Confidentiality

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.

Your Computerised Medical Records

We only use electronic patient records. All letters concerning patients that come into the practice are scanned and entered into the appropriate patient"s electronic medical record. We use the records to run a wide range of recall systems for many long term conditions, for screening programmes and for immunisation reminders. We carry out regular checks to make sure we are treating you to the highest clinical standards (clinical audit).

We comply with the Data Protection Act and the Access to Records Act. We will ensure that all records are kept confidential and secure. All who work here are bound by the same strict code of confidentiality.

If you are unhappy about a service provided by the surgery, then you are entitled to complain. We don’t like receiving complaints but accept that we can’t always get things right. Please contact our Practice Manager in the first instance. Hopefully we will be able to resolve your complaint orally, but it may be necessary for you to submit your complaint in writing.

Violent or Abusive behaviour will not be tolerated at the surgery. We know that people visiting the surgery can be worried and anxious and we try to meet their needs. The surgery has a zero-tolerance policy on violence and verbal abuse towards its staff and doctors. People behaving violently or abusively will be removed from the practice list.

To help us provide you with an efficient health care service, we would be grateful if you could please; 

• Treat doctors and staff with curtsey and respect
• Read and keep this leaflet so you are aware of the practice’s policies 
• Tell us if you cannot keep an appointment 
• Arrive promptly for you appointment. If you are over 10minutes late you may not be seen 
• Contact the surgery to get the results of your tests

PALS (Patient Advice and Liaison Service)

The NHS employs over a million staff in thousands of locations. It is a large and complex organisation providing a broad range of services. It is not surprising that sometimes you or a loved one may feel bewildered or concerned when using the NHS. And this can be at times when you are feeling at your most vulnerable and anxious.

So, what should you do if you want on the spot help when using the health service? The NHS expects all members of staff to listen and respond to you to the best of their ability. But sometimes, you may wish to talk to someone employed especially to help you. The Patient Advice and Liaison Service, known as PALS, has been introduced to ensure that the NHS listens to patients, their relatives, carers and friends, and answers their questions and resolves their concerns as quickly as possible.

PALS also helps the NHS to improve services by listening to what matters to patients and their loved ones and making changes, when appropriate.

What does PALS do?

In particular, PALS will:

• Provide you with information about the NHS and help you with any other health-related enquiry
• Help resolve concerns or problems when you are using the NHS
• Provide information about the NHS complaints procedure and how to get independent help if you decide you may want to make a complaint
• Provide you with information and help introduce you to agencies and support groups outside the NHS
• Inform you about how you can get more involved in your own healthcare and the NHS locally
• Improve the NHS by listening to your concerns, suggestions and experiences and ensuring that people who design and manage services are aware of the issues you raise
• Provide an early warning system for NHS Trusts and monitoring bodies by identifying problems or gaps in services and reporting them.

Find out more
If you would like more information about PALS, the functions it is intended to provide and the standards it should strive to achieve , follow this link.