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 annonymised 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.
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 in writing. The applicant must give a name and address for the reply but they do not have to give a reason for their request. Details of what information is available under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 are given on our Freedom of Information Publication Scheme page on the website. We have 20 working days to comply with any request.
Access to Records
In accordance with the General Data Protection Regulations (2018) which supersede the Data Protection Act 1998 and Access to Health Records Act, patients may request to see their medical records. Such requests should be made through the practice manager and may be subject to an administration charge. No information will be released without the patient's consent unless we are legally obliged to do so.
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 the practice manager who will deal with your concerns appropriately. Further written information is available regarding the complaints procedure from reception or from:
Complaint Leaflet December 2018
The Patient Advice and Support Service (PASS) is an independent service which provides free, accessible and confidential advice and support to patients and their carers and families about NHS healthcare. You can access this service from any Citizens Advice Bureau in Scotland. Visit cas.org.uk or follow this link to find your local CAB. For more information on the Patient Advice and Support Service visit http://www.patientadvicescotland.org.uk/
Zero Tolerance Policy
Our staff come to work to care for others, and it is important for all members of the public and our staff to be treated with respect.
In line with the rest of the NHS, this practice has a zero tolerance policy whereby aggressive, threatening or violet behaviour towards our staff will not be tolerated under any circumstances.
The GP's, nurses and staff in this practice have the right to do their work in an environment free from this type of behaviour and everything will be done to protect that right. The practice feels sure you will understand that proper behaviour is absolutely necessary for our staff and patients and that non-observance will not be accepted.
The zero tolerance policy with regard to violence and abuse, which 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.