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Practice Charter

Confidentiality

Confidentiality is at the heart of good medical practice and is based upon mutual trust and confidence.

Patient health records are kept by the practice with which they are registered and treated. Each health professional working within the practice is responsible for the accuracy and safe keeping of health records and this includes information stored on computers.
The records include general information: name, address and date of birth. They also contain details of care such as consultations, illnesses, investigations undertaken, prescription history and treatment carried out.

When patients change their GP their health records are returned, in a sealed secure bag, to the health authority who will then forward them on to your new GP.

The law strictly controls the management of all personal information.
Anyone who receives information about you has a legal duty to keep it confidential.
You have a right to see your health records. However, if some of the information is considered detrimental to your mental and physical well-being we have a right to withhold that information.
Your right of privacy allows you to keep your health records confidential between you and your health professionals with some exceptions.

Exceptions Are:

When information is requested by the NHS from us.
To help protect the health of the public generally.
To make sure the NHS runs efficiently.
To help the NHS plan and make sure services meet patients' needs in the future.
To help the NHS train its staff.
To help the NHS account for its actions.
To carry out medical and other health research for the benefits of everyone.
To prepare statistics on NHS performance and activity.

How The Practice May Use Your Records

To investigate complaints of legal claims and respond to your concerns.
To use it for clinical and non-clinical staff so that we can review the care that you receive and make sure that it is of the highest standard.

Why We Keep And Share Information

We keep information and details of your carer in order to help plan current and future health care.

If you receive care from organisations outside of the NHS we may need to share certain information to enable us to work together with people such as social services, which includes those responsible for the care of the elderly, disabled, children, hospitals, health visitors and other health care professionals to provide you with continuity of care.

We are required to also inform the health authority about some instances of communicable diseases eg meningitis, measles, mumps etc (HIV/AIDS are not included for public health reasons).

Other Organisations Who Might Ask For Health Records

The Benefits Agency - may sometimes need medical reports. These cannot be given without your signed consent.

Law Courts - can insist on disclosure of health records.

Solicitors - might ask for medical reports. We always need your signed consent. We will not give details about any third party contained in your records.

We Have A Duty To Keep Your Health Records Accurate

What we need you to do is to keep us informed of any changes in your:

a) address
b) marital status
c) name
d) telephone number

Finally...

If you wish to see your health records please ask to speak to the practice manager who will arrange a convenient time for you both.
Please note that under the Data Protection Act (1998) we are allowed to make a charge to cover any administration cost.
For hospital or community health records, contact either the relevant hospital manager or the person directly responsible for your care.
Public health research often requires the collection of anonymised information about large numbers of patients. This practice is part of Lambeth Data Net. We research into the impact on health and services of patients’ ethnicity, religion and main language spoken, in order to improve health care in Lambeth. This research helps us to give you a service accurately reflecting the varied needs of Lambeth. There is a leaflet available giving more details and information on your right to opt out of this service improvement programme.

Complaints

Making A Complaint

If you have any complaints or concerns about the service that you have received from the doctors or staff working for this practice, please let us know.

We hope that most problems can be sorted out easily and quickly, often at the time they arise and with the person concerned. If your problem cannot be sorted out in this way and you wish to make a complaint, we would like you to let us know as soon as possible - ideally within a matter of days or at most a few weeks - because this will enable us to establish what happened more easily. If it is not possible to do that, please let us have details of your complaint:

Within six months of the incident that caused the problem; or
Within six months of discovering that you have a problem, provided that is within 12 months of the incident.

The practice manager will be pleased to deal with any complaint. She will explain the procedure to you and make sure that your concerns are dealt with promptly. You can make your complaint:

In person – ask to speak to the practice manager
In writing – some complaints may be easier to explain in writing. Please give as much information as can, then send your complaint to the practice for the attention of the practice manager as soon as possible.

What We Will Do

Our complaints procedure is designed to make sure that we settle any complaints as quickly as possible.

We shall acknowledge your complaint within three working days and aim to have looked into your complaint within 10 working days of the date when you raised it with us. We shall then be in a position to offer you an explanation, or a meeting with the people involved.
When we look into your complaint, we shall aim to:

find out what happened and what went wrong
make it possible for you to discuss the problem with those concerned, if you would like this
make sure you receive an apology, where appropriate
identify what we can do to make sure the problem doesn’t happen again.

Complaining On Behalf Of Someone Else

Please note that we keep strictly to the rules of medical confidentiality. If you are complaining on behalf of someone else, we have to know that you have his or her permission to do so. A consent form signed by the person concerned will be needed, unless they are incapable (because of illness) of providing this. Please let us know if this is the case

What You Can Do Next

We hope that, if you have a problem, you will use our practice complaints procedure. We believe that this will give us the best chance of putting right whatever has gone wrong and the opportunity to improve our practice.

However, this does not affect your right to approach the local Primary Care Trust if you feel you cannot raise your complaint with us or you are dissatisfied with the way we are dealing with your complaint. The Patient Advice and Liaison Service based at Lambeth PCT provide confidential advice and support, helping you to sort out any concerns you may have about the care we provide, guiding you through the different services available from the NHS.

Telephone: 0800 587 8078 Monday to Friday from 9.00am - 5.00pm or email: pals@lambethpct.nhs.uk

If you remain dissatisfied with the responses to approach The Parliamentary Ombudsman. Contact details are:

The Parliamentary Ombudsman
Millbank Tower
Millbank
London
SW1P 4QP

Phone: 0845 015 4033 Fax: 020 7217 4940
Textphone: 020 7217 4066
www.ombudsman.org.uk

Help Us Get It Right

We constantly try to improve the service we offer.

Please let us know when you think we have done something well or if you have any suggestions as to how we can do something better