Practice Policies & Patient Information
Access to Medical Records
Even in the best regulated systems errors can occasionally occur. Should you see something in your record that you believe to be such an error please contact the Practice as soon as possible. Please do not tell anyone else about the content of any such error as the data remains confidential.
For those patients who have access to their medical records, you may have sight of test results before the GP/Clinician has had a chance to contact you and discuss them. We will try and keep these instances to a minimum. We apologise in advance for any distress this may cause.
If you are requesting access to another patient’s medical record or to speak on their behalf you will be asked to provide written confirmation from that patient that they consent to you having full access to their medical record and they agree to you speaking on their behalf.
Children aged 13 and above are considered competent to deal with their own health issues. To request access to their record and speak on your child’s behalf you will need to provide written consent from your child
Care Data
Information about you and the care you receive is shared, in a secure system, by healthcare staff to support your treatment and care.
It is important that we, the NHS, can use this information to plan and improve services for all patients. We link information from all the different places where you receive care, such as your GP, hospital and community service, to help us provide a full picture. This allows us to compare the care you received in one area against the care you received in another, so we can see what has worked best.
Information such as your postcode and NHS number, but not your name, is used to link your records in a secure system, so your identity is protected. Information which does not reveal your identity can then be used by others, such as researchers and those planning health services, to make sure we provide the best care possible for everyone.
You have a choice. If you are happy for your information to be used in this way you do not have to do anything. If you have any concerns or wish to prevent this from happening, please speak to practice staff or download the opt-out form below, complete it and return it to the practice
We need to make sure that you know this is happening and the choices you have.
Communication from the Health and Social Care Information Centre about opt-outs and your care information choices.
Sharing your records: your personal information
Information about you is used in a number of ways by the NHS and social care services to support your personal care and to improve health and social care services for everyone.
The Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) is the national NHS organisation with a legal responsibility to collect data as people make use of NHS and social care services. The data is used both at a local level and nationally to help with planning, managing your care, supporting research into new treatments, identifying trends and issues and so forth, and is used to try to make services better for all.
You can, however, choose not to have information about you shared or used for any purpose beyond providing your own treatment or care.
Your right to opt-out
You can choose not to have anything that could identify you shared beyond your GP practice. You can also choose for the HSCIC not to share information it collects from all health providers any further.
If you have previously told your GP practice that you don’t want the HSCIC to share your personal confidential information for purposes other than your own care and treatment, your opt-out will have been implemented by the HSCIC from April 29 2016. It will remain in place unless you change it.
Simply contact your GP either to register an opt-out or end an opt-out you have already registered and they will update your medical record. Your GP practice will also be able to confirm whether or not you have registered an opt-out in the past.
You can find more information about how the HSCIC handles your information and choices and how it manages your opt-out on the HSCIC website hscic.gov.uk/yourinfo.
Complaints Policy
Click here to view our Complaints procedure
Confidentiality and 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.
GP Annual Earnings 2024
The average pay for GPs working in Low Moor Medical Practice in the last financial year [2021/22] was £42,993 before tax and National Insurance. This is for 7 part time GPs who worked in the practice for more than six months.
Important Information About Your Records
Electronic records are kept in all the places where you receive healthcare. Often NHS care services can usually only share information from these records by letter, email or phone. At times, this can slow down your treatment and mean information is hard to access.
The practice uses a secure computer system that allows the sharing of full electronic records across different NHS care services. This information is NOT about your Summary Care Record (SCR), it is asking your sharing preferences regarding your full detailed electronic record.
We are telling you about this as you have a choice to make. You can choose to share or not to share your full electronic record with other NHS care services where you are treated and whether we can view records held by those other services.
If you choose to make your record shareable, your clinical details will only be viewable by clinical teams who are treating you. Each clinical team that cares for you now or in the future will ask your permission to view your shared record* You can also ask for part of your record to be made private – not shareable. All record accesses are recorded and auditable.
If you chose not to make your record shareable, we will respect your wishes and will do our best to make your care safe and efficient. However, denying the clinical teams caring for your ability to access important clinical details could compromise your care.
You have two choices:
1. Sharing out – This controls whether your full electronic patient record can be shared with other NHS care services where you are treated. Let us know if your records should be Shareable or Not Shareable
2. Sharing In – This controls whether you agree for this practice to view information you’ve agreed to share at other NHS care services. Let us know if we can view your shared record from elsewhere or if you do not want it to be viewable to us.
Please let us know your choices. You can change your mind at any time by informing us.
* In the event of an emergency
In certain circumstances, such as if you are unconscious or there is a court order, healthcare staff may look at your record without asking you. If they have to do this, a note will be made on your record. If we share information without your permission, we will make sure that we keep to the GDPR 2016 and Data Protection Act 1998, the NHS Confidentiality Code of Practice and other national guidelines on Best Practice.
Our Mission Statment
We strive to provide patients with the highest quality personal health care, meeting medical needs and managing patients’ expectations with compassion and professionalism. We promote inclusive care programmes where appropriate, working in collaboration with supporting medical and voluntary organisations. We strongly advocate employee wellbeing, fostering a resilient culture of work-life balance and effective staff engagement.
Privacy Policy
Please click here to view.
Rights and Responsibilities
You have the right:
· To be treated as an individual in a friendly and helpful manner.
· To have your privacy and dignity respected.
· To be given a clear explanation of your care and treatment.
· To have information on services offered by the practice available in this leaflet.
· To be offered a routine appointment with a health care professional within 24 hours and with a doctor within 48 hours. You may have to wait longer for a doctor of your choice.
· To have repeat prescriptions available within 48 hours of being ordered.
· To be informed on how long you can expect to wait for your test results.
· To have the Practice Manager, Mrs Belinda Brewer, deal confidentially and promptly with any complaint, comment or suggestion you may have.
· To expect a high standard of hygiene to be maintained on these premises at all times.
You have a responsibility:
· To keep appointments with the practice and any other health care facility and to let us know as soon as possible if you are unable to attend.
· To take responsibility for your own health by eating a balanced diet and taking regular exercise etc.,
· To telephone before 10.30am if a home visit is essential, except in an emergency.
· To request night visits only in a genuine emergency.
· To supervise your children while on the premises.
· To treat the doctors, nurses and staff with courtesy.
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.