.

Should you have any concerns about how your information is managed at the practice, please contact the Practice Manager.

Violence Policy

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.

Privacy Notice

Praze Surgery holds personal information about patients in the form of their medical records, both on computer and some hard copies.  This is to help our team to look after patients' health needs and it may also be used to protect the health of the public and help manage the NHS as a whole.  Information may be used for clinical audit to monitor the quality of the service the practice provides.  Information used for statistical purposes will be held so that individual patients cannot be identified.

We are committed to protecting patient privacy and every member of staff who works for an NHS organisation has a legal obligation to keep the information we hold about patients confidential.  We will not disclose your information to any third party, without your permission, unless there are exceptional circumstances i.e. in a life or death situation or where the law requires information to be passed on.  We may also have to share your information with our partner organisations e.g. District Nurses or Social Services, this is subject to strict agreements on how it will be used.

Our full Privacy Notice is available here Fair Processing & Privacy Notice

Praze Surgery is registered with the Information Commissioners Office (ICO)

Should you have any concerns about how your information is managed at the practice, please contact the Practice Manager.  If you are still unhappy following a review by the data controller, you can then complain to the Information Commissioners Officer (ICO) via their website www.ico.gov.uk

Population Health Management

What is Population Health Management?

Population Health Management (or PHM for short) is aimed at improving the health of an entire population.  It is being implemented across the NHS and this Practice is taking part in a project extending across Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly.

PHM is about improving the physical and mental health outcomes and wellbeing of people and making sure that access to services is fair, timely and equal. It helps to reduce the occurrence of ill-health and looks at all the wider factors that affect health and care.

The PHM approach requires health care organisations to work together with communities and partner agencies, for example, GP practices, community service providers, hospitals and other health and social care providers.

These organisations will share and combine information with each other in order to get a view of health and services for the population in a particular area. This information sharing is subject to robust security arrangements.

How will my Personal Data be used?

The information will include personal data about your health care.  This information will be combined and anything that can identify you (like your name or NHS Number) will be removed and replaced with a unique code.

This means that the people working with the data will only see the code and cannot see which patient the information relates to.

If we see that an individual might benefit from some additional care or support, we will send the information back to your GP or hospital provider and they will use the code to identify you and offer you relevant services.

Examples of how the information could be used for a number of healthcare related activities include;

• improving the quality and standards of care provided

• research into the development of new treatments

• preventing illness and diseases

• monitoring safety

• planning services

Who will my Personal Data be shared with?

Your GP and other care providers will send the information they hold on their systems to the South West and Central Commissioning Support Unit.  SWC CSU are part of NHS England. More information can be found here https://www.scwcsu.nhs.uk/

SWC CSU will link all the information together. Your GP and other care providers will then review this information and make decisions about the whole population or particular patients that might need additional support.

SWC CSU work in partnership with a company called Optum to help them with this work.  Both SWC CSU and Optum are legally obliged to protect your information and maintain confidentiality in the same way that your GP or hospital provider is. More information about Optum can be found here www.optum.co.uk.

Is using my Personal Data in this way lawful?

Health and Social Care Providers are permitted by data protection law to use personal information where it is ‘necessary for medical purposes’. This includes caring for you directly as well as management of health services more generally.

Some of the work that happens at a national level with your personal information is enabled by other legislation.   Sharing and using your information in this way helps to provide better health and care for you, your family and future generations. Confidential patient information about your health and care is only used like this where allowed by law and, in the majority of cases, anonymised data is used so that you cannot be identified.

For more information, speak to our Data Protection Officer who will be happy to help with any queries you may have.

What will happen to my Personal Data when the Personal Health Management project is finished?

The PHM project is time-limited to 20 weeks.  This will provide enough time to evaluate the benefits of PHM.  Once the project has completed all personal information processed by SWC CSU / Optum will be securely destroyed.  This will not affect any personal information held by your GP or other health or social care providers.

Can I object to my Personal Data being used as part of the Personal Health Management project?

You have a right to object to your personal information being used in this way.  If you do choose to ‘opt out’ please contact our Data Protection Officer in the first instance.  If you are happy for your personal information to be used as part of this project then you do not need to do anything further, although you do have the right to change your mind at any time.

You also have a number of other rights relating to how your personal information is used.  See our main privacy policy for more information [insert link to practice website].

If you still have concerns, you can also contact the Information Commissioner’s Office directly at the following link https://ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint/your-personal-information-concerns/.

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.

To pursue a complaint please contact the practice manager, in writing, who will deal with your concerns appropriately. Further written information is available regarding the complaints procedure from reception.

Praze Surgery Complaints Leaflet

Practice Charter

These are the local standards set within this practice for the benefit of our patients.  It is our job to give you treatment and advice.  Following discussion with you, you will receive the most appropriate care given by suitably qualified people. 

No care or treatment will be given without your informed consent.  In the interest of your health it is important for you to understand all the information given to you.  Please ask us questions if you are unsure of anything. 

Our Responsibility to You

We are committed to giving you the best possible service.

Access:  You will have access to a doctor rapidly in cases of emergency: 24 hours in cases of urgency and otherwise within two working days.  We will arrange a home visit as appropriate for those who are too ill or infirm to be brought to the surgery.

Telephone:  We will try to answer the telephone promptly and to ensure that there are sufficient staff available to do this.  You should be able to speak to a doctor by telephone.

Test Results
If you have undergone tests or x-rays ordered by the practice we will inform you of the results at your next appointment.  If no further appointments needs to be arranged we will advise you when and how to obtain the results. 

Respect
Patients will be treated as individuals and partners in their healthcare irrespective of their ethnic origin or religious and cultural beliefs. 

Information
We will give you full information about the services we offer.  Every effort will be made to ensure that you receive the information which directly affects your health and the care being offered. 

Health Promotion
The practice will offer patients advice and information on steps they can take to promote good health and avoid illness. Self-help which can be undertaken without reference to a doctor in the case of minor ailments. 

Health Records
You have the right to see your health records subject to limitations in the law.  These will be kept confidential at all times. 

Your Responsibility to Us 

Help us to help you.
 
Please let us know if you change your name, address or telephone number.
 
Please do everything you can to keep appointments.  Tell us as soon as possible if you cannot, otherwise other patients may have to wait longer.
 
We need help too.  Please ask for home visits by the doctor only when the person is too ill to visit the surgery.
 
Please keep your phone call brief and avoid calling during the peak morning time for
non-urgent matters.
 
Test results take time to reach us, so please do not ring before you have been asked to do so.  Enquiries about tests ordered by the hospital should be directed to the hospital, not the practice.
 
We ask that you treat the doctors and practice staff with courtesy and respect.
 
Please read our practice booklet & website.  This will help you to get the best out of the services we offer.  It is important that you understand the information given to you.  Please ask us questions if you are unsure of anything.
 
Remember you are responsible for your own health and the health of your children.  We will give you our professional help and advice.  Please act upon it.

Data Choices: How the NHS and care services use your information

Data Choices

Health and care organisations have until 2020 to put systems and processes in place so they can be compliant with the national data opt-out and apply your choice to any confidential patient information they use or share for purposes beyond your individual care. Our organisation is currently compliant with the national data opt-out policy.

To find out more about the benefits of data sharing, how data is protected, or to make/change your opt-out choice visit www.nhs.uk/your-nhs-data-matters

Download a copy of the patient leaflet