Friar Gate Surgery

1. Please remember, you are responsible for your own health and the health of your children. We will give you our professional help and advice. Please act upon it.
   
   
2. Help us to help you. Please let us know if you change your name, address or telephone number.
   
   
3. Please do everything you can to keep appointments. Tell us as soon as possible if you cannot. Otherwise, other patients may have to wait longer.
   
   
4. Please ask for home visits by the doctor only when the person is too ill to visit the surgery.
   
   
5. Please keep your telephone calls brief and avoid calling during the peak morning time for non-urgent matters.
   
   
6. Test results take time to reach us, so please do not ring before you have been asked to do so.
   
   
7. We ask that you treat the doctors and practice staff with courtesy and respect.
   
   
8. Please read our practice booklet. Along with this website it will help you to get the best out of the services we offer. It is important that you understand the information given to you. Please ask us questions if you are unsure of anything.

Our responsibilities to you:

1. We are committed to giving you the best possible service.
   
   
2. Waiting time: We run an appointment system in this practice. You will be given a time at which the doctor or nurse hopes to be able to see you. You should not wait more than 30 minutes in the waiting room without receiving an explanation for the delay.
   
   
3. Access: You will have rapid access to a clinician in case of emergency; within half a working day in cases of urgency, otherwise within two working days. Should you request to see a particular doctor, you may have to wait a little longer. We will arrange a home visit as appropriate for those who are too ill or infirm to be brought to the surgery.
   
   
4. Telephone: We will try to answer the telephone promptly and to ensure that there are sufficient staff available to do this. You should be able to speak to a doctor by telephone, although you may be asked to contact the surgery at another time, unless it is urgent.
   
   
5. Test Results: If you have undergone tests or x-rays ordered by the practice, we will inform you of the results at your next appointment. If no further appointment needs to be arranged, we will advise you when and how to obtain the results.
   
   
6. Respect: Patients will be treated as individuals and partners in their healthcare irrespective of their ethnic origin or religious and cultural beliefs.

PRACTICE CHARTER STANDARDS SUMMARY

The local standards set within this practice are for the benefit of our patients. It is our job to give you treatment and advice. Following discussion with you, you will receive the most appropriate care, given by suitably qualified people. In the interest of your health it is important for you to understand all the information given to you. Please ask us questions if you are unsure of anything.

SUGGESTIONS OR COMPLAINTS

We welcome suggestions from patients on how we can improve the service provided. If you have an idea, please contact the practice manager, or post the suggestion into our suggestion box in the waiting area.

If you have a complaint or concern about the service you have received from the doctors or any of the staff working in this practice, please let us know. We operate a practice complaints procedure as part of a NHS system for dealing with complaints.

Our complaints system meets national criteria; copies of the practice complaints procedure are available from the reception desk. Should you feel you would like to send a written complaint, please address it to the practice manager, and we will provide a written response as soon as possible.

NHS ZERO TOLERANCE ZONE

Staff working in the NHS go to work to care for others. They do not go to work to be victims of violence. Aggression, violence and threatening behaviour do not go with the job and will not be tolerated any longer. Individuals behaving violently towards staff will be reported to the police. The definition of work-related violence is not subjective. "Violence" means: any incident where staff are abused, threatened or assaulted in circumstances related to their work, involving an explicit or implicit challenge to their safety, wellbeing or health.

PRIMARY CARE TRUSTS

Friar Gate surgery is part of the Derby City Primary Care Trust. PCTs bring together GPs, nurses and other agencies dealing with health and social matters within a geographical area. They are responsible for deciding how best to spend NHS funds in order to meet the needs of the population they serve.

PRIVACY AND CONFIDENTIALITY OF YOUR MEDICAL RECORDS

Your medical record is a life-long history of your consultations, illnesses, investigations, prescriptions and other treatments. The doctor/patient relationship sits at the heart of good general practice and is based on mutual trust and confidence. The story of that relationship over the years is your medical record.

Your GP is responsible for the accuracy and safe-keeping of your medical records. You can help us to keep it accurate by informing us of any change in name, address, marital status and by ensuring that we have full details of your important medical history.

If you move to another area or change GP, we will send your medical records to the local Health Authority to be passed on to your new practice. However, we will keep a copy of all entries onto your computer records whilst you were registered with us.

ACCESS TO MEDICAL RECORDS

Patients have the right to view their own medical records. The practice has an application form for those who wish to have access to such records (under the auspices of the Data Protection Act 1998). The form can be optained from the practice manager. The NHS now operates a central datbase of patients' summary records known as 'The Spine'. It was created to provide a rapid interchange of information between various bodies within the NHS to facilitate safer, more 'joined up' care. A messaging system diverts requests for patient details from practices like ours and a rapid response is achieved. Access to the system is controlled by secure registration and authentication procedures. As a practice, we are obliged to upload patient data to the system. Should any patient of Friar Gate Surgery object to having their details forwarded in this way, they should contact reception for advice. In the future, as the practice's control over such data exchange reduces, it may be necessary to open dialogue directly between the patient and the Department of Health.

YOUR RIGHT TO PRIVACY

You have a right to keep your personal health information confidential between you and your doctor. This applies to everyone over the age of 16 years and in certain cases to those under 16. The law does impose a few exceptions to this rule, but apart from those (listed in detail below), you have a right to know who has access to your medical record.

WHO ELSE SEES MY RECORDS?

There is a balance between your privacy and safety, and we will normally share some information about you with others involved in your health care, unless you ask us not to. This could include doctors, nurses, therapists and technicians involved in the treatment or investigation of your medical problems.

(This practice is involved in the teaching of medical students and the training in general practice of young doctors. If you see a medical student or GP trainee during a consultation, they may be given supervised access to your medical record.)

Our practice nurses, district nurses, midwives and health visitors all have access to the medical records of their patients. It is our policy to try to have a single medical and nursing record for each patient. We firmly believe that this offers the best opportunity for delivering the highest quality of care from a modern primary care team.

Our practice staff have limited access to medical records. They need to notify the health authority of registration and claim details and perform various filing tasks on the medical records.

All our doctors, nurses and staff have a legal, ethical (and contractual) duty to protect your privacy and confidentiality.

WHERE ELSE DO WE SEND PATIENT INFORMATION?

We are required by law to notify the Government of certain infectious diseases (eg meningitis, measles but not AIDS) for public health reasons.

The law courts can also insist that GPs disclose medical records to them. Doctors cannot refuse to co-operate with the court without risking serious punishment. We are often asked for medical reports from solicitors. These will always be accompanied by the patient’s signed consent for us to disclose information. We will not normally release details about other people that are contained in your records (eg wife, children, parents etc) unless we also have their consent.

Limited information is shared with health authorities to help them organise national programmes for public health such as childhood immunisations, cervical smear tests and breast screening.

GPs must keep the health authorities up to date with all registration changes, additions and deletions. We also notify the health authority of certain procedures that we carry out on patients (contraceptive and maternity services, minor operations, night visits, booster vaccinations) and other “item-of-service” procedures, where we are paid for performing these procedures.

Social Services, the Benefits Agency and others may require medical reports on you from time to time. These will often be accompanied by your signed consent to disclose information. Failure to co-operate with these agencies can lead to patients’ loss of benefit or other support. However, if we have not received your signed consent we will not normally disclose information about you.

Life assurance companies frequently ask for medical reports on prospective clients from the GP. These are always accompanied by your signed consent form. GPs must disclose all relevant medical conditions unless you ask us not to do so. In that case, we would have to inform the insurance company that you have instructed us not to make a full disclosure to them. You have the right, should you request it, to see reports to insurance companies or employers before they are sent.

HOW CAN I FIND OUT WHAT’S IN MY MEDICAL RECORDS?

We are required by law to allow you access to your medical records. If you wish to see your records, please contact the practice manager for further advice. All requests to view medical records should be made in writing to the surgery. We are allowed by law to charge a small fee to cover our administration and costs.

We have a duty to keep your medical records accurate and up to date. Please feel free to correct any errors of fact which may have crept into your medical records over the years.

WHAT WE WILL NOT DO!

To protect your privacy and confidentiality, we will not normally disclose any medical information over the telephone or fax unless we are sure that we are talking to you. This means that we will not disclose information to your family, friends or colleagues about any medical matters at all, unless we know that we have your consent to do so.

Finally, if you have any further queries, comments or complaints about privacy and your medical records, then please contact the practice manager or talk to your own GP.

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION - PUBLICATION SCHEME

We are required by the NHS Freedom of Information Act 2000 to provide a publication scheme. This is a guide to classes of information routinely made available to the public.

Details of this scheme are available from reception.