Practice Policies & Patient Information
Accountable GP
All patients have been allocated a named accountable GP.
This does not affect your ability to book an appointment for your preferred or usual GP.
For more information please ask at our reception desk.
Accountable GP for over 75’s
All patients aged 75 have been allocated a named accountable GP who will have overall responsibility for the care and support that the surgery provides to them.
Your named GP will have overall responsibility for your care but it does not prevent or restrict you from seeing any other GP or nurse in the Practice.
If you are not sure who your named GP is or would like to change your named GP please speak to our reception team.
Complaints
We aim to give a friendly and professional service to everyone who attends our practice.
However, if, for any reason, our service should fall below our patients’ satisfaction, we take all complaints very seriously.
If you would like to make a complaint regarding the surgery or the services we offer, please contact Linda Mizen, Practice Manager, either by telephone or in writing, who will make every effort to respond to your concerns as soon as possible.
All complaints will be treated as confidential.
The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman website contains detailed information on raising a complaint about any aspect of the NHS in England.
There is also a leaflet explaining the procedure of bringing a complaint to the ombudsman.
Confidentiality
The practice complies with Data Protection legislation and we make every effort to preserve patient confidentiality.
We ask you for personal information to ensure that you receive appropriate care and treatment.
For the practice to function effectively it is sometimes necessary for medical information about you to be shared between members of the practice team.
It will be shared with others only to provide further medical treatment for you, e.g. from hospital services, or to enable you to access other services, e.g. from the social work department.
Disability and discrimination
We will provide care, now and in the future, to all our patients without discrimination and irrespective of patient’s age, sex, race, beliefs or special needs.
We expect that patients will show no discrimination towards other surgery users, members of the practice team or our colleagues in the NHS.
Fair Processing Privacy Notice
Your Information, Your Rights
Being transparent and providing accessible information to patients about how we will use your personal information is a key element of the Data Protection Act 2018 and the EU General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR).
The following notice reminds you of your rights in respect of the above legislation and how your GP Practice will use your information for lawful purposes in order to deliver your care and the effective management of the local NHS system.
This notice reflects how we use information for:
- The management of patient records;
- Communication concerning your clinical, social and supported care;
- Ensuring the quality of your care and the best clinical outcomes are achieved through clinical audit and retrospective review;
- Participation in health and social care research; and
- The management and clinical planning of services to ensure that appropriate care is in place for our patients today and in the future.
Data Controller
As your registered GP practice, we are the data controller for any personal data that we hold about you.
What information do we collect and use?
All personal data must be processed fairly and lawfully, whether is it received directly from you or from a third party in relation to your care.
We will collect the following types of information from you or about you from a third party (provider organisation) engaged in the delivery of your care:
- ‘Personal data’ meaning any information relating to an identifiable person who can be directly or indirectly identified from the data. This includes, but is not limited to name, date of birth, full postcode, address, next of kin and [NHS number/HCN number/ CHI number];
And
- ‘Special category / sensitive data’ such as medical history including details of appointments and contact with you, medication, emergency appointments and admissions, clinical notes, treatments, results of investigations, supportive care arrangements, social care status, race, ethnic origin, genetics and sexual orientation.
Your healthcare records contain information about your health and any treatment or care you have received previously (e.g. from an acute hospital, GP surgery, community care provider, mental health care provider, walk-in centre, social services). These records may be electronic, a paper record or a mixture of both. We use a combination of technologies and working practices to ensure that we keep your information secure and confidential.
Why do we collect this information?
The NHS Act 2006 and the Health and Social Care Act 2012 invests statutory functions on GP Practices to promote and provide the health service in England, improve quality of services, reduce inequalities, conduct research, review performance of services and deliver education and training. To do this we will need to process your information in accordance with current data protection legislation to:
- Protect your vital interests;
- Pursue our legitimate interests as a provider of medical care, particularly where the individual is a child or a vulnerable adult;
- Perform tasks in the public’s interest;
- Deliver preventative medicine, medical diagnosis, medical research; and
- Manage the health and social care system and services.
How is the information collected?
Your information will be collected either electronically using secure NHS Mail or a secure electronic transferred over an NHS encrypted network connection. In addition, physical information will be sent to your practice. This information will be retained within your GP’s electronic patient record or within your physical medical records.
Who will we share your information with?
In order to deliver and coordinate your health and social care, we may share information with the following organisations:
- Local GP Practices in order to deliver extended primary care services
- NHS (i.e. University Hospital Coventry & Warwickshire, Coventry and Rugby CCG), NHS England and Scotland plus the RSS service to support the Choose and Book service.
- Extended hours service
- 111 and Out of Hours Service
- Local Social Services and Community Care services
- Health Care Organisations commissioned to provide services by Coventry and Warwickshire ICB.
Your information will only be shared if it is appropriate for the provision of your care or required to satisfy our statutory function and legal obligations.
Your information will not be transferred outside of the European Union.
Whilst we might share your information with the above organisations, we may also receive information from them to ensure that your medical records are kept up to date and so that you’re GP can provide the appropriate care.
[In addition, we received data from NHS Digital (as directed by the Department of Health) such as the uptake of flu vaccinations and disease prevalence in order to assist us to improve “out of hospital care”.]
How do we maintain the confidentiality of your records?
We are committed to protecting your privacy and will only use information that has been collected lawfully. Every member of staff who works for an NHS organisation has a legal obligation to keep information about you confidential. We maintain our duty of confidentiality by conducting annual training and awareness, ensuring access to personal data is limited to the appropriate staff and information is only shared with organisations and individuals that have a legitimate and legal basis for access.
Information is not held for longer than is necessary. We will hold your information in accordance with the Records Management Code of Practice for Health and Social Care 2016.
Consent and Objections
Do I need to give my consent?
The GDPR sets a high standard for consent. Consent means offering people genuine choice and control over how their data is used. When consent is used properly, it helps you build trust and enhance your reputation. However, consent is only one potential lawful basis for processing information. Therefore, your GP practice may not need to seek your explicit consent for every instance of processing and sharing your information, on the condition that the processing is carried out in accordance with this notice. Your GP Practice will contact you if they are required to share your information for any other purpose which is not mentioned within this notice. Your consent will be documented within your electronic patient record.
What will happen if I withhold my consent or raise an objection?
You have the right to write to withdraw your consent to any time for any particular instance of processing, provided consent is the legal basis for the processing. Please contact your GP Practice for further information and to raise your objection.
Health Risk Screening / Risk Stratification
Health Risk Screening or Risk Stratification is a process that helps your GP to determine whether you are at risk of an unplanned admission or deterioration in health. By using selected information such as age, gender, [NHS number/HCN number/ CHI number], diagnosis, existing long term condition(s), medication history, patterns of hospital attendances, admissions and periods of access to community care your GP will be able to judge if you are likely to need more support and care from time to time, or if the right services are in place to support the local population’s needs.
To summarise Risk Stratification is used in the NHS to:
- Help decide if a patient is at a greater risk of suffering from a particular condition.
- Prevent an emergency admission;
- Identify if a patient needs medical help to prevent a health condition from getting worse; and/or
- Review and amend provision of current health and social care services.
[Your GP will use computer-based algorithms or calculations to identify their registered patients who are at most risk, with support from the local Commissioning Support Unit and/or a third-party accredited Risk Stratification provider. The risk stratification contracts are arranged by Coventry & Rugby CCG in accordance with the current Section 251 Agreement. Neither the CSU nor your local CCG will at any time have access to your personal or confidential data. They will only act on behalf of your GP to organise the risk stratification service with appropriate contractual technical and security measures in place.]
Your GP will routinely conduct the risk stratification process outside of your GP appointment. This process is conducted electronically and without human intervention. The resulting report is then reviewed by a multidisciplinary team of staff within the Practice. This may result in contact being made with you if alterations to the provision of your care are identified.
[A Section 251 Agreement is where the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care has granted permission for personal data to be used for the purposes of risk stratification, in acknowledgement that it would overburden the NHS to conduct manual reviews of all patient registers held by individual providers.]
As mentioned above, you have the right to object to your information being used in this way. However, you should be aware that your objection may have a negative impact on the timely and proactive provision of your direct care. Please contact the Practice Manager to discuss how disclosure of your personal data can be limited.
Sharing of Electronic Patient Records within the NHS
Electronic patient records are kept in most places where you receive healthcare. Our local electronic systems (such as System One, EMIS and Eclipse) enable your record to be shared with organisations involved in your direct care, such as:
- GP practices
- Community services such as district nurses, rehabilitation services, telehealth and out of hospital services.
- Child health services that undertake routine treatment or health screening
- Urgent care organisations, minor injury units or out of hours services
- Community hospitals
- Palliative care hospitals
- Care Homes
- Mental Health Trusts
- Hospitals
- Social Care organisations
- Pharmacies
In addition, NHS England have implemented the Summary Care Record which contains information including medication you are taking and any bad reactions to medication that you have had in the past.
In most cases, particularly for patients with complex conditions and care arrangements, the shared electronic health record plays a vital role in delivering the best care and a coordinated response, taking into account all aspects of a person’s physical and mental health. Many patients are understandably not able to provide a full account of their care or may not be in a position to do so. The shared record means patients do not have to repeat their medical history at every care setting.
Your record will be automatically setup to be shared with the organisations listed above, however you have the right to ask your GP to disable this function or restrict access to specific elements of your record. This will mean that the information recorded by your GP will not be visible at any other care setting.
You can also reinstate your consent at any time by giving your permission to override your previous dissent.
Invoice Validation
[If you have received treatment within the NHS, the local Commissioning Support Unit (CSU) may require access to your personal information to determine which Clinical Commissioning Group is responsible for payment for the treatment or procedures you have received. Information such as your name, address, date of treatment and associated treatment code may be passed onto the CSU to enable them to process the bill. These details are held in a secure environment and kept confidential. This information is only used to validate invoices in accordance with the current Section 251 Agreement and will not be shared for any further commissioning purposes.]
Your Right of Access to Your Records
The Data Protection Act and General Data Protection Regulations allows you to find out what information is held about you including information held within your medical records, either in electronic or physical format. This is known as the “right of subject access”. If you would like to have access to all or part of your records, you can make a request in writing to the organisation that you believe holds your information. This can be your GP, or a provider that is or has delivered your treatment and care. You should however be aware that some details within your health records may be exempt from disclosure; however, this will be in the interests of your wellbeing or to protect the identity of a third party. If you would like access to your GP record, please submit your request in writing to:
Allesley Park Medical Centre, 2 Whitaker Road, Allesley Park, Coventry, CV5 9JE
Complaints
In the event that your feel your GP Practice has not complied with the current data protection legislation, either in responding to your request or in our general processing of your personal information, you should raise your concerns in the first instance in writing to the Practice Manager at:
University of Warwick Health Centre, Health Centre Road, Coventry, CV4 7AL
If you remain dissatisfied with our response you can contact the Information Commissioner’s Office at Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF – Enquiry Line: 01625 545700 or online at www.ico.gov.uk
Finance
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 for six months or more in Allesley Park Medical Centre in the last financial year (2014/15) was £94,495 before tax and national insurance, this is for 3 full time and 3 part time GPs
The average pay for GPs working for six months or more at Broomfield Park Medical Centre in the last financial year (2014/15) was £101,924 before tax and national insurance, this is for 5 full-time and 1 part-time GP.
Freedom of information
The practice produces a complete guide to the information routinely made available to the public by our GPs.
A copy of this guide is available from reception.
GDPR – General Data Protection Regulations
GDPR stands for General Data Protection Regulations and is a new piece of legislation that will supersede the Data Protection Act.
It will not only apply to the UK and EU; it covers anywhere in the world in which data about EU citizens is processed.
The GDPR is similar to the Data Protection Act (DPA) 1998 (which the practice already complies with), but strengthens many of the DPA’s principles.
The General Data Protection Regulation was introduced on 25th May 2018.
As a result, we are publishing a new Privacy Notice to make it easier for you to find out how we use and protect your information.
In addition, we will change the ways we use your personal information.
The new notice will provide you with additional details such as:
- Your increased rights in relation to the information we hold about you
- How we keep your personal information secure
- The types of personal information we collect about you and how we use it
- The legal grounds for how we use you information
The new Privacy Notice will supersede any other notices which may exist between yourself and the University of Warwick Health Centre.
How to find out more:
You will be able to view it by clicking the link below
We will keep you up to date:
The Privacy Notice makes sure that we continue to comply with privacy law and regulation.
If we make changes to any of these in the future, we will let you know.
NHS Summary Care Records (SCR)
When you register with the Practice an SCR will automatically be created.
An SCR is an electronic summary containing limited patient information which can be shared to assist with your emergency care.
The information contained within the SCR is: medication, allergies and adverse reactions.
This information means that healthcare staff can provide you with safer care when your GP practice is closed or when you are away from home in another part of England.
Only Healthcare staff who are directly involved in your care would be able to view your SCR.
Each patient has a choice regarding an SCR.
You will be asked if you want to opt out when completing your registration form.
For further information regarding SCR:
- Contact your local Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) www.pals.nhs.uk or
- Visitwww.nhscarerecords.nhs.uk
Patient charter
We aim to treat our patients courteously at all times and expect our patients to treat our staff in a similarly respectful way.
It is your responsibility to keep your appointments, inform us of your past illnesses, medication, hospital admissions and any other relevant details.
Our patient charter is available in full at reception.
For further information on any of our policies, please contact the practice manager.
Private Charges Feb 23
Certain work undertaken at this practice is not covered by the NHS. This list summarises fees incurred for providing these types of services.
Description | Details | £ |
Brief Certificate of incapacity | No examination | 25.00 |
Firearms Licensing letters | Request for medical information from Police (Fee due from Patient) | 54.00 |
Firearms Licensing (Full report) | 104.00 | |
Fitness To Travel Certificates | EDD confirmation for pregnant ladies | 35.00 |
Immunisation Summary Certificate | This includes British Council, fitness to work abroad certificate | 16.50 |
Letter (very simple letter) | eg To whom it may concern | 20.00 |
Letter Internship (more complex) | eg To whom it may concern | 40.00 |
Medical report ( HGV/PSV/Taxi report) | With or Without Examination | 135.00 |
Medical report no examination | Insurance company report, fitness to work abroad, | 133.00 |
Medical report with examination | Insurance company report, employment medical, fitness to work abroad | 250.00 |
Medical report with examination | Adoption and fostering only (per person) | 135.00 |
Driving licence countersign | includes certification of orignal documents | 28.00 |
Private consultation – 10 mins | 55.00 | |
Private consultation – hrly rate | Including Home Visits | 250.00 |
Private consultation – nurse (15 mins) | 30.00 | |
Private Prescription | 15.00 | |
Sickness/accident claims | Includes mortgage, credit/store cards, holiday cancellation, travel fitness cert, BUPA/PPP claim form | 40.00 |
Students Only | ||
Camps Abroad | Without examination up to 3 pages (£70 with Examination) | 35.00 |
Campus Accommodation | Single Form dictated letter | 25.00 |
Medical report with examination | Fitness to work abroad (ELECTIVES STUDENTS ONLY) | 97.00 |
Medical report no examination | Fitness to work abroad (ELECTIVES STUDENTS ONLY) | 48.00 |
Medical Certificates | (Sick note) | 20.00 |