Our practice is pleased to offer patients enhanced clinical access to GPs and other healthcare professionals, including:

• 100 clinical appointments per 1000 patients per week
• Patients telephoning our practice will never be asked to call back. (unless the patient chooses to call back e.g. if they want to see a GP or other healthcare professional who is currently on leave)
• We offer an open reception and telephone service from 08:00-18:30 from Monday to Friday
• Patients can make an online booking up to 4 weeks ahead
• Our receptionists are trained in care navigation and signposting and can provided advice about appropriate alternative services such as extended hours hubs
• We regularly review our systems to ensure there are enough appointments to meet patient needs every week

We aim to provide the best access we can for our patients. If you have any questions or suggestions please ask a member of staff or ask to speak to the practice manager.

Alternatives to A&E

We know that finding the right place to go when you become ill or are injured can be confusing. We want to help you to select the right service for your illness or injury, and in doing so, you will not only be looking after your health but using NHS services appropriately.

We can all help to ease the pressure on our emergency services by only visiting A&E or calling 999 with the most serious, or life-threatening injuries or illnesses. Only dial 999 if you think you need an emergency ambulance.

A&E department (also known as emergency department or casualty) deals with genuine life-threatening emergencies, such as:

• Loss of consciousness
• Acute confused state and fits that are not stopping
• Chest pain
• Breathing difficulties
• Severe bleeding that cannot be stopped
• Severe allergic reactions
• Severe burns or scalds
• Stroke
• Major trauma such as a road traffic accident

Less severe injuries can be treated in urgent care centres or minor injuries units. A&E is not an alternative to a GP appointment.

What to do for less serious injuries or illnesses

Self-Care

Self-care is the best way to treat common illnesses and injuries, such as; coughs and colds, slight cuts and grazes, sprains and strains, sore throats, sinusitis, earache, constipation and headaches. Visit our Wellbeing Centre for useful self-care resources.

You can treat them at home with a range of medicines and a first aid kit bought from a pharmacy or supermarket.

You can prepare for many common illnesses and injuries by having a chat with your local pharmacist who can give you advice on what self-care medications to have at home.

With all self-care if your symptoms recur, or if you are no better after two days, call NHS 111 for advice or contact your GP.

NHS 111

If you require medical help but you’re not sure where to go, then please talk before you walk. You can call NHS 111 free, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year and, where appropriate, a clinical advisor will assess your symptoms, decide what medical help you need and advise where you need to go. This will ensure you get the right care from the right service in the timeliest way.

NHS 111 clinical advisors can arrange an appointment for you at an out of hours GP or extended hours hub if your condition means you need to see a health care professional within the next 12 hours. They can also give you self-care advice and information.

You should call NHS 111 if:

• You need medical help fast, but it is not a 999 emergency
• You think you need to go to accident and emergency or another NHS urgent care service
• You do not know who to call for medical help or you do not have a GP to call
• You require health information or reassurance about what to do next

For less urgent health needs, you should still contact your GP in the usual way.

Pharmacies

Your local pharmacist is a healthcare professional who can give you clinical advice and treatment for common illnesses such as coughs, colds, aches and pains. They can also help you decide whether you need to contact other healthcare services.

You can talk to your pharmacist in confidence, even about the most personal symptoms without an appointment. Many pharmacies now have a consultation area where you can discuss health concerns in private.

Some of the services available from your local pharmacy include help for:

• Emergency contraception (morning after pill)
• Raised temperature/fever
• Coughs, colds, flu
• Ear infections and earache
• Urine infections and cystitis
• Diarrhoea/vomiting
• Skin infections/rashes/allergic reactions
• Conjunctivitis
• Emergency repeat prescription service

For details of your nearest local pharmacy, and opening hours, go to the find local services page.

GP Surgeries

As your local GP surgery we provide a wide range of family health services that include advice on health concerns, how to prevent you becoming unwell, vaccinations, examinations and treatment, and prescriptions for medicines. We can also refer you to other health services.

GP Out of Hours Service

The out of hours GP service is a separate facility where a team of GPs and nurse practitioners provide services from 06:30-20:00 weekdays, bank holidays and weekends. They offer help, advice and treatment if you have an urgent clinical need that cannot wait for your own GP practice to open.

If you need to see or speak to a GP when your surgery is closed, call NHS 111 and, where appropriate, a clinical advisor will assess you, give advice on when and where to go for treatment, or book you in to see an out of hours GP if needed.

Extended Hours within Brompton Health PCN

Stanhope Mews west surgery is part of a primary care network called Brompton health. There are eight practices within our PCN, and patients from all of them are able to access extended hours appointments offered by six of these practices.

In addition, some of our extended hours appointments are ring-fenced for our own patients. These sessions are from 07:00-08:00 on Tuesday, Thursday and Fridays, and from 06:30-20:00 on Tuesday and Wednesdays.

Extended Hours Hubs

If you are registered with a local GP you can access evening, weekend and bank holiday GP and nurse appointments at west London’s extended hour’s hubs.

Extended hours hubs are staffed by local and experienced GPs and nurses and offer assessment and treatment for adults and children.

Appointments are available after your registered GP has closed to ensure that patients have access to a GP during week day evenings up to 21:00 and weekends when most local practices are closed.

To access the services:

• Contact your GP practice and ask for an extended access appointment
• Call NHS 111 and they can book you an appointment at one of the hubs

The extended access hubs locations and opening hours are:

Monday to Friday

• Violet Melchett Clinic, 30 Flood Walk, London, SW3 5RR
  18:30-21:00
• St Charles Centre for Health, Exmoor Street, London, W10 6DZ
  18:30-21:00

Saturday

• Violet Melchett Clinic, 30 Flood Walk, London, SW3 5RR
  08:00-16:00
• St Charles Centre for Health, Exmoor Street, London, W10 6DZ
  08:00-20:00

Sunday & Bank Holidays

• Violet Melchett Clinic, 30 Flood Walk, London, SW3 5RR
  08:00-14:00
• St Charles Centre for Health, Exmoor Street, London, W10 6DZ
  14:00-20:00

Both parents assume ‘parental responsibility’ (in England) if a) both are on the birth certificate or b) married at time of birth. (Mothers will always have innate parental responsibility, regardless of marital status – the above largely applies to fathers). If we have any doubt as to the validity of parental responsibility (e.g. different surname), we may ask to see the child’s birth certificate as proof.

Parental responsibility does not change upon separation or divorce, unless a specific court order specifying so. Having sole custody does not impact upon ‘parental responsibility’.

Either parent with parental responsibility can legally request access to their child’s notes. If the child has capacity, they should be asked for their consent (ie consider in a child over twelve years old, bearing in mind a child may have capacity at an earlier/later age). If a child has specifically asked for all or part of their notes to be kept confidential and they have capacity to do so (and are not endangering themselves or others), we must respect this.

The surgery should ascertain the reason for accessing the notes when requested.

The surgery must ensure if we are releasing a child’s notes to a parent with whom the child does not live with, that we do not accidentally break the mother’s confidentiality by revealing information about her in the notes, or indeed her address. Therefore if we are giving access to notes, they should be sense checked prior to doing so to ensure we are doing so safely.

All patient notes are treated with the strictest confidentiality. The Practice complies with the Data Protection Act. If you wish to view your medical record please register for online services. Once set up, you will be able to view your full record.

If there is any factually incorrect information contained in your notes you may request this to be corrected.

All members of the primary health care team (from reception to doctors) in the course of their duties will have access to your medical records. They all adhere to the highest standards of maintaining confidentiality.

As our reception area is a little public, if you wish to discuss sowmething of a confidential nature please mention it to one of the receptionists who will make arrangements for you to have the necessary privacy.

If you wish to opt out of SMS text messages, please email us at [email protected], but please be aware that texting patients is purely a way to support your care and would not be used to advertise products or private services.

Healthcare professionals may use your confidential patient information to help with treatment and care. Occasionally, your data is used for health research and planning. This data will always be anonymised (Will not contain any information that could identify you). Anonymised data is also collected from hospitals and private organisations providing NHS care.

This helps towards planning and improving health care in your area and research is used to develop cures for serious illnesses. If you do not want your information to be used at all, please call 0300 303 5678 and speak to an advisor who will be able to stop your information being shared in this way. If you are happy for your data to be shared, you do not have to do anything.

The ground and first floors of the surgery are accessible for wheelchairs. There is a toilet for the disabled and elderly on the ground floor. There is a lift which takes patients to the first floor waiting room.

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.

It is a contractual requirement for Practices to publish on their website the mean net earnings (e.g. average) of Partners, salaried GPs and any locum who has worked in the Practice for over six months.

The average pay for GPs working in the practice of Drs. Steeden and Hussein in the last financial year was £54,651 before tax and National Insurance.

This is for 5 full time GPs and 2 part time GPs who worked in the practice for more than six months.

You are able to request a medical report online.

By signing up for online services you can now access your medical records online. Please bring ID to reception and ask for online access. They will provide you with a username and password.

You can also request online access via email at [email protected]. Please provide your name and date of birth and we will send you details of how to register for online services via SMS. We may ask you another security question if required.

We would like to encourage patients to use online access to notes for copies of medical records, but understand that not all patients will have internet access or a printer. We can arrange for you to have copies of your records for collection. Please bring ID.

If you have queries regarding matters in your notes, please contact the surgery.

Your information, what you need to know

This privacy notice explains why we collect information about you, how that information may be used, how we keep it safe and confidential and what your rights are in relation to this.

Why we collect information about you

Health care professionals who provide you with care are required by law to maintain records about your health and any treatment or care you have received within any NHS organisation. These records help to provide you with the best possible healthcare and help us to protect your safety.

We collect and hold data for providing healthcare services to our patients and running our organisation which includes monitoring the quality of care that we provide. In carrying out this role we may collect information about you which helps us respond to your queries or secure specialist services. We may keep your information in written form and/or in digital form.

The records may include basic details about you, such as your name and address. They may also contain more sensitive information about your health and also information such as outcomes of needs assessments.

Details we collect about you

The health care professionals who provide you with care maintain records about your health and any treatment or care you have received previously (e.g. from Hospitals, GP Surgeries, A&E, etc.). These records help to provide you with the best possible healthcare.

Records which this GP Practice may hold about you include the following:

• Details about you, such as your address and next of kin
• Any contact the surgery has had with you, such as appointments, clinic visits, emergency appointments,
• Notes and reports about your health
• Details about your treatment and care
• Results of investigations, such as laboratory tests, x-rays,
• Relevant information from other health professionals, relatives or your carers

How we keep your information confidential and safe

Everyone working for our organisation is subject to the Common Law Duty of Confidence. Information provided in confidence will only be used for the purposes advised with consent given by the patient, unless there are other circumstances covered by the law. The NHS Digital Code of Practice on Confidential Information applies to all NHS staff and they are required to protect your information, inform you of how your information will be used, and allow you to decide if and how your information can be shared. All our staff are expected to make sure information is kept confidential and receive regular training on how to do this.

The health records we use may be electronic, on paper or a mixture of both, and we use a combination of working practices and technology to ensure that your information is kept confidential and secure. Your records are backed up securely in line with NHS standard procedures. We ensure that the information we hold is kept in secure locations, is protected by appropriate security and access is restricted to authorised personnel.

We also make sure external data processors that support us are legally and contractually bound to operate and prove security arrangements are in place where data that could or does identify a person are processed.

We are committed to protecting your privacy and will only use information collected lawfully in accordance with:

• Data Protection Act 2018
• Human Rights Act
• Common Law Duty of Confidentiality
• NHS Codes of Confidentiality and Information Security
• Health and Social Care Act 2015
• And all applicable legislation

We maintain our duty of confidentiality to you at all times. We will only ever use or pass on information about you if we reasonably believe that others involved in your care have a genuine need for it. We will not disclose your information to any third party without your permission unless there are exceptional circumstances (such as a risk of serious harm to yourself or others) or where the law requires information to be passed on.

How we use your information

Improvements in information technology are also making it possible for us to share data with other healthcare organisations for providing you, your family and your community with better care. For example, it is possible for healthcare professionals in other services to access your record with your permission when the practice is closed. This is explained further in the Local Information Sharing section below.

Under the powers of the Health and Social Care Act 2015, NHS Digital can request personal confidential data from GP Practices without seeking patient consent for a number of specific purposes, which are set out in law. These purposes are explained below.

You may choose to withdraw your consent to personal data being shared for these purposes. When we are about to participate in a new data-sharing project we aim to display prominent notices in the Practice and on our website four weeks before the scheme is due to start.

Instructions will be provided to explain what you have to do to ‘opt-out’ of the new scheme. Please be aware that it may not be possible to opt out of one scheme and not others, so you may have to opt out of all the schemes if you do not wish your data to be shared.

You can object to your personal information being shared with other healthcare providers but should be aware that this may, in some instances, affect your care as important information about your health might not be available to healthcare staff in other organisations. If this limits the treatment that you can receive then the practice staff will explain this to you at the time you object.

To ensure you receive the best possible care, your records are used to facilitate the care you receive. Information held about you may be used to help protect the health of the public and to help us manage the NHS.

Child Health Information

We wish to make sure that your child has the opportunity to have immunisations and health checks when they are due. We share information about childhood immunisations, the 6-8 week new baby check and breast-feeding status with NHS CLCH health visitors and school nurses, and with NWL Commissioning Support Unit, who provide the Child Health Information Service on behalf of NHS England.

Clinical audit

Information may be used by the CCG for clinical audit to monitor the quality of the service provided to patients with long terms conditions. Some of this information may be held centrally and used for statistical purposes (e.g. the National Diabetes Audit). When this happens, strict measures are taken to ensure that individual patients cannot be identified from the data.

Clinical Research

Sometimes anonymised data may be used for research purposes – but we will always ask your permission before releasing any information for this purpose which could be used to identify you.

Improving Diabetes Care and long-term condition management

Information that does not identify individual patients is used to enable focussed discussions to take place at practice-led local diabetes and long term condition management review meetings between health care professionals. This enables the professionals to improve the management and support of these patients.

Individual Funding Request

An ‘Individual Funding Request’ is a request made on your behalf, with your consent, by a clinician, for funding of specialised healthcare which falls outside the range of services and treatments that CCG has agreed to commission for the local population. An Individual Funding Request is taken under

consideration when a case can be set out by a patient’s clinician that there are exceptional clinical circumstances which make the patient’s case different from other patients with the same condition

who are at the same stage of their disease, or when the request is for a treatment that is regarded as new or experimental and where there are no other similar patients who would benefit from this treatment. A detailed response, including the criteria considered in arriving at the decision, will be provided to the patient’s clinician.

Invoice Validation

Invoice validation is an important process. It involves using your NHS number to check which CCG is responsible for paying for your treatment. Section 251 of the NHS Act 2006 provides a statutory legal basis to process data for invoice validation purposes. We can also use your NHS number to check whether your care has been funded through specialist commissioning, which NHS England will pay for. The process makes sure that the organisations providing your care are paid correctly.

Local Information Sharing

Your GP electronic patient record is held securely and confidentially on an electronic system managed by your registered GP practice. If you require attention from a local health or care professional outside of your usual practice services, such as in an Evening and Weekend GP HUB services, Emergency Department, Minor Injury Unit or Out Of Hours service, the professionals treating you are better able to give you safe and effective care if some of the information from your GP record is available to them. If those services use a TPP clinical system your full SystmOne medical record will only be shared with your express consent.

Where available, this information can be shared electronically with other local healthcare providers via a secure system designed for this purpose. Depending on the service you are using and your health needs, this may involve the healthcare professional accessing a secure system that enables them to

view either parts of your GP electronic patient record (e.g. your Summary Care Record) or a secure system that enables them to view your full GP electronic patient record (e.g. TPP SystmOne medical records or EMIS remote consulting system).

In all cases, your information is only accessed and used by authorised staff who are involved in providing or supporting your direct care. Your permission will be asked before the information is accessed, other than in exceptional circumstances (e.g. emergencies) if the healthcare professional is unable to ask you and this is deemed to be in your best interests (which will then be logged).

National Fraud Initiative – Cabinet Office

The use of data by the Cabinet Office for data matching is carried out with statutory authority under Part 6 of the Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014. It does not require the consent of the individuals concerned under the Data Protection Act 2018. Data matching by the Cabinet Office is subject to a Code of Practice. For further information see:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/code-of-data-matching-practice-for-national-fraud- initiative

National Registries

National Registries (such as the Learning Disabilities Register) have statutory permission under Section 251 of the NHS Act 2006, to collect and hold service user identifiable information without the need to seek informed consent from each individual service user.

Risk Stratification

‘Risk stratification for case finding’ is a process for identifying and managing patients who have or may be at-risk of health conditions (such as diabetes) or who are most likely to need healthcare services (such as people with frailty). Risk stratification tools used in the NHS help determine a person’s risk of suffering a particular condition and enable us to focus on preventing ill health before it develops.

Information about you is collected from a number of sources including NHS Trusts, GP Federations and your GP Practice. A risk score is then arrived at through an analysis of your de-identified information. This can help us identify and offer you additional services to improve your health.

Risk-stratification data may also be used to improve local services and commission new services, where there is an identified need. In this area, risk stratification may be commissioned by the NWL Clinical Commissioning Groups. Section 251 of the NHS Act 2006 provides a statutory legal basis to process data for risk stratification purposes. Further information about risk stratification is available from: https://www.england.nhs.uk/ourwork/tsd/ig/risk-stratification /

If you do not wish information about you to be included in any risk stratification programmes, please let us know. We can add a code to your records that will stop your information from being used for this purpose. Please be aware that this may limit the ability of healthcare professionals to identify if you have or are at risk of developing certain serious health conditions.

Safeguarding

To ensure that adult and children’s safeguarding matters are managed appropriately, access to identifiable information will be shared in some limited circumstances where it’s legally required for the safety of the individuals concerned.

Summary Care Record (SCR)

The NHS in England uses a national electronic record called the Summary Care Record (SCR) to support patient care. It contains key information from your GP record. Your SCR provides authorised healthcare staff with faster, secure access to essential information about you in an emergency or when you need unplanned care, where such information would otherwise be unavailable.

Summary Care Records are there to improve the safety and quality of your care. SCR core information comprises your allergies, adverse reactions and medications. An SCR with additional information can also include reason for medication, vaccinations, significant diagnoses / problems, significant procedures, anticipatory care information and end of life care information. Additional information can only be added to your SCR with your agreement.

Please be aware that if you choose to opt-out of SCR, NHS healthcare staff caring for you outside of this surgery may not be aware of your current medications, allergies you suffer from and any bad reactions to medicines you have had, in order to treat you safely in an emergency. Your records will stay as they are now with information being shared by letter, email, fax or phone. If you wish to opt- out of having an SCR please return a completed opt-out form to the practice.

Supporting Medicines Management

NWL CCGs use pharmacist and prescribing advice services to support local GP practices with prescribing queries, which may require identifiable information to be shared. These pharmacists work with your usual GP to provide advice on medicines and prescribing queries, and review prescribing of medicines to ensure that it is appropriate for your needs, safe and cost-effective. Where specialist prescribing support is required, the CCG medicines management team may provide relating to obtaining medications on behalf of your GP Practice to support your care.

Supporting Locally Commissioned Services

CCGs support GP practices by auditing anonymised data to monitor locally commissioned services, measure prevalence and support data quality. The data does not include identifiable information and is used to support patient care and ensure providers are correctly paid for the services they provide.

Suspected Cancer

Data may be analysed in cases of suspected cancer by The Royal Marsden NHS Trust, The Royal Brompton Hospital, Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust , Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, London North West Healthcare NHS Trust and University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust to facilitate the prevention, early diagnosis and management of illness. Measures are taken to ensure the data for analysis does not identify individual patients.

Data Retention

We manage patient records in line with the Records Management NHS Code of Practice for Health and Social Care which sets the required standards of practice in the management of records for those who work within or under contract to NHS organisations in England, based on current legal requirements and professional best practice.

Who are our partner organisations?

We may also have to share your information, subject to strict agreements on how it will be used, with the following organisations:

• NHS Trusts
• Specialist Trusts
• GP Federations
• Independent Contractors such as dentists, opticians, pharmacists
• Private Sector Providers
• Voluntary Sector Providers
• Ambulance Trusts
• Clinical Commissioning Groups
• Social Care Services
• Local Authorities
• Education Services
• Fire and Rescue Services
• Police
• Other ‘data processors’

Specific details of the organisations with whom we share your data can be seen here

West London – http://www.westlondonccg.nhs.uk/about-us/patientrecord.aspx

​We will never share your information outside of health partner organisations without your explicit consent unless there are exceptional circumstances such as when the health or safety of others is at risk, where the law requires it or to carry out a statutory function.

Within the health partner organisations (NHS and Specialist Trusts) and in relation to the above mentioned themes – Risk Stratification, Invoice Validation, Supporting Medicines Management, Summary Care Record – we will assume you are happy to for your information to be shared unless you choose to opt-out (see below).

This means you will need to express an explicit wish to not have your information shared with the other organisations; otherwise it will be automatically shared. We are required by law to report certain information to the appropriate authorities. This is only provided after formal permission has been given by a qualified health professional. There are occasions when we must pass on information, such as notification of new births, where we encounter infectious diseases which may endanger the safety of others, such as meningitis or measles (but not HIV/AIDS), and where a formal court order has been issued. Our guiding principle is that we are holding your records in strictest confidence.

Right to withdraw consent to share personal information (Opt- Out)

If you are happy for your data to be extracted and used for the purposes described in this privacy notice then you do not need to do anything. If you do not want your information to be used for

any purpose beyond providing your care you can choose to opt-out. If you wish to do so, please let us know so we can code your record appropriately. We will respect your decision if you do not wish your information to be used for any purpose other than your care but in some circumstances we may still be legally required to disclose your data.

There are two main types of opt-out.

Type 1 Opt-Out

If you do not want information that identifies you to be shared outside the practice, for purposes beyond your direct care, you can register a ‘Type 1 Opt-Out’. This prevents your personal confidential information from being used other than in particular circumstances required by law, such as a public health emergency like an outbreak of a pandemic disease.

Type 2 Opt-Out

NHS Digital collects information from a range of places where people receive care, such as hospitals and community services. If you do not want your personal confidential information to be shared outside of NHS Digital, for purposes other than for your direct care, you can register a ‘Type 2 Opt-Out’. For further information about Type 2 Opt-Outs, please contact NHS Digital Contact Centre at [email protected] referencing ‘Type 2 Opt-Outs – Data Requests’ in the subject line; or call NHS Digital on (0300) 303 5678; or visit the website http://content.digital.nhs.uk/article/7092/Information-on-type-2-opt-outs

If you wish to discuss or change your opt-out preferences at any time please contact:

Admin [email protected]

NHS Digital is developing a new system to give you more control over how your identifiable information is used. Details on the national data opt-out may be found at https://digital.nhs.uk/services/national-data-opt-out-programme

Access to your information

Under the Data Protection Act 2018 everybody has the right to see, or have a copy, of data we hold that can identify you, with some exceptions. You do not need to give a reason to see your data. If you want to access your data you must make the request in writing. Under special circumstances, some information may be withheld.

If you wish to have a copy of the information we hold about you, please contact Tracy Kennedy [email protected]

Change of Details

It is important that you tell the person treating you if any of your details such as your name or address have changed or if any of your details are incorrect in order for this to be amended. Please inform us of any changes so our records for you are accurate and up to date.

Mobile telephone number

If you provide us with your mobile phone number we may use this to send you reminders about your appointments or other health screening information. Please let us know if you do not wish to receive reminders on your mobile.

Notification

The Data Protection Act 2018 requires organisations to register a notification with the Information Commissioner to describe the purposes for which they process personal and sensitive information.

We are registered as a data controller and our registration can be viewed online in the public register at: http://ico.org.uk/what_we_cover/register_of_data_controllers

Any changes to this notice will be published on our website and in a prominent area at the Practice.

Complaints

If you have concerns or are unhappy about any of our services, please contact the Practice Manager Karen Rydings [email protected]

For independent advice about data protection, privacy and data-sharing issues, you can contact:

The Information Commissioner

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow Cheshire SK9 5AF

Information we are required to provide you

Further Information

Further information about the way in which the NHS uses personal information and your rights in that respect can be found here:

The NHS Care Record Guarantee

The NHS Care Record Guarantee for England sets out the rules that govern how patient information is used in the NHS, what control the patient can have over this, the rights individuals have to request copies of their data and how data is protected under the Data Protection Act 2018.

http://systems.digital.nhs.uk/infogov/links/nhscrg.pdf

The NHS Constitution

The NHS Constitution establishes the principles and values of the NHS in England. It sets out the rights patients, the public and staff are entitled to. These rights cover how patients access health services, the quality of care you’ll receive, the treatments and programmes available to you, confidentiality, information and your right to complain if things go wrong. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-nhs-constitution-for-england

NHS Digital

NHS Digital collects health information from the records health and social care providers keep about the care and treatment they give, to promote health or support improvements in the delivery of care services in England.

http://content.digital.nhs.uk/article/4963/What-we-collect

Reviews of and Changes to our Privacy Notice

We will keep our Privacy Notice under regular review. This notice was last reviewed in May 2021

Children & Young Adults

(Applies to children 13 – 16 years)

How we use your personal information

This notice explains why the practice collects information about you and how that information may be used.

The health care professionals, who provide you with care will keep records about your health and any treatment or care you have received (e.g. Hospital, GP Surgery, Walk-in Centre etc.). These records help to give you the best possible healthcare.

From the age of 13 years, the ICO (Information Commissioner’s Office) regards you as having the competence to consent to your own health care and the processing of the information that we hold about you at this practice which form what is known as your ‘Health Record’.

This is in line with what is called the ‘Gillick Competence’ which is a medical law that decides whether a child under 16 years is able to consent to his/her own medical treatment without the need for consent from a parent/carer/legal guardian.

These records may be electronic (information kept on our computers), on paper (letters that we may have or that we receive) or a mixture of both, and we take every care to make sure that your information is kept confidential and secure. Records which this GP Practice holds about you may include the following:

• Details about you, such as your address, legal representative, emergency contact details
• Any contact the surgery has had with you, such as appointments, clinic visits, emergency appointments, etc.
• Notes and reports about your health
• Details about any treatment you have had or are having.
• Results of any tests that you may have such as blood tests, x-rays etc.
• Important information from other health professionals, relatives or those who care for you
• Important information from your school that may be to do with your health or wellbeing (eg. behaviour reports, concerns from teachers, vaccinations you have had)
• Information from Child Health about any Health assessments or vaccinations you have had, you have missed or you may need.

Your records will be stored in line with the NHS Code of Practice for Records Management

It is our job to give you the best care possible and so your records are used to make sure that this happens.  We may sometimes need to share your information with other people in the NHS to help us to make things in the NHS better.  Most of the time, this information will not have your personal details (name. date of birth) so you cannot be identified.  In cases where we do need to give your personal details, we will always ask if this is okay with you.  Information may be used within the GP practice for clinical audits to help us monitor the quality of the care that you receive.

Sometimes your information may be requested to be used for research purposes – the surgery will always ask you before giving any information for this purpose.

How we keep your records confidential

We have to keep your personal information and records private so we will only use or share your information in line with the following guidelines and laws:

General Data Protection Regulation 2018

Human Rights Act 1998

Common Law Duty of Confidentiality

Health and Social Care Act 2012

NHS Codes of Confidentiality and Information Security

Information: To Share or Not to Share Review

Every member of staff who works for the Practice or another NHS organisation has a legal obligation to keep information about you confidential.  Staff at this practice have to sign a ‘Confidentiality Agreement’.

We will only ever use or pass on information about you if others involved in your care if this is important for your treatment. We will not give your information to anyone else without your permission unless there are exceptional circumstances (i.e. life or death situations), where the law requires information to be passed on, for example Child Protection and Serious Criminal Activity.

Organisations that we may share your information with

We may also have to share or receive your information, under strict agreements on how it will be used, with the following organisations:-

• NHS Organisations
• Doctor, Dentist, Optician or Pharmacist
• Ambulance Service
• Social Care & Safeguarding Services
• Child Health
• County Council
• Schools
• Fire and Rescue Services
• Police & Court Services (if we are asked by law)

We will always tell you who we are sharing your information with and may even have to ask for your consent to do this (ask if it is okay with you) and you may be asked to sign a form for this.

Access to your information

Under the new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) you have the right to ask to see your medical records whenever you like and this is free.  Also, if you think that any of the information you see is not correct, you can ask for this information to be taken out.  This can only be done if we are 100% sure that the information is NOT correct.  To be able to see your records, this is what you will need to do:

• Write a letter to the doctor here to ask to look at your records. You will need to include your full name, date of birth, NHS number (if you know it) and your address. This is so that we can make sure that we are giving this information to the right person.
• The doctor will use the Gillick Competence rules (that we talked about above) to make sure that you are able to have that consent
• We will not charge for this (unless you ask a lot of times then we may put on a charge)
• If the doctor agrees that it is okay for you to have access, we will give you the information within 30 days

Data Processor

This is the person/people or organisation that is responsible for using and recording your information. All staff at Stanhope Mews West are individual Data Processors

Data Controller

The Data Controller is the person/organisation responsible for keeping your information secure and confidential.  Karen Rydings and Sally James is your Data Controller

Data Protection Officer (DPO)

The Data Protection Officer has overall responsibility for GDPR within this area.  Our designated DPO is: Dr Ernest Williams

Objections / Complaints

If you need to know anything else about how we use or keep your information, you can ask to speak to our Practice Manager and she will be happy to explain.  If you have access to the internet, you can also read more about this on the ICO website (www.ico.org.uk )

Change of Details

It is important that you tell us or any other person treating you if any of your details such as your name, address or contact details have changed.

You should also know that at 13 years old you are able to use your own mobile telephone number instead of your parents’ numbers for when we need to contact you.  At 16 years we will write to you to ask what number you would like us to have.  If you are still happy for us to put in one of your parents’ mobile numbers then you do not need to contact us.

Notification

Under the General Data Protection Regulations we have to register this surgery with the Information Commissioner to describe the purposes for which we process personal and sensitive information.

This information is available for everyone on the Information Commissioners Office website www.ico.org.uk

This practice is registered with the Information Commissioners Office (ICO).

GPs are often asked by patients to complete forms of various types or prepare medical reports for outside organisations. This type of work usually does not form part of the NHS GP Contract. As such, it is deemed as ‘private work’, undertaken outside of NHS duties, and a fee will usually be levied. For some types of work the GP may be able to levy the fee directly to the requesting organisation (eg insurance companies and some local authority departments).

Our fees are in line with national guidance from the British Medical Association, and represent the complexity and time often taken to complete this type of paperwork.

Examples of chargeable  ‘non-NHS services’ include:

• Private sick notes
• Medicals for insurance purposes
• Holiday cancellation forms
• ‘To Whom It May Concern’ supporting letters insurers, courts, universities etc
• Commercial/HGV driving license applications
• Medical certificates for participation in certain sporting activities/residential courses

Key points:

• Unless specified, most forms will usually not require a face-to-face GP appointment. If unsure, please check with a receptionist prior to booking with a GP. Please note we are unable to accommodate form or letter requests during our Urgent Clinics.
• Requests may take up to 28 days to be completed, and on occasion longer, if a specific GP is away on leave. This time frame enables the GPs to prioritise their NHS clinical work. If documentation is required more urgently please indicate this at the time of the request and we will do our best to accommodate.
• Other Professionals – please check if it is essential that your paperwork be completed specifically by a GP, as many organisations now accept signatures for certification purposes from other professionals (eg teacher, lawyer, etc) Finding another professional may reduce delay, and potentially also a fee.
• Accessing Records – If you wish to simply access your medical records, a member of the Reception team will be pleased to set you up for our Online Services where a range of services, including the option to view your full medical record, are available. Please note, photo ID will be required when signing up for this service.
• British Passport applications can no longer be signed by a GP. Please see the GOV.UK website for a list of those professionals that can sign Passport applications for you.
• Photo Verification Requests – please ensure that the request is directed to a GP who you have previously met and would recognise your photo. We often have requests for identity verification which we are unable to complete because the patient is not well known to any of the staff.
• Local Authorities (LA) Requests for additional medical information to support certain applications (eg Housing) are only needed in a minority of cases, and then only after a patient has completed their self-assessment. If additional information pertaining to your application is deemed to be necessary, the LA will usually make a formal written request directly to the GP. LAs discourage unsolicited letters from GPs. Our policy is therefore to wait for an official request before preparing any supporting or appeal letters. If you are finding difficulty in providing suitable evidence to support an application or appeal, please inform one of the Practice Administrators and they may be able to assist.
• Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) benefit appeals – the GP will ordinarily require a copy of the grounds upon which the original DWP decision was reached, along with additional information from the patient outlining the basis for the appeal. Fees for this service will be discretionary, determined on on a case-by-case basis, dependent upon complexity.
• Medical Sickness Certificates (MED3 form) are issuable during GP consultations if you have been off work for more than 7 calendar days for medical reasons. For absences <7 days in length, you may complete a Self-Certificate (SC2 form) provided by your employer which can certify your absence for purposes of pay. There may be occasions when an employer may insist upon a GP certificate for short absences. Certificates of this nature are chargeable.
• School Absences do not ordinarily require a GP note. National guidance states that a school should accept a parent or guardian’s assessment that a child is unfit to attend school. Some schools may still insist upon a GP letter and we understand this often puts parents in a difficult position. Our policy is that such requests should come from the school, and may be liable for a charge.

Fee Schedule (Apr 2023):

This list is not exhaustive. If you have any queries relating to these charges please let Reception know prior to the commencement of the work.

Payment must be made in advance or on collection of the report and can be done by BACS transfer, or at Reception via cash or card.

If by BACS transfer, please use the following details, giving your full name as the reference:

Drs Steeden and Hussein
56-00-17
2351 9630

Appendix:

• BMA Guidance – Non-NHS Services: www.bma.org.uk/advice/employment/fees/why-gps-charge-fees
• LMC Guidance – DWP Appeals: www.gpsoe.org.uk/assets/DWP%20Guidance%20v7.pdf
• LMC Guidance – School Absences: www.gpsoe.org.uk/gpsoe/assets/Schools%20Sickness%20Letter%20Request%202018%20Guidance%20v3.pdf
• LMC Guidance – Housing Forms: www.gpsoe.org.uk/assets/LMC%20Housing%20Guidance%20GPSoE.pdf

Sharing Data

To provide best care for our patients we sometimes share medical information with other health professionals like district nurses, podiatrists, walk in centres and out of hours doctors and other community care. These services are best served when patients opt in to sharing their information with other health professionals. Only the services you are being referred to can view this information.

For more information on how your information is secured and what is appropriate to share you can visit how and why we keep information about you and how you can choose who sees it.

GP to GP Record Transfers

NHS England require practices to utilise the GP2GP facility for the transfer of patient records between practices, when a patient registers or de-registers (not for temporary registration).

It is very important that you are registered with a doctor at all times. If you leave your GP and register with a new GP, your medical records will be removed from your previous doctor and forwarded on to your new GP via NHS England. It can take your paper records up to two weeks to reach your new surgery.

With GP to GP record transfers your electronic record is transferred to your new practice much sooner.

The practice confirms that GP to GP transfers are already active and we send and receive patient records via this system.

NHS Data Opt-Out

Type 1 Data Opt-Out

You can opt-out of data sharing if you do not want your confidential patient information held in your GP medical record to be used for purposes other than your individual care.

To do this complete the form below and email to [email protected]

Type 1 Data Opt-Out Form

Type 2 Data Opt-Out/ National Data Opt-Out

This cannot be done via your GP practice. The National Data Opt-out stops information being shared by NHS England and other NHS services which is not being shared for the purpose of direct patient care.

You can use the button below to visit the NHS Website and complete the National Data Opt-out form by visiting the link below.

www.nhs.uk/your-nhs-data-matters/manage-your-choice

Suggestions and Comments

If you have any suggestions or comments on your experience at Stanhope Mews please fill out the feedback form. Alternatively please put any ideas or comments into the suggestion box found at reception, with your name, address and telephone number if you would like a direct response.

Complaints

We hope you will either fill out the feedback form or discuss any problems relating to the running of the practice with the practice manager in the first instance.

Our complaints procedure is designed to make sure that we settle any complaints as quickly as possible. You can make a complaint either verbally or in writing. Please ask to speak to the practice manager should you wish to make a complaint in person.

We shall acknowledge your complaint within two working days, giving an indication of a timescale for a fuller response, depending on the complexity of the issue. We welcome complaints, and learn as much as possible from them – without them we cannot improve.

You can request a copy of our complaints procedure from reception.

Complaints can be emailed to [email protected].

What is the Summary Care Record?

Your Summary Care Record 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.
You can choose whether or not to have a Summary Care Record.

What information is included in the 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.
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.

Who can see my Summary Care Record?

Only healthcare staff involved in supporting or providing your care can see your Summary Care Record. These:

• 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
• should 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, they may look at your Summary Care Record without asking you. If they do this, they will make a note on your record to say why they have done so.

What are my choices with Summary Care Records?

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.

If you don’t want a Summary Care Record, you need to let your GP practice know by downloading and filling in and returning an opt out form or you can complete a summary care record opt out from online.