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.

Freedom of Information

Information about the General Practioners 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 accordance with 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 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.

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.

Our Policy on Private Specialist Care

The Green Medical Practice does not agree to any requests for Shared Care Agreements (SCA) with private healthcare providers for prescribing or monitoring specialized medications. We have this policy to ensure patient safety through continuity directly between you and your private specialist making these specialised decisions, and to protect the ability of the Practice to care for all our registered patients. This is in keeping with Health Board Policy for NHS General Practices.

Examples of treatments this policy covers:
• Medication for conditions like ADHD and gender incongruence.
• Ongoing health checks after private surgery (such as bariatric surgery).

If you choose to use a private specialist, that provider is fully responsible for all parts of your treatment. This includes writing your prescriptions, arranging any necessary blood tests, and all continuous monitoring.

We are happy to discuss an official referral to the NHS to transfer your care, but we cannot issue prescriptions during this waiting period.

Please consider this policy and the full cost implications of private care before deciding to seek treatment from a private provider.