Patient Rights

You will be treated with respect and as a partner in your care. Being a partner means you have responsibilities too.

We will:

• Ensure our patients have 24-hour access to medical advice.
• Aim for you to have access to a suitably qualified medical professional within 48 hours of your initial contact during surgery hours, or in an urgent case, the same day
• Work in partnership with you to achieve the best medical care possible.
• Involve you and listen to your opinions and views in all aspects of your medical care.
• The prevention of disease, illness and injury is a primary concern. The medical staff will advise and inform you of the steps you can take to promote good health and a healthy lifestyle.

We would respectfully ask that you:

• Let us know if you intend to cancel an appointment or are running late.
• TREAT STAFF WITH COURTESY AND RESPECT. Reception staff may have to ask some personal questions to assist us in providing you with the best service
• Inform the practice staff of any alterations in your circumstances, such as change of surname, address or telephone number. Please ensure that we have your correct telephone number, even if it’s ex-directory.

As patients, you are responsible for your own health and that of any dependents. It is important that you adhere to information and advice given to you by health professionals, and co-operate with the practice in endeavouring to keep you healthy.

Data Protection

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.

PST (Patient Services team)

TEL 0161 – 212 6270

The NHS employs over a million staff in thousands of locations. It is a large and complex organisation providing a broad range of services. It is not surprising that sometimes you or a loved one may feel bewildered or concerned when using the NHS. And this can be at times when you are feeling at your most vulnerable and anxious.

So, what should you do if you want on the spot help when using the health service? The NHS expects all members of staff to listen and respond to you to the best of their ability. But sometimes, you may wish to talk to someone employed especially to help you. The Patient services Team known as PST, has been introduced to ensure that the NHS listens to patients, their relatives, carers and friends, and answers their questions and resolves their concerns as quickly as possible.

PST also helps the NHS to improve services by listening to what matters to patients and their loved ones and making changes, when appropriate.

What does PST do?

In particular, PST will:

• Provide you with information about the NHS and help you with any other health-related enquiry
• Help resolve concerns or problems when you are using the NHS
• Provide information about the NHS complaints procedure and how to get independent help if you decide you may want to make a complaint
• Provide you with information and help introduce you to agencies and support groups outside the NHS
• Inform you about how you can get more involved in your own healthcare and the NHS locally
• Improve the NHS by listening to your concerns, suggestions and experiences and ensuring that people who design and manage services are aware of the issues you raise
• Provide an early warning system for NHS Trusts and monitoring bodies by identifying problems or gaps in services and reporting them.

Find out more

Should you wish to make a complaint: Please Click here and you will be directed to the practice complaints procedure, and form. Alternatively fill in a contact form HERE.

Should you wish to compliment the practice: As well as when things do not meet your expectations, we also would appreciate being informed of any examples of good experiences you have at the practice also. You do so either by post, or email info.tnfmc@nhs.net

All reviews of the practice both positive and any areas which you feel we could improve can also be done via the NHS site or via the Business Google review site

Sometime in early 2014 you may receive a leaflet via junk mail, entitled ‘Better information means better care‘

It may not be clear from the leaflet that a significant change in what is done with your medical records is about to happen.

The leaflet says you should “speak to your GP practice” if you want to stop your or your family’s confidential medical information being uploaded and passed on.

This is misleading.

You do not have to speak with your doctor or book an appointment. The choice to keep your medical records private is completely down to you; all you need do is inform your Surgery – not necessarily the doctor themselves – which you can do simply by writing a letter or dropping a form into your surgery.

To make things more straightforward, please follow the below link. Print it off, fill in your details, sign it and send it or drop it into the surgery reception for their attention.

Opt out document

Opting out will not affect the care you receive and you can change your mind at any point and opt back in if you like. If you have any specific concerns, we recommend you speak with Mike Neville – Managing Partner (Practice management)

As you will see from the letter, there are TWO codes that your doctor will need to add to your record – one to prevent identifiable information being uploaded from your GP practice and one to stop the Health and Social Care Information Centre from passing on identifiable information about you that it gathers from anywhere else, e.g. hospital records, clinics or testing laboratories.

Remember, the choice is yours. You don’t need to justify it but if you want to keep your medical records private and confidential you do need to act now.

PUBLICATION OF EARNINGS

It is a contractual requirement for practices to publish their mean average earnings for 2020/21. Practices must;

• Publish details on their website by 31 March 2022.
• If asked this must also be available in paper copy or you can show the patient the information posted on the website.

The calculation excludes certain types of income and the rules are complex and open to interpretation.

Full time GP’s are defined in the guidance as working eight sessions or more. The number of GP’s includes salaried GP’s and locums who worked full or part time for 6 months or more.

All GP practices are required to declare the mean earnings for GPs working to deliver NHS services to patients at each practice.

The average pay for GPs working in Neville Family Medical Centre in the last financial year was £59,052 before tax and National Insurance. This is for 4 part time GPs who worked in the practice for more than six months.

The Neville Family Medical Centre’s mission is to provide high-quality, personalized healthcare to registered patients while also improving the health of the practice’s population as a whole. The practice aims to achieve this by:

• Maintaining a happy and healthy practice that responds to patients’ needs and expectations
• Reflecting the latest advances in primary healthcare
• Offering the highest quality care and support to people nearing the end of their life
• Helping patients think ahead about the choices they may face and recording their decisions
• Ensuring that patients’ wishes are fulfilled, wherever possible

What is a “named GP”?

The GP contract in England now requires the named accountable GP to take responsibility for the co-ordination of all appropriate services and ensure they are delivered where required (based on the named GP’s clinical judgement) to each of their patients.

The role of the named GP will not:

• take on vicarious responsibility for the work of other doctors or health professionals;
• take on 24-hour responsibility for the patient, or have to change their working hours:
• imply personal availability for GPs throughout the working week;
• be the only GP or clinician who will provide care to that patient.

The contract remains ‘practice based’, so overall responsibility for patient care has not changed.

The named GP is largely a role of oversight, with the requirements being introduced to reassure patients they have one GP within the practice who is responsible for ensuring that this work is carried out on their behalf.

There is no condition within the requirement for patients to see the named GP when they book an appointment with the practice.

Patients are entitled to choose to see any GP or nurse in the practice in line with current arrangements.

Who is your named GP at The Neville Family Medical Centre?

The allocation of Named GP is by the first letter of your surname. You can find your named GP below:

If you would prefer a different GP as your named GP, please request this in writing to Mike Neville, Manging Partner, and he will be able to help

Fees for work conducted by the practice that is Non-NHS work

 Section 1: Fees List

Section 2: FAQs regarding why GPs have to charge for some services, provided by the British Medical Association (BMA)

 1.    Surely the doctor is being paid anyway?

• It is important to understand that many GPs are not employed by the NHS.
• They are self-employed and they have to cover their costs – staff, buildings, heating, lighting, etc – in the same way as any small business.
• The NHS covers these costs for NHS work, but for non-NHS work, the fees charged by GPs contribute towards their costs.

2.    What is covered by the NHS and what is not?

• The Government’s contract with GPs covers medical services to NHS patients, including the provision of ongoing medical treatment.
• In recent years, however, more and more organisations have been involving doctors in a whole range of non-medical work.
• Sometimes the only reason that GPs are asked is because they are in a position of trust in the community, or because an insurance company or employer wants to ensure that information provided to them is true and accurate.

3.    Examples of non-NHS services for which GPs can charge their own NHS patients:

• accident or sickness certificates for insurance purposes
• fitness to attend school or university and holiday insurance certificates
• reports for health clubs to certify that patients are fit to exercise

4.    Examples of non-NHS services for which GPs can charge other institutions:

• life assurance and income protection reports for insurance companies
• reports for the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) in connection with disability living allowance and attendance allowance
• medical reports for local authorities in connection with adoption and fostering

5.    Do GPs have to do non-NHS work for their patients?

• With certain limited exceptions, for example a GP confirming that one of their patients is not fit for jury service, GPs do not have to carry out non-NHS work on behalf of their patients.
• Whilst GPs will always attempt to assist their patients, they are not required to do such non-NHS work.

6.    Is it true that the BMA sets fees for non-NHS work?

• We suggest fees that GPs may charge their patients for non-NHS work (ie work not covered under their contract with the NHS) in order to help GPs set their own professional fees.
• However, the fees suggested by us are intended for guidance only; they are not recommendations and a doctor is not obliged to charge the rates we suggest.

7.    Can a fee be charged by a GP for the completion of cremation forms?

• It is important to differentiate between death certificates (which must be completed free of charge) and cremation forms.
• Cremation forms, unlike death certificates, require doctors to make certain investigations which do not form part of their NHS duties.
• A deceased person cannot be cremated until the cause of death is definitely known and properly recorded. Before cremation can take place two certificates need to be signed, one by the GP and one by another doctor.
• Cremation form 4 must be, as stated, completed by the registered medical practitioner who attended the deceased during their last illness.
• Form 5 must be completed by a registered medical practitioner who is neither a partner nor a relative of the doctor who completed form.
• A fee can be charged for the completion of both forms 4 and 5 as this does not form part of a doctor’s NHS duties.
• Doctors normally charge these fees to the funeral director, who, generally passes on the cost to the family. Doctors are also entitled to charge a mileage allowance, where appropriate.
• The fees for cremation forms 4 and 5 (which are agreed with the National Association of Funeral Directors, NAFD, the National Society of Allied and Independent Funeral Directors, SAIF, and Co-operative Funeralcare) are available on our website.

8.    Why does it sometimes take my GP a long time to complete my form?

• Time spent completing forms and preparing reports takes the GP away from the medical care of his or her patients.
• Most GPs have a very heavy workload and paperwork takes up an increasing amount of their time, so many GPs find they have to take some paperwork home at night and weekends.

9.    I only need the doctor’s signature – what is the problem?

• When a doctor signs a certificate or completes a report, it is a condition of remaining on the Medical Register that they only sign what they know to be true.
• In order to complete even the simplest of forms, therefore, the doctor might have to check the patient’s entire medical record. Carelessness or an inaccurate report can have serious consequences for the doctor with the General Medical Council (the doctors’ regulatory body) or even the Police.

10.  What will I be charged?

• We recommend that GPs tell patients in advance if they will be charged, and what the fee will be.
• It is up to individual doctors to decide how much they will charge, but we produce lists of suggested fees which many doctors use. Surgeries often have lists of fees on the waiting room wall based on these suggested fees.

11.  What can I do to help?

• Not all documents need a signature by a doctor, for example passport applications. You can ask another person in a position of trust to sign such documents free of charge.
• If you have several forms requiring completion, present them all at once and ask your GP if he or she is prepared to complete them at the same time to speed up the process.
• Do not expect your GP to process forms overnight. Urgent requests may mean that a doctor has to make special arrangements to process the form quickly, and this will cost more.

12.  What type of report work doesn’t have to be done by my GP?

• There is some medical examination and report work that can be done by any doctor, not only a patient’s GP. For this work there are no set or recommended fees which means doctors may set their own fees. We offer guidelines only.

Introduction

For the purpose of applicable data protection legislation including the General Data Protection Regulation (EU 2016/679) and the Data Protection Act 2018, the GP practice responsible for your personal data is The Neville Family Medical Centre.

We, The Neville Family Medical Centre, will be known as the ‘Controller’ of the personal data you provide to us.

Your privacy is important to us, and we are committed to protecting and safeguarding your data privacy rights.

This Privacy Notice applies to personal information processed by or on behalf of the Practice. It applies to the personal data of our patients and to the data you have given us about your carers/family members. It covers the following topics:

• Why do we need your data?
• What data do we collect about you?
• What is the legal basis for using your data?
• How do we store your data?
• How do we maintain the confidentiality of your data?
• How long do we keep your data?
• What are your data protection rights?
• Who do we share your data with?
• Are there other projects where your data may be shared?
• When is your consent not required?
• How can you access or change your data?
• What should you do if your personal information changes?
• Changes to our privacy policy
• Our Data Protection Officer
• How to contact the appropriate authorities

Why do we need your data?

As your General Practice, we need to know your personal, sensitive and confidential data in order to provide you with appropriate healthcare services. Your records are used to facilitate the care you receive, and to ensure you receive the best possible healthcare.

Information may be used within the GP practice for clinical audit, to monitor the quality of the service provided.

What data do we collect about you?

Personal data: We collect basic personal data about you which does not include any special types of information or location-based information.  This includes your name, postal address and contact details such as email address and telephone number.

By providing the Practice with your contact details, you are agreeing to the Practice using those channels to communicate with you about your healthcare, i.e. by letter (postal address), by voice-mail or voice-message (telephone or mobile number), by text message (mobile number) or by email (email address). If you are unhappy or have a concern about our using any of the above channels, please let us know.

Special Category personal data: We also collect confidential data linked to your healthcare which is known as “special category personal data”, in the form of health information, religious belief (if required in a healthcare context) ethnicity and gender. This is obtained during the services we provide to you and through other health providers or third parties who have provided you with treatment or care, e.g. NHS Trusts, other GP surgeries, Walk-in clinics etc.

Records which the Practice holds about you may include the following information:

• Details about you, such as your address, carer, legal representative, emergency contact details
• Any contact the Practice has had with you, such as appointments, clinic visits, emergency appointments etc.
• Notes and reports about your health
• Details about your treatment and care
• Results of investigations such as laboratory tests, x-rays etc
• Relevant information from other health professionals, relatives or those who care for you

NHS records may be electronic, on paper, or a mixture of both.

Use of CCTV: Closed circuit television is utilised to protect the safety of our patients, staff and members of the public. To maintain privacy and dignity, CCTV is not in place where examinations or procedures are being undertaken. The building landlord remains the data controller of this data and any disclosures or requests should be made to the Practice Manager.

What is the legal basis for using your data?

We are committed to protecting your privacy and will only use information collected lawfully in accordance with:

• Data Protection Act 201
• The General Data Protection Regulations 2016
• Human Rights Act 1998
• Common Law Duty of Confidentiality
• Health and Social Care Act 2012
• NHS Codes of Confidentiality, Information Security and Records Management

Under the General Data Protection Regulation we will lawfully be using your information in accordance with:

Article 6 (e) – “processing is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in the controller”

Article 9 (h) – “processing is necessary for the purposes of preventive or occupational medicine, for the assessment of the working capacity of the employee, medical diagnosis, the provision of health or social care or treatment or the management of health or social care systems”

For the processing of special categories data, the basis is:

Article 9 (2) (b) – “processing is necessary for the purposes of carrying out the obligations and exercising specific rights of the controller or of the data subject in the field of employment   and social security and social protection law”

These articles apply to the processing of information and the sharing of it with others for specific purposes.

How do we store your data?

We have a Data Protection regime in place to oversee the effective and secure processing of your personal and special category (sensitive, confidential) data. No third parties have access to your personal data unless the law allows them to do so and appropriate safeguards have been put in place.

The Practice uses the system EMIS Web to manage clinical information for your care and health. This system is provided by a company called Optum UK which acts as a data processor on behalf of the Practice. They also use a sub-processor, Amazon Web Services, which acts under written instructions from Optum UK. Under no circumstances are any of these organisations allowed or able to access your information.

All the personal data we use is processed by our staff in the UK. However, for the purposes of IT hosting and maintenance this information may be located on servers within the European Union.

In certain circumstances you may have the right to withdraw your consent to the processing of data. These circumstances will be explained in subsequent sections of this document.

In some circumstances we may need to store your data after your consent has been withdrawn, in order to comply with a legislative requirement.

How do we maintain the confidentiality of your data?

Our Practice policy is to respect the privacy of our patients, their families and our staff and to maintain compliance with the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) and all UK specific Data Protection requirements. Our policy is to ensure all personal data related to our patients will be protected.

We use a combination of working practices and technology to ensure that your information is kept confidential and secure.

Every member of staff who works for an NHS organisation has a legal obligation to keep information about you confidential.

All employees and sub-contractors engaged by our Practice are asked to sign a confidentiality agreement. The Practice will, if required, sign a separate confidentiality agreement if the client deems it necessary.  If a sub-contractor acts as a data processor for The Neville Family Medical Centre an appropriate contract will be established for the processing of your information.

Some of this information will be held centrally and used for statistical purposes. Where this happens, we take strict measures to ensure that individual patients cannot be identified.

Sometimes your information may be requested to be used for research purposes. The Practice will always gain your consent before releasing the information for this purpose in an identifiable format.   In some circumstances you can Opt-out of the Practice sharing any of your information for research purposes.

How long do we keep your data?

We are required under UK law to keep your information and data for the full retention periods as specified by the NHS Records Management Code of Practice for Health and Social Care and in accordance with National Archives requirements.

More information on records retention can be found online at: https://digital.nhs.uk/article/1202/Records-Management-Code-of-Practice-for-Health-and-Social-Care-2016

What are your data protection rights?

If we already hold your personal data, you have certain rights in relation to it.

Right to object: If we are using your data because we deem it necessary for our legitimate interests to do so, and you do not agree, you have the right to object. We will respond to your request within 30 days (although we may be allowed to extend this period in certain cases). Generally, we will only disagree with you if certain limited conditions apply.

Right to withdraw consent: Where we have obtained your consent to process your personal data for certain activities (for example a research project), or consent to market to you, you may withdraw your consent at any time.

Right to erasure: In certain situations (for example, where we have processed your data unlawfully), you have the right to request us to erase your personal data. We will respond to your request within 30 days (although we may be allowed to extend this period in certain cases) and will only disagree with you if certain limited conditions apply.

Right of data portability: If you wish, you have the right to transfer your data from us to another data controller. We will help with this with a GP to GP data transfer and transfer of your hard copy notes.

National Data Opt-Out: The National Data Opt-Out is a service introduced on 25 May 2018 that allows people to opt out of their confidential patient information being used for research and planning purposes. The National Data Opt-Out replaces the previous Type 2 Opt-Out, which required NHS Digital not to share a patient’s confidential patient information for purposes beyond their individual care. Any patient who had a Type 2 Opt-Out has had it automatically converted to a National Data Opt-Out from 25 May 2018 and has received a letter giving them more information and a leaflet explaining the new service. If a patient wants to change their choice, they can use the new service to do this. You can find out more from the Practice or by visiting:

https://www.nhs.uk/your-nhs-data-matters/

If you wish to raise a query or request relating to any of the above, please contact us. We will seek to deal with it without undue delay, and in any event in accordance with the requirements of any applicable laws. Please note that we may keep a record of your communications to help us resolve any issues which you raise.

Who do we share your data with?

We consider patient consent as being the key factor in dealing with your health information.

To provide around-the-clock safe care, we will make information available to trusted organisations for specific purposes unless you have asked us not to,

To support your care and improve the sharing of relevant information to our partner organisations when they are involved in looking after you, we will share information to other systems. The general principle is that information is passed to these systems unless you request that this does not happen, but that system users should ask for your consent before viewing your record.

Our partner organisations are:

• NHS Trusts / Foundation Trusts
• GPs
• NHS Commissioning Support Units
• Independent Contractors such as dentists, opticians, pharmacists
• Private Sector Providers
• Voluntary Sector Providers
• Ambulance Trusts
• Integrated Care Boards
• Social Care Services
• NHS England (NHSE) and NHS Digital (NHSD)
• Multi Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH)
• Local Authorities
• Education Services
• Fire and Rescue Services
• Police and Judicial Services
• Voluntary Sector Providers
• Private Sector Providers
• Other ‘data processors’ which you will be informed of

You will be informed who your data will be shared with, and in cases where your consent is required you will be asked for it.

Below are some examples of when we would wish to share your information with trusted partners.

Primary Care Networks: We are a member of Cheetham & Crumpsall Primary Care Network. This means we work closely with a number of local practices and care organisations for the purpose of direct patient care. They will only be allowed to access your information if it is to support your healthcare needs. If you have any concerns about how your information may be accessed within our primary care network, we would encourage you to speak or write to us.

Extended Access: We provide extended access services to our patients which means you can access medical services outside of our normal working hours. In order to provide you with this service, we have formal arrangements in place with the Integrated Care Board and with other practices whereby certain key “hub” practices offer this service on our behalf for you as a patient to access outside our opening hours. Those key “hub” practices will need to have access to your medical record to be able to offer you the service. We have robust data sharing agreements and other clear arrangements in place to ensure your data is always protected and used for those purposes only.

Medicines Management: The Practice may conduct Medicines Management Reviews of medications prescribed to its patients. This service performs a review of prescribed medications to ensure patients receive the most appropriate, up-to-date and cost-effective treatments. Our local NHS Integrated Care Board employs specialist pharmacists and they may at times need to access your records to support and assist us with prescribing. This reason for this is to help us manage your care and treatment.

Individual Funding Requests: An Individual Funding Request is a request made on your behalf, with your consent, by a clinician, for the funding of specialised healthcare which falls outside the range of services and treatments that CCG has agreed to commission for the local population. An Individual Funding Request is considered when a case can be set out by a patient’s Clinician that there are exceptional clinical circumstances which make the patient’s case different from other patients with the same condition who are at the same stage of their disease, or when the request is for a treatment that is regarded as new or experimental and where there are no other similar patients who would benefit from this treatment. A detailed response, including the criteria considered in arriving at the decision, will be provided to the patient’s clinician.

Are there other projects where your data may be shared?

Other research projects: With your consent we would also like to use your name, contact details and email address to inform you of services that may benefit you. There may be occasions when authorised research facilities would like to invite you to participate in research, innovations, identifying trends or improving services. At any stage where we would like to use your data for anything other than the specified purposes and where there is no lawful requirement for us to share or process your data, we will ensure that you have the ability to consent or to opt out prior to any data processing taking place. This information is not shared with third parties or used for any marketing and you can unsubscribe at any time via phone, email or by informing the Practice.

When is your consent not required?

We will only ever use or pass on information about you to others involved in your care if they have a genuine need for it. We will not disclose your information to any third party without your permission unless there are exceptional circumstances.

There are certain circumstances where we are required by law to disclose information, for example:

• where there is a serious risk of harm or abuse to you or other people
• where a serious crime, such as assault, is being investigated or where it could be prevented
• notification of new births
• where we encounter infectious diseases that may endanger the safety of others, such as meningitis or measles (but not HIV/AIDS)
• where a formal court order has been issued
• where there is a legal requirement, for example if you had committed a Road Traffic Offence

We are also required to act in accordance with Principle 7 of the Caldicott Review (Revised version 2013) which states: “The duty to share information can be as important as the duty to protect patient confidentiality.” This means that health and social care professionals should have the confidence to share information in the best interests of their patients within the framework set out by the Caldicott Principles.

How can you access or change your data?

You have a right under the Data Protection legislation to request access to view or to obtain copies of the information the Practice holds about you and to have it amended should it be inaccurate.

Your request should be made to the Practice and we have a form (SAR – Subject Access Request) which you will need to complete. We are required to respond to you within one calendar month.

For information from the hospital you should write direct to them. You will need to give adequate information (full name, address, date of birth, NHS number and details of your request) so that your identity can be verified and your records located.

There is no charge to receive a copy of the information held about you.

What should you do if your personal information changes?

Please contact the practice as soon as any of your details change. This is especially important for changes of address or contact details such as your mobile phone number and email address.

The Practice will from time to time ask you to confirm that the information we currently hold is accurate and up-to-date.

Changes to our privacy policy

It is important to point out that we may amend this Privacy Notice from time to time.

Our Data Protection Officer

The local ICB has appointed Shavarnah Purves to act on behalf of GP Practices to be the Data Protection Officer.

She can be contacted on the following e-mail address:

shavarnah.purves@nhs.net

If you have any concerns about how your data is shared, or if you would like to know more about your rights in respect of the personal data we hold about you, then please contact the Practice Data Protection Officer.

Use of AI Scribe Technology

As part of our commitment to improving patient care and clinical efficiency, The Neville Family Medical Centre on occasion may use AI Scribe technology to support clinicians in documenting consultations more accurately and efficiently.

What is an AI Scribe?

An AI Scribe is a secure, computer-assisted tool that listens to the consultation (with your consent) and helps produce a written summary for your medical record. It does not make clinical decisions or replace the clinician’s judgement.

What Information is Processed?

The AI Scribe may process:

• Audio of your consultation (if consented to)
• Key clinical details shared during your appointment
• Non-identifiable data for training and quality improvement

How is Your Privacy Protected?

• Audio is processed in real time and not stored permanently
• All data is encrypted and processed within approved, secure systems
• The AI Scribe operates under strict NHS and UK GDPR data protection rules
• Only authorised staff have access to the final written notes

Your Rights

You have the right to:

• Decline the use of the AI Scribe during your consultation
• Request access to the information recorded
• Ask questions or raise concerns about your data

Legal Basis for Processing

We rely on Article 6(1)(e) and Article 9(2)(h) of the UK GDPR for the use of this technology, as it supports the delivery of safe and effective healthcare.

OpenSAFELY COVID-19 and Data Analytics Services

NHS England has been directed by the government to establish and operate the OpenSAFELY COVID-19 Service and the OpenSAFELY Data Analytics Service. These services provide a secure environment that supports research, clinical audit, service evaluation and health surveillance for COVID-19 and other purposes.

Each GP practice remains the controller of its own GP patient data but is required to let approved users run queries on pseudonymised patient data. This means identifiers are removed and replaced with a pseudonym.

Only approved users are allowed to run these queries, and they will not be able to access information that directly or indirectly identifies individuals.

Patients who do not wish for their data to be used as part of this process can register a type 1 opt out with their GP.

Here you can find additional information about OpenSAFELY.

How to contact the appropriate authorities

If you have any concerns about how your information is managed at your GP Practice, please contact the GP Practice Manager or the Data Protection Officer in the first instance.

If you are still unhappy following a review by the GP Practice, you have a right to lodge a complaint with the UK supervisory authority, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), at the following address:

Information Commissioner
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
Tel:     01625 545745
Email: https://ico.org.uk/

Statement of Intent

New contractual requirement came into force from 1 April 2014 requiring that GP Practices should make available a statement of intent in relation to the following IT developments:

1. 1. Summary Care Record (SCR
   2. GP to GP Record Transfer
   3. Patient Online Access to their GP Recor
   4. Data for commissioning and other secondary care purposes

The same contractual obligations require that we have a statement of intent regarding these developments in place and publicised by 30 September 2014.

Please find below details of the Practices stance with regards to these points.

Summary Care Record (SCR)

NHS England require Practices to enable successful automated uploads of any chance to patients summary information, at least on a daily basis, to the summary care record (SCR) or have published plans to achieve this by 31 March 2015.

Having your summary care record (SCR) available will help anyone treating you without your full medical record. They will have access to information about any medication you may be taking and any drugs that you have a recorded allergy or sensitivity to.

Of course if you do not want your medical records to be available in this way then you will need to let us know so that we can update your record.

The Neville Family Medical Centre confirm that your SCR is automatically updated on at least a daily basis to ensure that your information is as up to date as it can possibly be.

GP to GP Record Transfers

NHS England requires Practices to utilise the GP2GP facility for the transfer of patient records between Practices, when a patient registers or de-registers (not for temporary registration).

It is very important that you are registered with a Doctor at all times. If you leave your GP and register with a new GP, your medical records will be removed from your previous Doctor and forwarded on to your new GP via NHS England. It can take your paper records up to two weeks to reach your new surgery. With GP to GP record transfers, your electronic record is transferred to your new Practice much sooner.

The Neville Family Medical Centre confirms that GP to GP transfers are already active and we send and receive patient records via this system.

Patient Online Access to Their GP Record

NHS England requires Practices to promote and offer the facility to enable patient’s online access to appointments, prescriptions, allergies and adverse reactions, or have published plans in place to achieve this by 31 March 2015.

We currently offer the facility for booking and cancelling appointments in the same time frame of availability as you would be able to make the appointments over the phone, or here at the practice, and also for ordering your repeat prescriptions on-line. This is done completing an online registration form either at reception or downloading from website and bringing to reception, you will need to provided ID as per the registration letter. You will then be able to activate your registration.

We now offer patients the facility to view, export or print coded information from their records i.e. items agreed between the Practice and the Patient.

Data for Commissioning and Other Secondary Care Purposes

It is already a requirement of the Health & Social Care Act that Practices must meet the reasonable data requirements of commissioners and other health and social care organisations through appropriate and safe data sharing for secondary care usage, as specified in the technical specification for care data

At The Neville Family Medical Centre we have specific arrangements in place to allow patients to “opt out” of care data which allows for the removal of data from the Practice.

Please contact the surgery if you require further information or for the forms to “opt out”.

The Neville Family Medical Centre confirms these arrangements are in place and that we undertake annual training and audits to ensure that all our data is handled correctly and safely via the Information Governance Toolkit.

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. Requests 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

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.