Practice Policies & Patient Information
Access to Medical Records
In accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation, patients (data subjects) have the right to access their data and any supplementary information held by The Waterfront and Solent Surgery; this is commonly known as a data subject access request (DSAR). Data subjects have a right to receive:
· Confirmation that their data is being processed
· Access to their personal data
· Access to any other supplementary information held about them
Options for access
As of April 2016, practices have been obliged to allow patients access to their health record online. This service will enable the patient to view coded information held in their health record. Prior to accessing this information, you will have to visit the practice and undertake an identity check before being granted access to your records.
In addition, you can make a request to be provided with copies of your health record. To do so, you must submit a Data Subject Access Request (DSAR) form; this can be submitted electronically and the DSAR form is available on the practice website. Alternatively, a paper copy of the DSAR is available from reception. You will need to submit the form online or return the completed paper copy of the DSAR to the practice. Patients do not have to pay a fee for copies of their records.
Time frame
Once the DSAR form is submitted, the Waterfront and Solent Surgery will aim to process the request within 28 days; however, this may not always be possible. The maximum time permitted to process DSARs is one calendar month.
Exemptions
There may be occasions when the data controller will withhold information kept in the health record, particularly if the disclosure of such information is likely to cause undue stress or harm to you or any other person.
Data controller
At The Waterfront and Solent Surgery the data controller is Dr Simon Sherwin and should you have any questions relating to accessing your medical records, please ask to discuss this with the named data controller.
Dr Simon Sherwin
Application for access to health records form click here
Care & Health Information Exchange
Care and Health Information Exchange (CHIE) is a secure system which shares health and social care information from GP surgeries, hospitals, community and mental health, social services and others.
CHIE helps professionals across Hampshire, the Isle of Wight and surrounding areas provide safer and faster treatment for you and your family by:
- Ensuring that you only have to tell your story once.
- Reducing delays to your treatment. For example, by reducing the need to repeat blood tests
- Making sure the doctors, nurses and others involved in your care know about your medical history
- Identifying diseases that you might be at increased risk of developing in the future. This can help you take action early to protect your health
To protect your privacy and confidentiality, only health and social care professionals who are involved in your care are allowed access to your record and can identify you from it.
Your information is also used to improve future care for you, your family and for other patients. This helps plan NHS services and supports medical research. To keep your information safe it is moved to a separate database called ‘Care and Health Information Analytics’ (CHIA) and changed so that it cannot be used to identify you. Your data is never shared for the benefit of commercial companies like drug manufacturers. People who analyse data on CHIA do not have access to CHIE, so cannot identify you.
You have the right to opt out of having your data on CHIE for your care or CHIA for health planning and research. If you want to do this, please speak to your practice or contact the CHIE team directly.
More information can be found on their website including details of how to opt out:
Confidentiality
We ask you for personal information so that you can receive appropriate care and treatment. This information is recorded on computer and we are registered under the Data Protection Act. The practice will ensure that patient confidentiality is maintained at all times by all members of the practice team. However, for the effective functioning of a multi-disciplinary team it is sometimes necessary that medical information about you is shared between members of the team.
Data Sharing
NHS Data Sharing
As a GP surgery we are obliged to share data with other areas within the NHS by default. Please take time to read and understand how this works.
We have also included a summary table for a quick comparison at the bottom of this page. We have also provided opt out letters at the bottom of the page.
1. Care and Health Information Exchange (CHIE)
GPs, hospitals and community staff collect information about patients and store it electronically on different computers.
New computer systems have made it possible to combine records from different parts of the NHS allowing the Health Service within Hampshire to set up a new type of record called the Care and Health Information Exchange (CHIE). This is a local record only.
For more information about the Care and Health Information Exchange click here
2. The Summary Care Record
The NHS is introducing Summary Care Records to improve the safety and quality of patient care. Because the Summary Care Record is an electronic record it will give healthcare staff faster, easier access to essential information about you, to help provide you with safe treatment when you need care in an emergency or when your GP Practice is closed.
It will contain important information about any medicines you are taking, allergies you suffer from and any bad reactions to medicines that you have had. Giving healthcare staff access to this information can prevent mistakes being made when caring for you in an emergency or when your GP practice is closed. Your Summary Care Record will also include your name, address, date of birth and your unique NHS Number to help identify you correctly.
For more information about the Summary Care Record click here
3. GP Connect
GP Connect helps clinicians gain access to GP patient records during interactions away from a patient’s registered practice and makes their medical information available to appropriate health and social care professionals when and where they need it, to support the patient’s direct care.
From a privacy, confidentiality and data protection perspective, GP Connect provides a method of secure information transfer and reduces the need to use less secure or less efficient methods of transferring information, such as email or telephone.
We use GP Connect to access medical records at our Urgent Care Centre.
For more information about GP Connect click here
Freedom of Information Policy
The following policy sets out a possible approach to the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act 2000 by a practice.
GP Earnings
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 average pay for GPs working in Waterfront and Solent Surgery in the last financial year was £69,453 before tax and National Insurance. This is for 2 full time GPs, 4 part time GPs who worked in the practice for more than six months.
How do I make a complaint?
The doctors, nurses and administration staff at the Waterfront and Solent Surgery are all committed to providing a caring service to their patients. If there are any concerns, these should be raised with a member of staff at the time, who can advise accordingly.
In the event that a formal complaint is made the first step is to ask the reception staff for a complaint form, which can be completed and returned for the attention of the Practice Manager.
If the Practice Manager is on the premises the complainant is welcome to speak to them about their complaint in the first instance, or if they do not wish to complete the claim form themselves.
All patient information is strictly confidential. If you are making a complaint on behalf of someone else we need to obtain the patients full and informed consent.
All complaints are treated in confidence and will not be noted in your medical records or affect your future treatment in any way. Your complaint will be handled in the same way regardless of ethnicity, age, gender or disability.
You can also email us your complaint directly at: whccg.complaints.waterfrontandsolent@nhs.net
If more advice is needed you can contact the following organisations:
NHS England
PO Box 16738
Redditch
B97 9PT
Email: england.contactus@nhs.net
If, however, you are not satisfied with this response you may request that the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) considers your complaint. The Ombudsman is independent of the government and NHS. This should be undertaken as soon as is practicable following the conclusion of local resolution.
Their contact details are:
Parliamentary Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO)
Millbank Tower,
Millbank
London
SW1P 4QP
Website: www.ombudsman.org.uk
How we use your medical records
This practice handles medical records in-line with laws on data protection and confidentiality.
- We share medical records with those who are involved in providing you with care and treatment.
- In some circumstances we will also share medical records for medical research, for example to find out more about why people get ill.
- We share information when the law requires us to do so, for example, to prevent infectious diseases from spreading or to check the care being provided to you is safe.
- You have the right to be given a copy of your medical record.
- You have the right to object to your medical records being shared with those who provide you with care.
- You have the right to object to your information being used for medical research and to plan health services.
- You have the right to have any mistakes corrected and to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office. Please see the practice privacy notice on the website or speak to a member of staff for more information about your rights.
- For more information ask at reception for a copy of our privacy notice OR visit the Privacy Policy page of our website here.
Infection Control Policy
It is a requirement of The Health and Social Care Act 2008 Code of Practice on the prevention and control of infections and related guidance that the Infection Prevention and Control Lead produces an annual statement with regard to compliance with good practice on infection prevention and control and makes it available for anyone who wishes to see it, including patients and regulatory authorities.
Mobile Phone Policy
The practice provides an SMS Text Messaging Service. This service will be used for appointment reminders and other significant reminders such as flu clinic alerts. To be able to receive SMS text alerts you will need to make sure the surgery has your up to date mobile phone number. If you are unsure which number we have, just let us know the number you would like us to hold.
To update your mobile number, read our mobile phone policy, or opt out of the service you can download our mobile phone leaflet here and forward it to the surgery or hand it in at reception.
National Data Opt Out
The national data opt-out was introduced on 25 May 2018, enabling patients to opt out from the use of their data for research or planning purposes, in line with the recommendations of the National Data Guardian in her Review of Data Security, Consent and Opt-Outs.
Patients can view or change their national data opt-out choice at any time by using the online service at www.nhs.uk/your-nhs-data-matters or by clicking on “Your Health” in the NHS App, and selecting “Choose if data from your health records is shared for research and planning”.
Privacy Notice
Privacy Notice for Children
Summary Care Record
NHS in England are introducing a new electronic record called the Summary Care Record (SCR), which will be used to support your emergency care.
Introduction to Summary Care Records:
We are introducing Summary Care Records to improve the safety and quality of patient care. Because the Summary Care Record is an electronic record it will give healthcare staff faster, easier access to essential information about you, to help provide you with safe treatment when you need care in an emergency or when your GP Practice is closed.
We are telling you about this before a Summary Care Record is made for you, so that you have time to think about your choices.
Example letter that existing patients will receive: Click here
What are my choices?
- You can choose to have a Summary Care Record: You do not need to do anything. This will happen automatically.
- You can choose not to have a Summary Care Record: You need to let your GP practice know by filling in and returning an opt-out form. CLICK HERE FOR OPT OUT FORM
- You can choose to opt out of the Summary Care Record Extraction: You need to let your practice know.
About your Summary Care Record
If you decide to have a Summary Care Record it will contain important information about any medicines you are taking, allergies you suffer from and any bad reactions to medicines that you have had. Giving healthcare staff access to this information can prevent mistakes being made when caring for you in an emergency or when your GP practice is closed. Your Summary Care Record will also include your name, address, date of birth and your unique NHS Number to help identify you correctly. You may want to add other details about your care to your Summary Care Record. This will only happen if you ask for the information to be included. You should discuss your wishes with the healthcare staff treating you.
How will Summary Care Records help me?
• Healthcare staff will have quicker access to information about any medicines you are taking, allergies you suffer from and any bad reactions to medicines you have had.
• This means they can provide you with safer care during an emergency, when your GP practice is closed or when you are away from home in another part of England.
Dr. Simon Eccles explains how Summary Care Records help in out-of-hours and emergency settings
You can change your mind at any time
• If you choose not to have a Summary Care Record but then change your mind later we can still make one for you. You need to let your GP practice know.
• If you choose after we have made your Summary Care Record that you do not want it, you need to tell your GP practice. We will make sure that healthcare staff who try to look at your Summary Care Record will not be able to. We will only make your record available again if whoever wants to see it asks in writing and investigation has found it necessary.
• You can ask to have your record deleted, but that may not be possible if the record has already been used to give you care.
Children will automatically have a Summary Care Record made for them. If you do not want your child to have a Summary Care Record you will need to fill in an opt-out form on behalf of your child and return it to your child’s GP practice. In some circumstances your GP may feel it is in your child’s best interests to have a Summary Care Record. For example, if your child has a serious allergy that healthcare staff treating your child should know about.
Healthcare staff who can see your Summary Care Record:
• need to be directly involved in caring for you;
• need to have an NHS Smartcard with a chip and passcode (like a bank card and PIN);
• will only see the information they need to do their job; and
• will have their details recorded.Healthcare staff will ask your permission every time they need to look at your Summary Care Record. If they cannot ask you, for example if you are unconscious or in certain circumstances such as a court order, healthcare staff may look at your record without asking you. If they have to do this, they will make a note on your record.
By law, everyone working for us or on our behalf must respect your confidentiality and keep all information about you secure. We publish the NHS Care Record Guarantee for England. This says how the NHS will collect, store and allow access to your electronic records and your choices for how your information is stored and looked at. If you would like a copy, there is information on how to get one on the back of this leaflet. No matter how careful we are, there are always risks when information is held on computers as there is when they are held on paper. In every place we treat you there are people responsible for protecting your confidentiality.
If you are happy for us to make a Summary Care Record for you, you do not need to do anything, we will automatically make one for you. If you do not want us to make a Summary Care Record for you, please fill in an opt-out form and return it to your GP practice.Opt-out forms are available here or at the GP practice, or you can ask to have one sent to you one by phoning the Summary Care Record Information Line on 0300 123 3020
Where can I get more information?
For more information about Summary Care Records and your choices:
• phone the Summary Care Record Information Line on 0300 123 3020
• contact your local Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) www.pals.nhs.uk; or
• visit https://digital.nhs.uk/services/summary-care-records-scr
Your “USUAL GP”
Whilst the practice offers each patient the choice of all our doctors for appointments, each patient is allocated a “usual GP” who has overall responsibility for a patients care. It will be this GP who predominantly deals with the administration aspects of a patient’s care.