Memorial Medical Centre - Surgery policies on confidentiality, comments and suggestions, data protection etc

Confidentiality

The practice complies with Data Protection and Access to Medical Records legislation. Identifiable information about you will be shared with others in the following circumstances:

To provide further medical treatment for you e.g. from district nurses and hospital services.
To help you get other services e.g. from the social work department. This requires your consent.
When we have a duty 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.

Suggestions & Complaints

We make every effort to give the best service possible to everyone who attends our practice.

However, we are aware that things can go wrong resulting in a patient feeling that they have a genuine cause for complaint. If this is so, we would wish for the matter to be settled as quickly, and as amicably, as possible.

Simply contact the Practice Manager and s/he will set all the necessary wheels in motion. Further written information is available on the complaints procedure from reception. We are continually striving to improve our service. Any helpful suggestions would be much appreciated and a suggestion box is located in the waiting area.

Freedom of Information

Guide to Information provided by GPs under the model publication scheme

Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 all public authorities are required to have and operate a publication scheme approved by the Information Commissioner. Doctors providing medical services under most contracts with the NHS in England, Wales and Northern Ireland are public authorities in respect of information relating to those services.

It is the intention of the Information Commissioner that all public authorities should adopt and operate the one model scheme that has been approved. This is a very general scheme based on the principal that all public authorities need to recognize the public interest in the transparency of the services provided for and paid for by the general public. It is a commitment to make information easily available to the public.

Note: The scheme is only for information held as a public authority and does not include any information that is not held, is held for other purposes or would be exempt from release.

The scheme requires three documents to be considered:

the model scheme itself;
our guidance on adopting and operating the scheme; and,
a guide provided by the public authority indicating what information will be provided, how it will be provided and whether any charge will be made for its provision.

To assist medical practitioners who are public authorities we have produced the outline of a guide for their use. They should consider expanding elements of it to provide greater explanation and additional information where this can be done. For example if there are specific plans for the provision of NHS services these could be detailed. It is not necessary to submit the guide completed by the practice for approval.

We recognize that it is unlikely that GPs are going to have registers available for public inspection and while this remains the case “None Held” can be entered in this section. Under policies and procedures we have listed the policies we would expect practices to have. Again if this is not the case, “Not held” can entered in the relevant part. Any additional policies should also be listed.

Fees should be requested only where this is done in accordance our guidance.

Information available from Memorial Medical Centre under the Freedom of Information Act model publication scheme

Information covered by this scheme is only about the primary, general or personal medical services we provide under contract to the National Health Service.

Information to be published	How the information can be obtained (eg hard copy, website)	Cost
Class 1 - Who we are and what we do (Organisational information, structures, locations and contacts) This practice works under a General Medical Services Contract. 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 (www.nice.org.uk) or the Department of Health website (www.dh.gov.uk). The NHS is a very large part of the public sector. It is possible to find out information about our practice, the Eastern and Coastal Kent Primary Care Trust and other NHS services in your area by using www.nhs.uk. A full list of local General Practices can be found there too. The Memorial Medical Centre provides general medical services for the geographical area of a defined area of Sittingbourne as agreed with the PCT. The full names of GPs at our practice are listed below in this publication scheme. The practice also employs: Administrative staff, a Practice Manager, and practice nurses A full list of the services we provide is detailed below Audiology Baby clinic Cervical cytology Child health surveillance Contraceptive services Disease management clinics District nurse General practitioner services Health promotions clinics (e.g. well man and well woman clinics) Immunisations Maternity medical services Minor surgery services Obstetric services Other services available on site are but not directly managed by the practice as follows Counselling Chronic Pain Services including acupuncture Hi Kent – a charitable based service which helps people with a hearing aid Physiotherapy 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. Details are available on the health section of the Department of Health website (www.dh.gov.uk). Some information will be withheld, including personal, confidential information about individuals which is protected by the Data Protection Act 1998.	Website	Nil
Doctors in the practice Dr Kevin Hipkins Dr Jenny Gill Dr Jane Howie Dr Alison McLeod Dr Barbara Engel Dr Ian Gould	Website Practice Information leaflet NHS.uk. website	Nil
Contact details for the practice (named contacts where possible with telephone number and email address (if used)) Memorial Medical Centre Bell Road Sittingbourne Kent ME10 4 XX Tel: 01795 477764 Fax: 01795 475138 E mail: memorialmedical@nhs.net	Website Practice Information leaflet	Nil
Opening hours: Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday 08.00 to 18.30 Monday 08.00 to 20.00	Website Practice Information leaflet NHS.uk website	Nil
Other staffing details In addition to the doctors the practice has a Nurse Practitioner, Diane Hogben who is also a partner of the practice. The practice also employs four practice nurses and a healthcare assistant.

Class 2 – What we spend and how we spend it (Financial information relating to projected and actual income and expenditure, procurement, contracts and financial audit) The practice will provide details of the total income from the PCT for the main categories of income	Not available

Class 3 – What our priorities are and how we are doing The practice participates in a national Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF) information on our performance can be found at www.ic.nhs.uk) We are inspected by the PCT on our performance under QOF.
Plans for the development and provision of NHS services. The practice is part of the Swale Commissioning consortium and is actively involved in ensuring best quality cost effective care is provided to our patients. The commissioning plan for the consortium is available from the PCT.

Class 4 – How we make decisions All decisions relating to the provision of NHS services are made and documented at partnership meetings, according to criteria laid down in our partnership deed.	Not available
Records of decisions made in the practice affecting the provision of NHS services	Not available
Complaints procedures (including those covering requests for information and operating the publication scheme)
Data protection policies

Class 6 – Lists and Registers Currently maintained lists and registers only
Any publicly available register or list (if any are held this should be publicised; in most circumstances existing access provisions will suffice)	Not available

Class 7 – The services we offer (Information about the services we offer, including leaflets, guidance and newsletters produced for the public) A full list of the services we provide is detailed below Audiology Baby clinic Cervical cytology Child health surveillance Contraceptive services Disease management clinics District nurse General practitioner services Health promotions clinics (e.g. well man and well woman clinics) Immunisations Maternity medical services Minor surgery services Obstetric services Other services available on site are but not directly managed by the practice as follows Counselling Chronic Pain Services including acupuncture Hi Kent – a charitable based service which helps people with a hearing aid Physiotherapy The practice publishes a newsletter which is available in the waiting room. Other information leaflets are available from time to time.	Practice newsletters available from reception	Nil
The services provided under contract to the NHS. The practice provided services under a GMS contract. Patients are not charged for any services under a GMS contract. There are charges for a small number of services which are not considered part of a GMS contract. These include the following Yellow fever vaccinations Private sick certificates including those required by employers before 7 days absence from work Private fitness certificates e.g. private gyms Employment/Driving medicals e.g. HGV
Out of hours arrangements Our Practice does not have responsibility for Out of Hours. This is managed by Eastern & Coastal Kent PCT and is currently provided by South East Health (www.southeasthealth.com) Patients continue to call the surgery number 24 hours a day and will be advised or their call diverted at no extra cost.	S.E.H Website

Confidentiality

Suggestions & Complaints

Freedom of Information

Guide to Information provided by GPs under the model publication scheme

Further Information