phone on a desk

Walk and Talk Women’s Health and Menopause! Join this empowering platform that combines the benefits of walking and candid conversations to address women’s health issues, especially during menopause. Follow their Instagram page for insightful discussions and connect with a supportive community of women navigating this transformative phase of life together. Walk, talk, and embrace the power of women’s health with WHAM!

Please answer the questions in the short questionnaire to enable us to assess your alcohol consumption rate and offer advice if necessary.

Alcohol Questionnaire

If you are please let us know – we may be able to help you 

There is a wealth of information on NHS Choices about carers and caring. Below are some links into the site that we hope you will find useful.

  • Caring for a parent

    Watch this video on: caring for a parent at home

  • Telling people

    Caring responsibilities can make it difficult to maintain friendships or develop new ones. Telling your friends you’re a carer is important so they understand and can support you.

  • Taking a break

    Caring for someone can be a full-time job, but it’s essential that you take time out for yourself too. Read our guide to accessing breaks and respite.

  • Housing and carers

    Do you know your tenancy rights as a carer? Are you aware of all your care at home options? Do you need tips on moving someone around the home?

Contact Carers Direct

Telephone: 0808 802 0202 

Helpline Information: http://www.nhs.uk/carersdirect/carerslives/updates/pages/carersdirecthelpline.aspx

Email: CarersDirect@nhschoices.nhs.uk 

Office Hours: Lines are open 8am to 9pm Monday to Friday, 11am to 4pm at weekends.
Calls are free from UK landlines.

Launch of Veterans and Families’ Directory of Services (VFDS)

An easy-to-use application to help organisations and front-line staff that work with and support Veterans and military families has been launched by Northumbria University, working with the Ministry of Defence.

The Veterans and Families Directory of Services (VFDS)  helps the user to locate services that are available in their area. These have been grouped into categories such as Education and Training, Employment, Finances, etc.

This invaluable resource also provides an option to feedback about the services being offered at a location, plus a button that takes the user directly to the self-help page of the Veterans’ Gateway.

Click on the web link for the Armed Forces Directory:

https://www.armedforcescovenant.gov.uk/launch-of-veterans-and-families-directory-of-services-vfds/

For patients who are due an annual asthma review

If your symptoms are deteriorating or you have any concerns, please make an appointment to the respiratory nurse or a doctor as well.

If you have a regular NHS dentist and need urgent treatment, contact your dentist for advice. 

If you do not have a regular NHS dentist, you can contact NHS 111. They can give you details of out-of-hours dental services in your area. They will be able to inform you of urgent care services near you that provide emergency dental treatment.

Out-of-hours dental care

If you have a problem outside normal practice hours or you’re in pain, you can first try helping yourself by taking painkillers. If you feel the problem can wait until normal practice hours, you can call NHS 111 for self-care advice. 

Emergency dental care

If your problem is more urgent, you can access out-of-hours dental services in your area by calling:

  • your dentist, who should have an answerphone message with details of how to access treatment out of hours  
  • NHS 111

Go to the accident and emergency (A&E) department of your local hospital if you:

  • are in severe pain that is not helped by painkillers
  • are bleeding a lot and it won’t stop
  • trauma of the face, mouth or teeth after a recent accident or injury

NHS out-of-hours or emergency dental care

NHS dental care is available in an emergency if it is clinically necessary, whether or not you have a regular dentist.

Emergency and out-of-hours NHS dental care will cost you £19.70. After this you may have to make another appointment for separate non-urgent treatment, where you will have to pay a second charge in the relevant treatment band.

This easy to use patient questionnaire has been validated for use in Primary Care.
It is used by your doctor to monitor the severity of depression and response to treatment.
It can also be used to make a tentative diagnosis of depression.

Click here to go to the questionnaire

If Death Occurs At Home

1. Telephone the doctor who will visit to confirm that death has taken place.

2. Contact a funeral director.

3. Arrange to collect the doctor’s Medical Certificate of Death (usually from the surgery).

4. Take this to the Registrars Office, (together with the deceased’s Medical Card and Birth Certificate, if available) for the area in which the death took place. Alternatively you can register by declaration at any convenient Registrars Office but certificates will not be available as these will have to be posted to you a few days later.

5. The Registrar will normally issue a Green coloured certificate for you to give to your funeral director who will look after necessary arrangements for the funeral. The Registrar will also issue a white notification certificate for the DSS. They will also enquire as to the number of Certified Copies you require for dealing with the deceased finances (a fee is payable for each copy).

If The Death Occurs In Hospital

1. Contact a funeral director to inform them their services are required.

2. Collect the certificate from the hospital then follow 4 – 5 as above

Note For Cremation

Your funeral director will usually liaise directly with the surgery regarding the additional certification required.

All GP practices are required to declare the mean earnings (e.g. average pay) for GPs working to deliver NHS services to patients at each practice.

The average pay for GPs working in Woodbridge Practice in the last financial year was £70,896 before tax and National Insurance. This is for 3 full time GPs, 6 part time GPs and 2 locum GPs who worked in the practice for more than six months.

All GP surgeries are required by the Government under the terms of the latest GP contract to allocate all patients a named accountable GP.

You will therefore have been allocated a named accountable GP who will be responsible for your overall care.  This will be one of our GP’s mentioned in the Practice Staff section. (You can book appointments with any GP).

If you have a preference as to which GP you are allocated, the Practice will make reasonable efforts to accommodate your request. If you wish to know which GP has been allocated to you, please ask Reception at your next visit.

Patient Online: Records Access

We now offer access to a detailed patient record online, where requested by the patient. An application to access a detailed patient record can be made by applying for system online access, as described below. 

Also, whilst all patients have been allocated a named GP, patients do have the option if they wish of not seeing their named GP.

Patient information leaflet ‘It’s your choice’

If you wish to, you can now use the internet to book appointments with a GP, request repeat prescriptions for any medications you take regularly and look at your medical record online. You can also still use the telephone or call in to the surgery for any of these services as well. It’s your choice.

Being able to see your record online might help you to manage your medical conditions. It also means that you can even access it from anywhere in the world should you require medical treatment on holiday. If you decide not to join or wish to withdraw, this is your choice and practice staff will continue to treat you in the same way as before. In general this decision will not affect the quality of your care. 

You will be given login details, so you will need to think of a password which is unique to you. This will ensure that only you are able to access your record – unless you choose to share your details with a family member or carer.

It will be your responsibility to keep your login details and password safe and secure. If you know or suspect that your record has been accessed by someone that you have not agreed should see it, then you should change your password immediately. 

If you can’t do this for some reason, we recommend that you contact the practice so that they can remove online access until you are able to reset your password. 

If you print out any information from your record, it is also your responsibility to keep this secure. If you are at all worried about keeping printed copies safe, we recommend that you do not make copies at all. 

The practice has the right to remove online access to services for anyone that doesn’t use them responsibly.

Before you apply for online access to your record, there are some other things to consider.

Although the chances of any of these things happening are very small, you will be asked that you have read and understood the following before you are given login details. 

Things to consider

Forgotten history

There may be something you have forgotten about in your record that you might find upsetting. 

Abnormal results or bad news

If your GP has given you access to test results or letters, you may see something that you find upsetting to you. This may occur before you have spoken to your doctor or while the surgery is closed and you cannot contact them. 

Choosing to share your information with someone

It’s up to you whether or not you share your information with others – perhaps family members or carers. It’s your choice, but also your responsibility to keep the information safe and secure. 

Coercion

If you think you may be pressured into revealing details from your patient record to someone else against your will, it is best that you do not register for access at this time.

Misunderstood information

Your medical record is designed to be used by clinical professionals to ensure that you receive the best possible care. Some of the information within your medical record may be highly technical, written by specialists and not easily understood. If you require further clarification, please contact the surgery for a clearer explanation. 

Information about someone else

If you spot something in the record that is not about you or notice any other errors, please log out of the system immediately and contact the practice as soon as possible.

More information

For more information about keeping your healthcare records safe and secure, you will find a helpful leaflet produced by the NHS in conjunction with the British Computer Society:

Keeping your online health and social care records safe and secure

http://www.nhs.uk/NHSEngland/thenhs/records/healthrecords/Documents/PatientGuidanceBooklet.pdf

Thornaby Phlebotomy Opening Times

Monday                 

8:00am – 12:30pm

1:00pm – 3:00pm

Tuesday          

8:00am – 12:30pm

1:00pm – 3:00pm

Wednesday   

8:00am – 12:30pm

1:00pm – 3:00pm

Thursday   

8:00am – 12:30pm

1:00pm – 3:00pm

Friday                      

8:00am – 12:30pm

1:00pm – 3:00pm

Please note clinics will close on time to allow for specimen collection times and lunch breaks.

Ingleby Barwick Phlebotomy Opening Times

Monday           

8:00am – 12:30pm

Tuesday           

8:00am – 12:30pm

1:00pm – 3:00pm

Wednesday    

8:00am – 12:30pm

Thursday         

8:00am – 12:30pm

1:00pm – 3:00pm

Friday              

8:00am – 12:30pm

Please note clinics will close on time to allow for specimen collection times and lunch breaks.

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.

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.

The NHS does not pay for some of the services we provide. These include private sick notes, insurance forms, holiday cancellation forms, medical reports, fitness to travel certificates, private prescriptions, passport signing and some vaccination services. Our fees for these services are displayed in the surgery.

Please click here for information on Sepsis.

This link to the NHS web page will be updated, so please revisit periodically.

There is a new Central NHS Computer System called the Summary Care Record (SCR). It is an electronic record which contains information about the medicines you take, allergies you suffer from and any bad reactions to medicines you have had.

You can now register to receive information by text message on your phone regarding appointments and health care.  

If you wish to register for this messaging service please ask for a consent form from the reception.

This is a new standard being introduced by NHS England which has been developed to support the Equality Act.

The purpose of the standard is to make sure that people with a disability, impairment or sensory loss have access to information that they can understand and get any communication support they might need. This also applies to parents and carers of these people.

For example they might need their information in a format other than standard printed letters; such as braille, easy read, via email etc.

Also they may need help with communication through use of a British Sign Language (BSL) interpreter, deafblind manual interpreter, an advocate etc.

What is included in the standard?

  1. Ask people if they have any information or communication needs and find out what they are.
  2. Record those needs.
  3. Highlight in the patient records what the needs are and how they should be met.
  4. Share these needs with other NHS adult social care providers with their consent.
  5. Make sure that they receive information in a way that meets their needs and that they get any communication support that they need.

More information about the standard can be found at www.england.nhs.uk/accessibleinfo

NHS Accessible Information Standard update July 2015 BSL & subtitles:

If you need us to send you information in a different format to our standard letter, for example large print or easy read, or if you need help to communicate with us, for example because you use British Sign Language, please let us know. If these needs change in the future please let us know so that we can update your record.

  • If you need medical help fast but it’s not an emergency call 111
  • If it’s a life-threatening emergency call 999
  • NHS 111 is the number to call when you need medical help fast but it’s not a life-threatening emergency
  • Calls to 111 are FREE from landlines and mobiles
  • NHS 111 is available 24/7, every day of the year

When to call 111

You should call 111 when:

  • you think you need to go to A&E or to another NHS urgent care service
  • your GP surgery is closed and you need healthcare advice
  • you don’t know who to call for medical help

When to call 999

Call 999 for life threatening emergencies such as:

  • Major accident or trauma
  • Severe breathlessness
  • Severe bleeding
  • Loss of consciousness
  • Severe chest pain

Out-of-hours services are provided during the following periods when the surgery is closed:

Monday to Thursday 18:00 – 08:00

Friday from 18:00 through to 08:00 Monday and throughout bank holidays

During normal practice opening hours, the practice remains your first point of contact for all routine requests.

For more information about NHS 111, please read the frequently asked questions www.nhs.uk/111

NHS 111

1. What is NHS 111?

NHS 111 is a new telephone service being introduced to make it easier for you to access local health services, when you have an urgent need.

If you need to contact the NHS for urgent care there are only three numbers to know; 999 for life-threatening emergencies; your GP surgery; or 111.

When you call 111 you will be assessed, given advice and directed straightaway to the local service that can help you best – that could be an out-of-hours doctor, walk-in centre or urgent care centre, community nurse, emergency dentist or late opening chemist.

NHS 111 is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.

Calls from landlines and mobile phones are free.

 2. How does it work?

Calling 111 will get you through to a team of fully trained call advisers, who are supported by experienced nurses. 

They will ask you questions to assess your symptoms, and give you the healthcare advice you need or direct you to the right local service.

Where possible, they will book you an appointment or transfer you directly to the people you need to speak to. 

If they think you need an ambulance, one will be sent just as quickly if you had dialled 999.

3. When do you use it?

You should call 111 if:

  • you need medical help fast, but it’s not a 999 emergency;
  • you don’t know who to call for medical help or you don’t have a GP to call;
  • you think you need to go to A&E or another NHS urgent care service; or
  • you require health information or reassurance about what to do next.

4. Why should you use it?

 NHS 111 will direct you straight away to the local service that can help you best.  

5. How much do calls to NHS 111 cost?

Calls to the NHS 111 service are free from both landlines and mobile phones, so it won’t cost you a penny.

6. Is the NHS 111 service available 24/7?

 Yes, NHS 111 is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. 

7. Who answers NHS 111 calls?

The North East Ambulance Service handles 111 calls for North East England in partnership with Northern doctors Urgent Care. 

Calls are answered by fully trained call advisers, who are supported by experienced nurses.

8. Is the service available to people with a hearing impairment or communication difficulties? 

People with communication difficulties or impaired hearing are able use the NHS 111 service via a textphone by calling 18001 111.  

Calls are connected to the TextDirect system and the textphone will display messages to tell the user what is happening. 

Typetalk Relay Assistant will automatically join the call and they will speak the users typed conversation to the NHS 111 call adviser and will type back the adviser’s conversation, so that this can be read this on the caller’s textphone display (or computer).

9. Is the service accessible to non-English Speakers? 

The NHS 111 service uses a translation service so that it is accessible to people who do not speak English. 

Callers who do not speak English should state the name of the language they want to conduct the conversation in and the interpreting service will be utilised

How is it shared within the NHS?

The NHS currently has a number of data sharing models. More information about them can be obtained by clicking on the links below. Patients have a right to make decisions about their data and who it is/is not shared with. To inform the Practice of your decision, please contact our reception.

Care Data – Better information means better care

Enhanced Data Sharing Model (EDSM)

When you register with Woodbridge Practice, you will be asked about your data sharing preferences. You can change these at any time, either by speaking to our reception staff or using Systmonline*

Data sharing preferences:

You can choose which other organisations involved in your care can view your full medical record. You can choose this on an individual organisation basis, or apply the setting across all organisations.

       I am happy for my full patient record to be viewed by health and care organisation(s) involved in my care

       I do not want my full patient record to be viewed by health and care organisation(s) involved in my care

       I would like to provide an extra security code or online approval to health and care organisation(s) involved in my care to view my record (If you select this option, you must provide us with a mobile telephone number which can receive secure verification codes.

We also recommend you register for Systmonline, which will give you access to verification codes via the internet if you do not have your mobile phone with you when you need it).

Verification codes can be received by sms/text to a mobile telephone, via email or Systmonline.

For more information, please visit: http://www.woodbridgepractice.co.uk/

*Systmonline is an internet based tool which gives patient’s access to elements of their medical record (detailed coded record, ordering medication, managing appointments etc). You can register for this service at our reception. We ask you to provide photo identification when you register.

How do we securely transfer your medical information when you change Practice?

For more information, please visit: https://digital.nhs.uk/services/gp2gp

Fair Processing Notice

How we use your information

Our GP practice holds information about you and this document outlines how that information is used, with whom we may share that information, how we keep it secure (confidential) and what your rights are in relation to this.

The Health Care Professionals (HCP) who provide you with care, maintain records about your health and any treatment or care you have received previously (e.g. NHS Trust, GP surgery, Community clinics or staff etc.). These records help to provide you with the best possible healthcare.

NHS health records may be electronic, on paper or a mixture of both and we use a combination of working practices and technology to ensure that your information is kept confidential and secure.

What kind of information do we use?

  • Details about you, such as address and next of kin and carer information etc.
  • Any contact the surgery has had with you such as appointments, clinic visits, emergency appointments and so on.
  • Notes and reports about your health.
  • Details about your treatment and care.
  • Results of investigations such as laboratory tests, x-rays etc.
  • Relevant information from other HCPs, relatives or those who care for you.

To ensure you receive the best possible care, your records are used to facilitate the care you receive. Information held about you may be used to help protect the health of the public and to help us manage the NHS. Information may be used for clinical audit to monitor the quality of the service provided and to plan NHS services.

Some of this information will be held centrally and used for statistical purposes. Where we do this, we take strict measures to ensure that individual patients cannot be identified.

Sometimes your information may be requested to be used for research purpose. The surgery or organisation concerned will always endeavour to gain your consent before releasing the information.

The NHS Care Record Guarantee for England sets out the rules that govern how patient information is used in the NHS and what control patients can have over this.

The NHS Constitution https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-nhsconstitution-for-england establishes the principles and values of the NHS in England.

It sets out rights to which patients, public and staff are entitled, and pledges which the NHS is committed to achieve, together with responsibilities, which the public, patients and staff owe to one another to ensure that the NHS operates fairly and effectively.

What do we use your personal and confidential/sensitive information for?

We can only use any information that may identify you (known as personal information) in accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998 and other laws such as the Health and Social Care Act 2012. http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1998/29/contents and http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2012/7/contents/enacted

However, only the minimum necessary identifiers are used in processing personal information for the purpose.

We also have a Common Law Duty of Confidentiality to protect your information. This means that where a legal basis for using your personal or confidential information does not exist, we will not do so.

Apart from direct health care sensitive personal information may also be used in the following cases:

  • To respond to patients, carers or Member of Parliament communication.
  • We have received consent from individuals to be able to use their information for a specific purpose.
  • There is an over-riding public interest in using the information e.g. in order to safeguard an individual, or to prevent a serious crime.
  • There is a legal requirement that will allow us to use or provide information (e.g. a formal court order).
  • For the health and safety of others, for example to report an infectious disease such as meningitis or measles.
  • We have special permission for health and research purposes (granted by the Health Research Authority).
  • We have special permission called a ‘section 251 agreement’ (Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2001 as re-enacted by Section 251 of the NHS Act 2006) which allows the Secretary of State for Health to make regulations to set aside the common law duty of confidentiality for defined medical purposes. An example of where this is used is in risk stratification. Further information can be found on the Health Research Authority’s web site here http://www.hra.nhs.uk/about-the-hra/our-committees/section-251/what-issection-251/

Risk Stratification

Risk stratification tools are increasingly being used in the NHS to help determine a person’s risks of suffering from a particular condition, preventing an unplanned or (re)admission and identifying a need for preventative intervention.

Information about you is collected from a number of sources including NHS Trusts and from this GP Practice. A risk score is then arrived at through an analysis of your anonymised information using software managed by North of England Commissioning Support Service (NECS), which is based at John Snow House, Durham, DH1 3YG.

The data is provided back to the GP Practice or member of your care team in an identifiable form. Risk stratification enables your GP Practice to focus on the prevention of ill health and not just the treatment of sickness. If necessary, your GP Practice may be able to offer you additional services.

Should you have any concerns about how information is managed at your GP Practice, please write to the Management Partner, so you can discuss how the disclosure of your personal information can be limited.

Invoice validation

If you have received treatment within the NHS, access to your personal information is required in order to determine which Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) should pay for the treatment or procedure you have received.

The validation of invoices is undertaken within a controlled environment for finance within the North of England CSU (NECS) which is based at John Snow House, Durham, DH1 3YG. This is carried out via a section 251 agreement and is undertaken to ensure that the CCG is paying for treatments relating to its patients only. The dedicated NECS team receives patient level information (minimal identifiers are used for this purpose, such as NHS number, post code, date of birth) direct from the hospital providers and undertakes a number of checks to ensure that the invoice is valid and that it should be paid for by the CCG.

The CCG does not receive or see any patient level information relating to these invoices. Further information about invoice validation can be found on NHS England’s web site here https://www.england.nhs.uk/ourwork/tsd/ig/in-val/  

How do we maintain confidentiality of your records?

We are committed to protecting your privacy and will only use information collected lawfully in accordance with the Data Protection At 1998 (which is overseen by the Information Commissioner’s Office), Human Rights Act, the Common Law Duty of Confidentiality and the NHS Codes of Confidentiality and Security.

Every member of staff who works for an NHS organisation has a legal obligation to keep information about you confidential. Anyone who received information from an NHS organisation has a legal duty to keep it confidential. We maintain our duty of confidentiality to you at all times. We will only ever use or pass on information about you if others involved in your care have a genuine need for it. We will not disclose your information to any third party without your permission unless there are exceptional circumstances (e.g. life or death situations) or where the law requires information to be passed on.

The NHS Digital Code of Practice on Confidential Information applies to all of our staff, and they are required to protect your information, inform you of how your information will be used, and allow you to decide if and how your information can be shared.

All practice staff are expected to make sure information is kept confidential and receive annual training on how to do this. This is monitored by the practice and can be enforced through disciplinary procedures. We also ensure the information we hold is kept in secure locations, restrict access to information to authorised personnel only and protect personal and confidential information held on equipment such as laptops with encryption (which masks data so that unauthorised users cannot see or make sense of it).

We ensure external data processors that support us are legally and contractually bound to operate and prove security arrangements are in place where information that could or does identify a person is processed. We have a senior person responsible for protecting the confidentiality of patient information and enabling appropriate information sharing. This person is called the Caldicott Guardian.

The Caldicott Guardian for the practice is the Business Development Practice Manager who can be contacted at Woodbridge Practice, Trenchard Avenue, Thornaby, Stockton-on-Tees, TS17 0EE (Tel: 01642 762636)  

We also have a Senior Information Risk Owner (SIRO) who is responsible for owning the practice’s information risk. The SIRO is also the Business Development Practice Manager.

We are registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) as a data controller which describes the purposes for which we process personal data. A copy of the registration is available from the ICO’s web site by searching on our practice name.

Who are our Partner Organisations?

We may also have to share your information, subject to strict agreements on how it will be used, with the following organisations:

  • NHS Trusts.
  • Specialist Trusts.
  • Independent contractors such as dentists, opticians, pharmacists.
  • Private sector providers.
  • Voluntary sector providers.
  • Ambulance Trusts.
  • Clinical Commissioning Groups.
  • Social Care and Health.
  • Local Authorities.
  • Education Services.
  • Fire & Rescue Services.
  • Police.
  • Other data processors.

What are your rights?

Where information from which you can be identified is held, you have the right to ask to:

  • View this or request copies of the records by making a subject access request – also see below.
  • Request information is corrected.
  • Have the information updated where it is no longer accurate.
  • Ask us to stop processing information about you where we are not required to do so by law, although we will first need to explain how this may affect the care you receive.

Access to personal information

You have a right under the Data Protection Act 1998 to access/view what information the surgery holds about you, and to have it amended or removed should it be inaccurate. This is known as ‘the right of subject access.’

If we do hold information about you we will:

  • Give you a description of it.
  • Tell you why we are holding it.
  • Tell you who it could be disclosed to, and
  • Let you have a copy of the information in an intelligible form.
  • If you would like to make a ‘subject access request’, please do so in writing to the Management Partner Summary Care Records (SCR)

The Summary Care Record is a national scheme to share information about the medicines you are prescribed and any allergies or other adverse reactions you have experienced. Health Professionals at other organisations will only be able to access this information with your permission. You can opt-out of the scheme; please ask at the surgery if you need more information or follow the appropriate link on our website.

Summary Care Record with Additional Information

This is a national scheme to share more detailed information including your current medical problems and your care wishes. Health Professionals at other organisations will only be able to access this information with your permission. This information will only be available to other agencies if you have given us your permission to share it.

Your right to withdraw consent

If you are happy for your data to be extracted and used for the purposes described in this Fair Processing Notice, then you do not need to do anything. If you do not want your personal data being extracted and used for the purposes described in this Fair Processing Notice, then you need to let us know as soon as possible in writing to the Management Partner. Please note that withdrawing your consent from sharing data may, in some circumstances, cause a delay in your receiving care.

How long do you hold information for?

All records held by the practice will be kept for the duration specified by national guidance from the Department of Health, The Records Management Code of Practice for Health and Social Care 2016. Confidential information is securely destroyed in accordance with this code of practice. Your right to opt out In some instances, you are allowed to request that your confidential information is not used beyond your own care and treatment and to have your objections considered.

To support this patients are able to register objections with the GP Practice to either prevent their identifiable data being released outside of the GP Practice (known as a Type 1 objection) or to prevent their identifiable data from any health and social care setting being released by NHS Digital (known as a Type 2 objection) where in either case it is for purposes other than direct patient care.

If your wishes cannot be followed, you will be told the reasons (including the legal basis) for that decision. There are certain circumstances where a person is unable to opt out but these are only where the law permits this such as in adult or children’s safeguarding situations.