Practice Policies

Confidentiality & Medical Records

The Surgery 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 in writing or by email to wiccg.stcatherinessurgery@nhs.net

As part of their job requirements our Admin staff require access to your medical records and please be assured that these staff members are bound by the same rules of confidentiality as our medical staff.

Freedom of Information

Information about the General Practioners and the Surgery 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 or by email to wiccg.stcatherinessurgery@nhs.net

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 by completing the access request form and showing ID at the Reception Desk. 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, please click here for more information as to the complaints procedure we adhere to and details on how to raise your concerns with us.

Zero Tolerence Policy

The Surgery follows the NHS zero tolerance policy and this refers to actual, threatened or implied verbal and physical abuse. Additionally the policy has been extended to include comments made on social media platforms. Incidents which fall under our Zero tolerance are dealt with in a range of ways covering Police intervention, verbal or written warnings and ultimately removal from our patient list. We display a summary of our policy in all our clinical rooms and admin areas and also attach a copy here for your information should you wish view.

Zero Tolerance Summary