Confidentiality

Access to Health Records

The practice holds computerised health records, and is registered under the "DATA PROTECTION ACT", under which you have statutory rights.

We have always thought it best to openly share information with our patients. In addition, you are entitled, by law, to have access to your records that were hand-written after 1-11-1991. The Data Protection Act 1998 gives patients the right to access their medical records, including computerised as well as manual records.

You must apply in writing stating the reason access is required; a charge of £10, plus photocopying fees (to a maximum of £50), will be made.

We will process applications for access received from patients, the parent/guardian for a child, a personal representative of a deceased patient or a person appointed to look after the affairs of a patient incapable of doing so personally.

We will endeavour to allow access to records promptly; however applications may take up to 40 days to process.

If you have any questions about our access to health records policy please contact the Practice Manager Mrs. Jeanette Millward

Download our Access to Health Records Policy 

Application for Access to Medical Records

Confidentiality

Everyone who works in the NHS has a duty to keep information about you confidential. We will take great care to protect the information you give us. We will only share appropriate information with other agencies responsible for your care when they require it to be able to help you e.g. hospital doctors, social services, therapists, etc., unless you ask us not to. If you agree, we will keep your relatives and carers up to date with the progress of your treatment.

We will also share relevant information with staff who may not be directly involved in your care, but who help us to monitor and improve our services generally e.g. pharmacists, record clerks, summarisers and the health authority, unless you ask us not to. These staff are also bound by rules of confidentiality. We may use health information for medical audit to help ensure we improve our quality of care and service, but will ensure that individual details cannot be identified.

We will not release any information or reports to solicitors, employers, non health organisations, insurers, researchers, etc without your specific consent, (unless we are required to by law).

If you have any questions about our record keeping or confidentiality policy, please contact the Practice Manager Mrs Jeanette Millward.

---

Freedom of Information

The ICO has published a new Model Publication Scheme that all public authorities are required to adopt by 1st January 2009.

Model Publication Scheme - further information

(Last updated 23-08-2009)

Suggestions & Complaints

Patient Complaints Procedure

If you have a complaint or concern about the service you have received from the doctors or any of the staff working in this practice, please let us know. We operate a practice complaints procedure as part of a NHS system for dealing with complaints. Our Complaints system meets national criteria.

How to Complain

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 ~ because this will enable us to establish what happened more easily. If it is not possible to do that, please let us have details of you complaint:

• Within 12 months of the incident that caused the problem; or
• Within 12 months of discovering that you have a problem, provided this is within 12 months of the incident.

Complaints should be addressed to Mrs Jeanette Millward, Practice Manager or any of the doctors. Mrs Millward will ensure that your concerns are dealt with promptly. It will be a great help if you are as specific as possible about your complaint.

What we shall do

We shall acknowledge your complaint within three working days and aim to have looked into the complaint within ten working days of the date when you raised it with us. We shall then be in a 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 the Practice Manager or those concerned, if you would like this.
• Make sure you receive an apology, where this is appropriate.
• Identify what we can do to make sure the problem doesn't happen again.

Complaining on behalf of someone else

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

Complaining to the Health Authority

We hope that, if you have a problem, you will use our practice complaints procedure. We believe this will give us the best chance of putting right whatever has gone wrong and an opportunity to improve our practice. But this does not affect your right to approach the Primary Care Trust, if you feel you cannot raise your complaint with us or you are dissatisfied with the results of our investigation. You should contact NHS Blackpool  Complaints Department on Telephone Number 01253 303251.

Download our Complaints Procedure Leaflet

Download our Complaints Form

(page updated 10-08-2011)

Practice Charter

We aim to provide the best possible service to our patients and hope you will feel that we achieve that aim. The care of your health is a partnership between yourself and the Primary Health Care Team. The success of that partnership depends on an understanding of each other's needs and co-operation between us.

Our responsibility to you:

• You will be greeted courteously.
• You have a right to confidentiality.
• You have the right to see your medical records subject to the limitations of the law.
• You will be seen the same day if your problem is urgent.
• You will be seen by the doctor of your choice whenever possible.
• You will be informed if there will be a delay of more than 20 minutes for your appointment.
• You will be referred to a consultant when your GP thinks it necessary.
• You will be given the result of any test or investigation on request or at your next appointment.
• Your repeat prescription will be ready for collection within 48 hours of your request.
• Your suggestions and comments about the services offered will be considered sympathetically and any complaint dealt with in accordance with the Practice complaints procedure.

Your responsibility to us:

• Please treat all surgery staff with the same respect - we are all just doing our job.
• Do not ask for information about anyone other than yourself.
• Tell us of any change of name, phone number or address, so that our records are accurate.
• Only request an urgent appointment if appropriate. Home visits should only be requested if you are really too ill to attend surgery.
• Please cancel your appointment if you are unable to attend.
• Please be punctual, but be prepared to wait if your own consultation is delayed by an unexpected emergency.
• Please allow sufficient time for your consultant's letter or the results of any tests to reach us. You will be advised of the usual length of time to wait.
• Use the internet or the tear off slip to request your repeat prescription whenever possible.
• If you are due a medical review please request an appointment before your next prescription is due.
• Please attend for Chronic Disease reviews, when an appointment is sent to you.

(Last updated 23-08-2009)

HIGHFIELD SURGERY PUBLICATION SCHEME

Welcome to the Dr Stuart Priestley; Dr Paul Kelly; Dr John Inmonger, Dr Michelle Martin; Dr Anne McGuire; Dr Stephen Hall; Dr Anil Madan; Dr Daniel Bennett General Practitioner Publication scheme. This is a guide to the General Practitioners (who practice together) within the partnership practice Publication Scheme as required by the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

Part I: Introduction

This Publication Scheme is a complete guide to the information routinely made available to the public by Dr Stuart Priestley; Dr Paul Kelly; Dr John Inmonger; Dr Michelle Martin; Dr Anne McGuire; Dr Stephen Hall; Dr Anil Madan; Dr Daniel Bennett General Practitioners. It is a description of the information about our General Practitioners and Practice which we make publicly available. It will be reviewed at regular intervals and we will monitor its effectiveness.

How much does is cost?

The publications are all free unless otherwise indicated within each Class (with £). Where information is provided at a cost the charges will be calculated as set out in Class 7.

How is the information made available?

The information within each Class is available in hard copy from:

Practice Manager
Highfield Surgery
South Shore Primary Care Centre
Lytham Road
Blackpool
FY4 1TJ

Your rights to information

• In addition to accessing the information identified in the Publication Scheme, you are entitled to request information about Highfield Surgery General Practice under the NHS Openness Code 1995.
• The Freedom of Information Act 2000 recognises that members of the public have the right to know how public services are organised and run, how much they cost and how the decisions are made.
• From January 1st 2005 it will oblige the General Practice to respond to requests about information that it holds, and is recorded in any format and it will create a right of access to that information. These rights are subject to some exemptions which have to be taken into consideration before deciding what information it can release.
• New environmental information regulations may be introduced as early as 2003. These will enable similar access to environmental information as under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
• Under the Data Protection Act 1998, you are also entitled to access your clinical records or any other personal information held about you. For this, please contact:

  Practice Manager
  Highfield Surgery
  South Shore Primary Care Centre
  Lytham Road
  Blackpool
  FY4 1TJ
  Tel: 01253 953950

Feedback

If you have any comments about the operation of the Publication Scheme, or how we have dealt with your request for information from the Scheme, please write to:

Practice Manager
Highfield Surgery
South Shore Primary Care Centre
Lytham Road
Blackpool
FY4 1TJ
Tel: 01253 953950 

Part II: Classes of Information

All information at the Highfield Surgery General Practice is held, retained and destroyed in accordance with NHS guidelines. Our commitment to publish information excludes any information which can be legitimately withheld under the exemptions set out in the NHS Openness Code or Freedom of Information Act 2000. Where individual Classes are subject to exemptions, the main reasons are e.g. the protection of commercial interests and personal information under the Data Protection Act 1998. This applies to all Classes within the Publication Scheme. The information on this Scheme is grouped into the following broad categories:

1. Who we are

Details of the practice, organisational structures, key personnel and how we fit into the NHS.

This practice adheres to the national General Medical Services contract. The contract is with: Blackpool Primary Care Trust, Blackpool PCT, Seasider's Way, Blackpool, Lancashire FY1 6JX
(Telephone 01253 651200)

The practice aims to follow National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) and National Service Framework guidelines. Copies of these can also be found on the NICE website (http://www.nice.org.uk/) or the Department of Health Website (http://www.doh.gov.uk/).

The NHS is a very large part of the public sector. It is possible to find out information about our practice, the Blackpool Primary Care Trust and other NHS services in your area by using http://www.nhs.uk/. A full list of local General Practices can be found there too. The Highfield Surgery provides general medical services for the geographical area of South Shore, Blackpool.

The full names of GPs at our practice are listed in the introduction to this publication scheme. The practice also employs:

• Administrative staff
• Health visitor(s)
• Practice manager
• Practice Nurse(s)
• Primary Health Care Assistant

A full list of the services we provide is detailed in Class 2 below.

There is a national NHS Plan that explains how the NHS is changing and sets out how all the different parts function and work together. A copy is available on the Department of Health website (http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/DH_4002960).

Some information will be withheld, including personal, confidential information about individuals which is protected by the Data Protection Act 1998.

2. Our services

The range of services we provide under contract to the NHS

This is the range of services we provide:

• Baby clinic
• Cervical cytology

• Child health surveillance

• Contraceptive services

• Counsellor

• Dietician

• Disease management clinics

• District nurse

• Immunisations

• Maternity medical services
• Minor surgery services

For any policies relating to our services, please refer to Class 6.

See also our practice leaflet which is available free of charge from:

Practice Manager
Highfield Surgery
South Shore Primary Care Centre
Lytham Road
Blackpool
FY4 1TJ

Included in our practice leaflet is information on the following:

• Our practice address

• Our opening and closing times

• The arrangements we have for out of hours cover

• The clinical interests of our doctors

3. Financial and funding information

Funding details and charging policies

The Highfield Surgery receives money from Blackpool according to its contract (as per Class 1 above) in exchange for services provided for patients.

The total income received from the NHS before expenses in 2006/7 was £1,210,334. The sum spent on drugs prescribed by the Highfield Surgery in 2007/8 is approximately £2.1m

Please see Part III for a link to the document titled "Statement of Fees and Allowances payable for General Medical Practitioners in England". Please apply to the Department of Health for information on costs and the formats this is available in.

There may be circumstances where material cannot be released because it is confidential or commercial information or the appropriate officer designated for these purposes under the Act has taken the view that it may be prejudicial to the conduct of the Practice's affairs.

4. Regular publications and information to the public

Guidance and information sheets

Information leaflets relating to the clinical services and health services that we provide for patients and the public, and our range of regular publications are freely available at the surgeries, in the reception areas. Alternatively, please contact:

Practice Manager
Highfield Surgery
South Shore Primary Care Centre
Lytham Road
Blackpool
FY4 1TJ
Tel: 01253 953950

5. Complaints

Policies, procedures and contacts for complaints

If you wish to make a complaint about any aspect of our service, you should first contact:

Mrs Jeanette Millward
Practice Manager
Highfield Surgery
South Shore Primary Care Centre
Lytham Road
Blackpool
FY4 1TJ
Tel: 01253 953950

The complaints policy for our practice can be obtained free of charge from our website or in hardcopy from:

Practice Manager
Highfield Surgery
South Shore Primary Care Centre
Lytham Road
Blackpool
FY4 1TJ
Tel: 01253 953950

6. Our policies and procedures

General policies and procedures in use within the practice. These include (but are not restricted to) data protection, prescribing and prescription, zero tolerance and heath and safety.

We have policies available free of charge on the following:

• Complaints

• Confidentiality

• Data protection

• Health and safety

• Information sharing with other agencies

• Removal of patients from the practice list

• Zero tolerance to violence

Each of the above are available in hardcopy and some are available on our website. If you would like a copy, please contact:

Practice Manager
Highfield Surgery
South Shore Primary Care Centre
Lytham Road
Blackpool
FY4 1TJ
Tel: 01253 953950 

7. This publication scheme

In this class we will publish any changes we make to this publication scheme, the criteria on which our information management policies are made and a referral point for all enquiries regarding information management generally in the practice. We will also publish any proposed changes or additions to publications already available.

Cost of information

For the most part, we will charge you only for hard copies or copying onto media (e.g. CD-ROM). Some information is available free, but for others there may be a charge. The charges will vary according to how information is made available. Charges are as follows:

a) Via the General Practice website - free of charge, although any charges for Internet Service provider and personal printing costs would have to be met by the individual.

For those without internet access, a single print-out as on the website would be available by post from the Practice Manage r, Highfield Surgery, South Shore Primary Care Centre, Lytham Road, Blackpool FY4 1TJ or by personal application at the Highfield Surgery General Practice.

However, requests for multiple printouts, or for archived copies of documents which are no longer accessible or available on the web, may attract a charge for the retrieval, photocopy, postage etc. We will let you know the cost and charges that will have to be paid in advance. We will not provide printouts of other organisation's websites.

b) Leaflets and brochures - free of charge for leaflets or booklets on, for example, services we offer to the public. A list is available in Class 4.

c) "Glossy" or other bound paper copies, or in some cases a CD-ROM, video or other mediums are for charge as in our publication lists available from the Practice Manager, Highfield Surgery, South Shore Primary Care Centre, Lytham Road, Blackpool FY4 1TJ. Tel: 01253 953950

d) E-mail will be free of charge unless it says otherwise.

The charges will be reviewed regularly.

Part III: Useful Resources

Websites:

Our website

http://www.highfield-surgery.co.uk/

Information Commissioner

http://www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk/

General Medical Council

http://www.gmc-uk.org/ 

Publications:

NHS Openness Code

www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/DH_4050490

FOI Act 2000

www.hmso.gov.uk/acts/acts2000/20000036.htm

Code of Practice under Sections 45 and 46 FOI Act 2000

www.foi.gov.uk/reference/statCodesOfPractice.htm 

Primary Care contracting for General Medical Practitioners in England

www.dh.gov.uk/en/Policyandguidance/Organisationpolicy/Primarycare/Primarycarecontracting/index.htm 

(Last updated 11-04-2011)