Confidentiality & Medical Records
The practice complies with the data protection act and General data Protection Regulations 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 Practitioners and the practice required for disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 can be made available to the public. All requests for such information should be made to the Practice Manager and a fee may be payable.
Freedom of Information Act Statement
Access to Records
In accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998, General Data Protection Regulations and Access to Health Records Act, patients may request to see their medical records. Such requests should be made through the Assistant Manager/Medical Secretary. No information will be released without the patient consent unless we are legally obliged to do so. Further information is available here.
Complaints
If you have a Complaint or are concerned about the service that you have received from the Practice, please let us know.
HOW TO COMPLAIN
We hope that most problems can be sorted out quickly and easily, often at the time that they arise and with the person concerned. If your complaint cannot be sorted out verbally in this manner and you do wish to make a more formal complaint, then we would like you to let us know in writing as soon as possible so that we are able to establish what happened more easily. Complaints can be investigated within 6 months of the date that the incident occurred or within 6 months of discovering a problem but no longer than 12 months later.
Formal complaints will only be accepted in writing and should include as much detail as possible and then addressed to:
Practice Manager
St Georges Surgery
40 St. George's Crescent
Wrexham
LL13 8DB
WHAT WE SHALL DO
We shall endeavour to acknowledge your complaint within 2 working days.
We will identify the staff concerned and gather all the necessary evidence
We will investigate your complaint fully and fairly
We will respond directly to you within 20 working days, if this is not possible we will advise you of the reasons for the delay.
If you remain unsatisfied, we will arrange for you to discuss the problem with those concerned.
COMPLAINING ON BEHALF OF SOMEONE ELSE
Please note that we adhere strictly to the Rules of Medical Confidentiality. If you are complaining on behalf of someone else, we have to know that you have their consent to do so. A note signed by the person concerned will be needed, unless they are incapable (because of illness) of providing this.
ACCESS TO MEDICAL RECORDS
Under the Data Protection Act and Access to Health Records Act, patients can request to view their medical records and/or request that copies be sent to third parties acting on their behalf. All requests must be in writing and contain written consent from the patient before any information can be released (charges may apply).
TAKING YOUR COMPLAINT FURTHER
We believe that this procedure will give us the best chance of putting right whatever has gone wrong and an opportunity to improve the Practice and its services.
If you still remain unsatisfied with our response, It will not affect your rights to request an Independent Review. This however must be made in writing to the Local Health Board within 28 days of receiving our response.
Complaints Officer
Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board
Wrexham Technology Park
Rhyd Broughton Lane
Wrexham
LL13 7YP
COMMUNITY HEALTH COUNCIL (CHC)
Patients are encouraged to make use of the CHC which provides a free independent advocacy service for patients who wish to make a complaint concerning the NHS.
Tel : 01978 356178
Violence Policy
This Practice operates 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.