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.
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.
Freedom of Information
Information about the General Practitioners and the practice required for disclosure under this act can be made available to the public. All requests for such information should be made to the practice manager.
Information on this scheme is available here.
Health Records
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.
Comments & Complaints
Your doctors hope to provide services which meet your needs. We welcome your compliments, criticisms and suggestions to help us improve the quality of service we offer. We have a suggestion box in the reception area and we have a practice policy for dealing with complaints. You could also contact Carla Tucker (Quality Supervisor), who will deal with any complaints or comments you raise. You may wish to do this in writing or by calling her on 01623 435555. We do our utmost to acknowledge your complaints or comments within 3 days. Please refer to our leaflets below, for further information.
Downloads:
Violence Policy
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. 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.
General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)
Oakwood Surgery & Bull Farm privacy Notice
Information Governance
Download our Information Governance Leaflet
Patient Know’s Best Privacy Statement
Oakwood Surgery shared your demographic data (including name, age, gender, date of birth, NHS number and address) with Patients Know Best (PKB) so PKB could create a dormant patient account for each person registered at this practice. The data in these accounts will not be accessed or processed unless you choose to activate your PKB account. Activating the account will create a patient held record which you can choose to share with health and care teams. This data sharing was done through article 6 (1)(e) and 9(2)(h) of UK GPDR 2018.
PKB are registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), which regulates data protection in the UK, and their registration number is Z2704931. PKB cannot see your demographic data or any health information in your PKB account, including your patient held record. Your information is kept encrypted on secure servers and can only be seen by yourself, health care teams chosen by you or those with a lawful basis.
PKB will retain your data for 8 years after either the date your dormant account was created or the date you last accessed your activated account; whichever date is more recent. You can email [email protected] if you wish your PKB information to be deleted before that point, this does not mean that your GP record held by Oakwood Surgery will be deleted.