Oakwood Surgery

Telephone System

When phoning the surgery you will be greeted by a message: “Welcome to Oakwood Surgery. Please note calls are recorded. Listen carefully and please select from one of the following options or you may hold for the operator:

Or hold for the operator.

NB: If dialling the practice from abroad please ring +44870 4230411 (the 08444 number is only valid within the UK).
*Calls will be charged at the standard local rates from a BT landline. Calls from other providers or mobiles can incur a higher rate; please consult your individual network provider for details.

Accidents

The nearest hospital casualty department is at Kings Mill Hospital, Sutton Road, Sutton in Ashfield, telephone 01623 622515. Patients who suffer injuries that may require stitches or an x-ray should go to the accident and emergency department, as we do not have these facilities.

IT Systems and Data Collection

We use our IT systems to maintain your health records, compiling disease registers, recall for diabetes monitoring or smears plus immunisations etc. The systems also help considerably with general administration in relation to your overall healthcare. All information is processed in accordance with Data Protection legislation, Caldicott guidelines and other information governance standards in line with the long-standing traditions of medical confidentiality.

It is very important that we keep up-to-date information, so please help us to help you - if there is a change in your circumstances such as name, address or telephone number please let us know and we will update your record.

Why We Collect Your Personal Information

The doctors and other health professionals at Oakwood Surgery caring for you keep records about your health, treatment, prescriptions and care you received from the National Health Service. This helps to ensure that you receive the best possible care from us. Your records may be kept in written manual records, or held on our IT system. The records will contain basic contact details such as your address and next of kin, contacts we have had with you such as clinic visits, notes and reports about your health, treatment and other care, results of investigations such as x-rays or laboratory tests plus other relevant information from other professionals or those who care for you and know you well.

How Your Records Are Used To Help You

Your records are used to guide doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals in the care you receive to ensure that they have accurate and up-to-date information so that they can in turn assess your health and decide upon the type of care that you need. You may not always see the same doctor or you may be referred to a specialist so a full history allows them to make a full and proper assessment of your needs. In the event of a complaint, with all of the relevant information, your concerns can be thoroughly investigated.

How Your Records Are Used To Help The Surgery And The NHS

Your information may also be used to assess the needs of the general population, ensure that we plan for the future demands and meet patients' needs, review overall care to ensure that it is of the highest standard, teach and train healthcare professionals, conduct health research and development, pay the surgery and the NHS for the care they provide, prepare performance statistics and investigate complaints, legal claims or other incidents.

The information is anonymised, which means that individual patients cannot be identified. Sometimes, statistical information is also passed to other organisations with a legitimate interest such as medical universities and medical research institutions. There are times however when anonymised information is not suitable and person identifiable information may be used for research and auditing purposes. This will only be carried out with your consent, unless there is a legal requirement to do so.

How We Keep Your Records Confidential

Everyone at Oakwood Surgery and the NHS has a legal duty to keep information about you confidential and information is only ever accessed on a ‘need to know’ basis. There are times when you may be receiving care from other organisations like the Social Services and it is sometimes necessary to share information about you so that we can all work together for your benefit. We will only ever pass on information that is relevant to the issue and only to those involved in your care. We will not pass your information on to third parties without your permission unless there are exceptional circumstances such as when the health and safety of others is at risk or where the law requires that information be disclosed. Of course, others who receive information from us in such circumstances are bound by the same legal duty of confidentiality. Above all, our guiding principle is that we hold your records in strict confidence.

This practice is proud to contribute data to the General Practice Research Database (GPRD)

GPRD

GPRD is the world’s largest and most extensively used database of its kind. It is used internationally for research into disease, drug safety and public health.

Patients’ records from hundreds of practices in the UK are made anonymous so that research users cannot identify the patients or the practices. Added together, these anonymous records provide a vast amount of information for medical research.

Our role

We contribute data from this practice to the GPRD and are proud to do our bit towards this valuable database.

Anonymity of individual patients and clinicians is assured in all cases.

Accessing Your Own Health Records

You are entitled to see or have a copy of the information that is held about you on our IT systems and within certain manual records. This is called the right of 'Subject Access' and is provided under the Data Protection Act 1998. You may always discuss issues about the information which is recorded about you when you see a doctor but if you want a copy then you should make a written request to the practice manager. A charge of up to £50 may be made if the information includes records extracted from manual systems. In some circumstances, some of the information in your record may be withheld in your own interest.

Further Information About Your Health Records

If you would like to know more about how we use your information, or if for any reason you do not wish to have your information used in any of the ways described here, then please speak to the doctor or health professional involved with your care.

Anonymous Research

The general practice research database (GPRD) is the world's largest and most extensively used datebase of its kind. It is used internationally for research into disease, drug safety and public health.

Patients' records from hundreds of practices in the UK are made anonymous so that research users cannot identify the patients or the practices. Added together, these anonymous records provide a vast amount of information for medical research.

Our role

We contribute data from this practice to the GPRD and are proud to do our bit towards this valuable database

Anonymity of individual patients and clinicians is assured in all cases.

Confidentiality - Telephone Calls

When we contact you by telephone our staff will not say where they are calling from until they are satisfied that they are speaking to the person they are trying to contact, unless they have been advised that they may do so. Our staff are also advised not to leave messages on answer phones unless advised by the patients that they may do so. In some cases, when we receive a call from you, we may ask questions to ensure that we can be satisfied that you are the actual patient. We do this to protect you.

Chaperone (Male Or Female)

If you would like a chaperone to accompany you to a consultation, just ask the receptionist when you make an appointment to see your GP. Alternatively, you may prefer to have a relative or a friend with you when you see your GP.

Zero Tolerance

We strongly support the NHS policy on zero tolerance. Anyone attending the surgery who abuses the GPs, staff or other patients be it verbally, physically or in any threatening manner whatsoever, will risk removal from the practice list. In extreme cases we may summon the police to remove offenders from the practice premises.

Freedom Of Information - Publication Scheme

The Freedom of Information Act 2000 obliges the practice to produce a Publication Scheme. A Publication Scheme is a guide to the ‘classes’ of information the practice intends to routinely make available.

This scheme is available from reception.