Confidentiality & Medical Records

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.

Data Protection Act 1998

Amended March 2000 

• All patient personal, medical and treatment details are held in this practice in health records and on computer.
• All members of the Primary Healthcare Team in this practice are bound by a strict code of confidentiality.
• No patient information will be shared with any professional who are not looking after you directly and no not need to know it.
• We would always ask for your permission before sharing your information with staff working outside the NHS e.g. social workers or educationalists and then only on a “need to know” basis.
• We are required by law to pass on information e.g. notification of a birth, reporting infectious diseases to public health. We also send basic details of all patients re hospital, clinic attendances to the NHS Information and Statistics Division which publishes this in an anonymous way for the Scottish Health Department to help in developing future services
• Anonymous information is also used to improve healthcare for all to protect public health, check efficiency of services, plan for the future, train staff and carry out medical research.
• The information is always kept confidential and processed by trained staff who are governed by strict codes of practice.
• The Data Protection Act 1998 gives you the right to know how we use your personal health information. You have the right to object to use being made of your information and can ask to change or restrict the way it is used. However, where we have a legal duty to notify the information this will still be disclosed.

The Practice Manager is the Practice Caldicott Guardian and you should ask to make an appointment with her if you have any queries regarding the Act.

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.

Access to Records

In March 2000, the Data Protection Act, 1988, replaced the Access to Health Records Act legislation.   This gives people the right to see all information kept about them by any organisation.   Under the Data Protection Act, patient’s can now see their health records from the day they were born.

A request can be made by:

• Patient

• Parent or person with parental responsibility (parent can only do this with child’s consent)

• Someone who cannot manage their affairs and where a person authorised in writing makes the application.

• In the case of a deceased patient, the patient’s personal representative or any other person who may have a claim arising from the person’s death.*

• Court appointed representative.

Application for access to records:

• They should be advised to make the application in writing to their registered GP.

• The application is date stamped when received.

• A reply should be done within 14 days of receiving the application.

• No charge can be made to view information recorded within 40 days of an entry having been made to the record.

• A £10.00 fee where access is requested to records and no entry has been made within the previous 40 days.

• Charges may be made for photocopies and copies of x-rays up to a maximum of £50.00 including the access fee.

• The Practice has the discretion not to charge for copies should it choose to do so.

*For patients who have died, the Access to Health Records Act, 1991, still applies and records are only available from November 1991 onwards.   A fee of £10 charge for access to records is still applicable.

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.

To pursue a complaint please contact  Patient Relations at Patientrelations.fife@nhs.net  or by telephone on 01592 648153 Ext:28153 or you can write to  Patient Relations Department Fife. NHS Board Room,104 Hayfield House, Hayfield Road, Kirkcaldy, Fife, KY2 5AH who will deal with your concerns appropriately. Further written information is available regarding the complaints procedure from reception.

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.