There is a new Central NHS Computer System called the Summary Care Record (SCR). The Summary Care Record is meant to help emergency doctors and nurses help you when you contact them when the surgery is closed. Initially, it will contain just your medications and allergies.

Later on as the central NHS computer system develops, (known as the ‘Summary Care Record’ – SCR), other staff who work in the NHS will be able to access it along with information from hospitals, out of hours services, and specialists letters that may be added as well.

Your information will be extracted from practices such as ours and held on central NHS databases.

As with all new systems there are pros and cons to think about. When you speak to an emergency doctor you might overlook something that is important and if they have access to your medical record it might avoid mistakes or problems, although even then, you should be asked to give your consent each time a member of NHS Staff wishes to access your record, unless you are medically unable to do so.

On the other hand, you may have strong views about sharing your personal information and wish to keep your information at the level of this practice. Connecting for Health (CfH), the government agency responsible for the Summary Care Record have agreed with doctors’ leaders that new patients registering with this practice should be able to decide whether or not their information is uploaded to the Central NHS Computer System.

For existing patients it is different in that it is assumed that you want your record uploaded to the Central NHS Computer System unless you actively opt out.

The Practice supports the government’s ‘Zero Tolerance’ campaign for Health Service Staff. This states that GPs and their staff have a right to care for others without fear of being attacked or abused.

To successfully provide our services a mutual respect between all the staff and patients has to be in place. All our staff aim to be polite, helpful, and sensitive to all patients’ individual needs and circumstances.

They would respectfully remind patients that very often staff could be confronted with a multitude of varying and sometimes difficult tasks and situations, all at the same time.

Our staff understand that ill patients do not always act in a reasonable manner and will take this into consideration when trying to deal with a misunderstanding or complaint. However, rude or aggressive behaviour, be it intimidating, violent or abusive, will not be tolerated and may result in you being removed from the Practice list and, in extreme cases, the Police being contacted.

In order for the practice to maintain good relations with their patients the practice would like to ask all its patients to read and take note of the occasional types of behaviour that would be found unacceptable:

• Using insulting language, bad language or swearing at practice staff
• Any physical violence towards any member of the Primary Health Care Team or other patients, such as pushing or shoving
• Verbal abuse towards the staff in any form including verbally insulting the staff
• Racial abuse and sexual harassment will not be tolerated within this practice
• Persistent or unrealistic demands that cause stress to staff will not be accepted. Requests will be met wherever possible and explanations given when they cannot
• Causing damage/stealing from the Practice’s premises, staff or patients
• Obtaining drugs and/or medical services fraudulently
• We ask you to treat your GPs and their staff courteously at all times.

Patients should be mindful that our staff are following the rules, regulations and guidance as dictated by NHS England and the Management of the Practice. It is not in their power to change or alter these.

Removal from the practice list

A good patient-doctor relationship, based on mutual respect and trust, is the cornerstone of good patient care. If any of the behaviours listed above are reported by a member of staff, a review will be held internally and a decision made if the patient should receive a warning letter.

If and when trust has irretrievably broken down, it is in the patient’s interest, just as much as that of the Practice, that they should find a new practice. An exception to this is on immediate removal on the grounds of violence e.g. when the Police are involved.

Removing other members of the household

In rare cases, however, because of the possible need to visit patients at home it may be necessary to terminate responsibility for other members of the family or the entire household. The prospect of visiting patients where a relative who is no longer a patient of the practice by virtue of their unacceptable behaviour resides, or being regularly confronted by the removed patient, may make it too difficult for the practice to continue to look after the whole family. This is particularly likely where the patient has been removed because of violence or threatening behaviour and keeping the other family members could put doctors or their staff at risk.

Zero Tolerance Policy.pdf

Patients can expect to be treated with dignity and respect and will not be discriminated against on any grounds including age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation.

There are two types of Opt-out you can make.

Type 1 Opt-out which is handled by the Surgery and prevents information being shared outside of the Surgery for purposes other than direct care.

Please download and complete the Type 1 Opt-out form and hand into the Surgery, or attach it via email to wsxccg.lindfield.reception@nhs.net

National Data Opt-out allows patients to opt-out of their confidential patient information being used for research and planning.

 NHS National Data Opt-out

Type+1+Opt-out+form (1).pdf

There are many good reasons why insurance companies may request a copy of your medical records or a Doctor’s report. For example, you may be making a claim under your medical insurance policy. In this instance, the insurance company is entitled to request access to relevant medical information to allow them to process your claim.

Lindfield Medical Centre takes the processing of your data very seriously and so we will only process data when we can be certain that there is a lawful basis for doing so.

There have been reported cases where insurance companies (or other 3rd parties) have requested information using a Data Subject Access Request and have asked for a copy of all of a patient’s medical records. In such cases, they will have the patient’s consent to do so, but we have found instances where patients have not been fully aware of the extent of the information that will be released.

Therefore, when we receive such a request, we will always contact you, verify your identity and confirm that you are fully aware of the extent of the request.

The British Medical Association has questioned whether the law allows insurance companies to use Data Subject Access Requests to obtain confidential and sensitive personal data. The General Data Protection Regulation states that only data which is sufficient for the purpose for which it is required should be disclosed and sensitive personal data which is not relevant or excessive in relation to this purpose should not be disclosed.  

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has recently written to the insurance industry to confirm that they consider the use of Data Subject Access rights in this way is inappropriate and an abuse of that right to access medical records. As the guardian of your medical record we are responsible for ensuring only necessary and relevant information held on your record is shared with an insurance company, however we also have a duty to comply with a Data Subject Access Request made by you as a patient and do not want to cause any delays to your application.  

We feel that contacting you to discuss the request is the best way to ensure that we meet all of our lawful obligations without causing any unnecessary delay.

GP Privacy Notice current 2023

In order to provide the right level of care, we are required to hold personal information about you on our computer systems and in paper records to help us to look after your health needs, and your doctor is responsible for their accuracy and safe-keeping. Please help to keep your record up to date by informing us of any changes to your circumstances.

Confidentiality and Personal Information

Doctors and staff in the practice have access to your medical records to enable them to do their jobs. From time to time information may be shared with others involved in your care if it is necessary. Anyone with access to your record is properly trained in confidentiality issues and is governed by both legal and contractual duty to keep your details private.

All information about you is held securely and appropriate safeguards are in place to prevent accidental loss.

In some circumstances we may be required by law to release your details to statutory or other official bodies, for example if a court order is presented, or in the case of public health issues. In other circumstance you may be required to give written consent before information is released – such as for medical reports for insurance, solicitors etc.

To ensure your privacy, we will not disclose information over the telephone or fax unless we are sure that we are talking to you. Information will not be disclosed to family, friends or spouses unless we have prior written consent, and we do not, leave messages with others.

You have a right to see your records if you wish. Please ask at reception if you would like further details about our patient information leaflet. An appointment may be required. In some circumstances a fee may be payable.

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