We will always respect your privacy, dignity and your religious and cultural beliefs particularly when intimate examinations are advisable – these will only be carried out with your express agreement and you will be offered a chaperone to attend the examination if you so wish.

You may also request a chaperone when making the appointment or on arrival at the surgery (please let the receptionist know) or at any time during the consultation.

You can be assured that anything you discuss with any member of the surgery staff, whether doctor, nurse or receptionist, will remain confidential. Even if you are under 16, nothing will be said to anyone, including parents, other family members, care workers or teachers, without your permission. The only reason why we might want to consider passing on confidential information without your permission would be to protect either you or someone else from serious harm. In this situation, we would always try to discuss this with you first.

If you have any worries or queries about confidentiality, please ask a member of staff.

If you would like to discuss matters of a confidential nature, either with our receptionists or a member of the dispensary team, we have a side room available in reception for this purpose.

In order to provide the right level of care, we are required to hold personal information about you on our computer systems and in paper records to help us to look after your health needs, and your doctor is responsible for their accuracy and safe-keeping. Please help to keep your record up to date by informing us of any changes to your circumstances.

Confidentiality and Personal Information

Doctors and staff in the practice have access to your medical records to enable them to do their jobs. From time to time information may be shared with others involved in your care if it is necessary. Anyone with access to your record is properly trained in confidentiality issues and is governed by both legal and contractual duty to keep your details private.

All information about you is held securely and appropriate safeguards are in place to prevent accidental loss.

In some circumstances we may be required by law to release your details to statutory or other official bodies, for example if a court order is presented, or in the case of public health issues. In other circumstance you may be required to give written consent before information is released – such as for medical reports for insurance, solicitors etc.

To ensure your privacy, we will not disclose information over the telephone or fax unless we are sure that we are talking to you. Information will not be disclosed to family, friends or spouses unless we have prior written consent, and we do not, leave messages with others.

You have a right to see your records if you wish. Please ask at reception if you would like further details about our patient information leaflet. An appointment may be required. In some circumstances a fee may be payable.

We make every effort to make the surgery accessible for disabled patients. There is access through the main door and we have a wheelchair available for use in surgery.

Hearing Difficulties

If you are experiencing hearing difficulties when being called in to see the doctor or nurse, please do let us know in order for us to set up an alert on your medical records and personally collect you from the waiting room. Alternatively, we do have the facility of a portable induction loop. If you would like to use this, please ask at reception for assistance.

GP earnings 2022-2023

All GP practices are required to declare the mean earnings (e.g. average pay) for GPs working to deliver NHS services to patients at each practice. The required disclosure is shown below.

The average pay for GPs working in Weatheroak Medical Practice in the last financial year was £75,315 before tax and National Insurance. This is for 1 full time GP.

However, it should be noted that the prescribed method for calculating earning is potentially misleading because it takes no account of how much time doctors spend working in the practice, and should not be used to form any judgment about GP earnings, nor to make any comparison with any other practice.

This practice is committed to preserving, as far as is practical, the security of data used by our information systems. This means that we will take all reasonable actions to;

Maintain the Confidentiality of all data within the practice by:

• Ensuring that only authorised persons can gain access to our systems
• Not disclosing information to anyone who has no right to see it

Maintain the integrity of all data within the practice by:

• Taking care over input
• Ensuring that all changes are reported and monitored
• Checking that the correct record is on the screen before updating
• Reporting all apparent errors and ensuring that they are resolved

Maintain the availability of all data by:

• Ensuring that all equipment is protected from intruders
• Ensuring that backups are taken at regular, predetermined intervals
• Ensuring that contingency is provided for possible failure or equipment theft and that any such contingency plans are tested and kept up to date

Additionally we will take all reasonable measures to comply with our legal responsibilities under:

• The Health and Safety at Work Act (1992)
• The Access to Health Records Act (1990)

1. Patients who are registered at the practice have right to NHS care and treatments included in our NHS contract.
2. Patients have right to expect the practice to meet essential standard of quality and safety of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (regulated activities) regulation 2010.
3. Patients should ensure that the practice has their correct addresses and home telephone numbers. Any changes should be advised promptly.
4. Patients should be polite to the surgery staff. We remove patients from our list who use uncivilised, aggressive and abusive language.
5. Patients should advise immediately if they are unable or do not need or wish to attend their appointments. If you do not advise or inform at the last minute, we will not be able to offer the appointment to another patient.

The following IT systems are in use at the practice:

• Referral Management (using NHS numbers in referrals)
• Electronic Appointment Booking (the facility to book routine appointments online and, similarly, to cancel appointments
• Online booking of repeat prescriptions
• Summary Care Record (uploading details of your current medication and allergies to the national “spine” so that these are available for doctors involved in your care elsewhere)
• GP to GP transfers (the electronic transfer of records from practice to practice when you re-register
• Patient Access to records (the facility to view your medical records online).

If you are not already registered for online access and would like to be please complete our online form.

If you would like access to your medical records enabled or would like to opt out of the local or national summary care record, please contact reception.

Privacy Notice – Weatheroak Medical Practice

This Privacy Notice explains how our practice collects, uses, and protects your personal information. It applies to all personal data processed by or on behalf of the practice.

1. Who we are and what we do

We are the data controller for the personal information you give us or that is collected about you. We comply with UK Data Protection Law, including GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018.

A Data Protection Officer oversees how we manage your data.

Our DPO –

Mr Umar Sabat

IG-Health

Website: www.ig-health.co.uk

Email: umar.sabat@ig-health.co.uk

2. What information we collect

We collect:

• Basic details – name, address, date of birth, contact details, and information about carers or next of kin.
• Health and other sensitive (‘special category’) data – medical history, test results, treatment records, ethnicity, sex, and any information shared by other health professionals.

These records may be electronic, paper, or both.

3. Why we need your information

Your records allow us to:

• Provide safe and effective healthcare
• Coordinate treatment with other NHS organisations
• Review care quality through audits
• Help manage NHS services and protect public health

4. Legal basis for using your data

We use your data because:

• It is necessary for providing healthcare and treatment (GDPR Articles 6e and 9h).
• It allows us to carry out tasks in the public interest or under official authority.

5. Other ways your data may be used

• Risk stratification: to identify patients who may benefit from extra support. You may opt out.
• Medicines management: to ensure your medication is appropriate, safe, and cost-effective.
• Research or service improvement: only with your consent unless data is anonymised.

6. Sharing your information

We only share information when necessary for your care or when the law requires it. Organisations we may share with include:

• NHS Trusts, GPs, community services
• Pharmacies, dentists, opticians
• NHS England, local authorities, social care
• Ambulance services, safeguarding teams
• Approved external data processors (under strict confidentiality agreements)

We will not share your information for marketing.

7. How we protect your information

We follow NHS and legal confidentiality standards. All staff and contractors sign confidentiality agreements and access your data only when required. Some data is stored electronically and may be held on secure EU-based servers.

8. How long we keep your information

We keep records in line with the NHS Records Management Code of Practice, after which they are securely destroyed.

9. Your rights

You have the right to:

• Access your records (Data Subject Access Request)
• Correct inaccurate information
• Object to certain types of processing
• Withdraw consent where consent is the basis for processing
• Request erasure of your data in specific circumstances
• Request transfer of your data to another provider

We normally respond within one month.

10. Keeping your information up to date

Please inform us promptly if your personal details change, especially your address or phone number.

There is a new Central NHS Computer System called the Summary Care Record (SCR). The Summary Care Record is meant to help emergency doctors and nurses help you when you contact them when the surgery is closed. Initially, it will contain just your medications and allergies.

Later on as the central NHS computer system develops, (known as the ‘Summary Care Record’ – SCR), other staff who work in the NHS will be able to access it along with information from hospitals, out of hours services, and specialists letters that may be added as well.

Your information will be extracted from practices such as ours and held on central NHS databases.

As with all new systems there are pros and cons to think about. When you speak to an emergency doctor you might overlook something that is important and if they have access to your medical record it might avoid mistakes or problems, although even then, you should be asked to give your consent each time a member of NHS Staff wishes to access your record, unless you are medically unable to do so.

On the other hand, you may have strong views about sharing your personal information and wish to keep your information at the level of this practice. Connecting for Health (CfH), the government agency responsible for the Summary Care Record have agreed with doctors’ leaders that new patients registering with this practice should be able to decide whether or not their information is uploaded to the Central NHS Computer System.

For existing patients it is different in that it is assumed that you want your record uploaded to the Central NHS Computer System unless you actively opt out.

GPs in Training

Our practice is approved to train fully qualified doctors who wish to specialise in general practice. Our GP registrar will have had 2-4 years of experience as a qualified hospital doctor working in various specialities. They consult patients on their own, under the mentorship of our trainer, Dr Alia Butt. Occasionally we ask permission to video a consultation. You will always be asked in advance and are given the option not to take part, and this will not affect your care in any way. No recording will be taken without your consent and the camera will be switched off on request. These videos are used only for educational purposes with the doctor doing the consultation and are destroyed after use.

The Practice staff shall always show due respect and courtesy when dealing with patients and their representatives. We respectfully request that patients and their representatives do the same when dealing with members of the practice team.

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.

No form of aggression (whether verbal or physical in nature) will be tolerated – any instances of such behaviour on the practice premises may result in the perpetrator being reported to the Police and removed from the practice’s List of Registered Patients.

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.