OTHER INFORMATION
NHS Direct
NHS Direct operates a 24-hour nurse-led
advice and health information service providing confidential information on:
• What to do if you or your
family are feeling ill
• Particular health conditions
•
Local healthcare service such as doctors, dentists or late night opening pharmacies.
• Self help and support organisations.
Phone 0845 4647. Calls are charged
at local rates.
Or visit them online at: www.nhsdirect.nhs.uk
Complaints
We operate a practice based complaints
procedure, should you have any reason to complain regarding any aspect of the
practice. Complaints should be made to Mrs Janine Ellis, the practice manager,
in writing. Mrs Ellis will acknowledge your complaint and give you advice concerning
the stages of the complaints procedure.
Confidentiality
Important Information about
YOUR Information
Shortly after you register with the practice we will receive your NHS medical
record from your previous doctor. This will be updated to record any healthcare
you receive while with us and then be sent to your next GP if you leave. In the
past these records were on paper/card but increasingly they are held on computer.
At Hanscombe House all new information about you is now recorded on the computer.
All NHS staff have a duty to keep your personal information confidential. You
have the right to confidentiality and to know the circumstances in which we would
share this information with others. You also have the right to decide whether
your information can be disclosed or used in particular ways.
At Hanscombe House we take various steps to protect confidentiality. For instance
we only give test results to the person concerned or their parent, if a child.
If you want someone else to be given your results please arrange this with us
in advance.
Young people of 16 or over can consent to treatment themselves and are entitled
to the same duty of confidentiality as adults. Those under 16 who have the capacity
and understanding to take decisions about their own treatment are also entitled
to make decisions about the use and disclosure of information they have provided
in confidence.
We will use information about you in the course of providing you with healthcare.
For instance when we write to refer you to a specialist we will include information
on relevant past medical history and the medication you take. Other health professionals
who care for you, such as district nurses and health visitors, will also be able
to see your medical record.
If you need social services we will discuss this with you and will tell them
what they need to know in order to provide you with appropriate care.
We will also use your records to ensure that we are continually improving our
service to all the patients registered with us. This is called 'clinical audit'
and involves measuring the care we provide and comparing it to national standards,
guidelines etc. This is done by practice staff and occasionally by pharmacists
from the Primary Care Trust working in the practice on our behalf.
Most NHS management is done using
total numbers and other anonymised information but personal information is sometimes
needed such as for the recall systems for children's immunisations and cervical
smears. If you suffer a side effect of a new medication we will report this in
a partially anonymised form. The NHS keeps records about certain conditions such
as cancer and if you have received treatment for such a condition we will be
asked to update a central register on your progress, also in a partially anonymised
form.
Where information about you is requested for purposes other than healthcare eg
research, insurance or legal matters we will only divulge it with your specific
written consent.
There are certain situations in which we are legally obliged to give information
about you. For instance, if you suffer from certain infectious diseases eg food-poisoning,
we must report this to the public health authorities. Also, if we have concerns
that a child may be being abused we are obliged to inform the statutory agencies.
If you have any questions or concerns about confidentiality or want to make specific
choices about the use of your information please ask to speak to Mrs Ellis (practice
manager) or Dr Anita Oates.
Help Us
To Help You
• Please let us know if you
change your name, address or telephone number.
• Please do everything you can to keep appointments. Tell us as soon as
possible if you cannot, otherwise other patients may have to wait longer.
• We need help too. Please ask for home visits by the doctor only when
the person is too ill to visit the surgery.
• Please keep your phone call brief and avoid calling during the peak morning
time for non-urgent matters.
• Test results take time to reach us, so please do not ring before you
have been asked to do so. Enquiries about tests ordered by the hospital should
be directed to the hospital, not the practice.
• We ask that you treat the doctors and practice staff with courtesy and
respect.
• Please read our practice booklet. Along with this website it will help you to get the best
out of the services we offer. It is important that you understand the information
given to you. Please ask us questions if you are unsure of anything.
• Remember, you are responsible for your own health and the health of your
children. We will give you our professional help and advice. Please act upon
it.
• Please ask if you wish to see your doctor.
Freedom
Of Information – Publication Scheme
The Freedom of Information Act 2000
obliges the practice to produce a Publication Scheme. A Publication Scheme is
a guide to the ‘classes’ of information the practice intends to routinely
make available. This scheme is available from reception.
Zero Tolerance
- Violence And Abuse
The practice will not tolerate violence
or abuse from patients. Violence against practice staff is a crime and we will
press for the maximum possible penalty for anyone who behaves in a violent or
abusive way. Patients who are violent or abusive will be removed from the practice
list.
Primary Care
Trust
We are part of the East and North Hertfordshire
Primary Care Trust whose principal aim is to improve the health of its population.
The Primary Care Trust focuses on three key areas: undertanding the local population,
supporting and developing the people providing health care and improving partnership
working with other organisations.
Charter House
Parkway
Welwyn Garden City
Herts AL8 6JL
Tel: 01707 390855 Fax: 01707 390864
Website: www.enherts-pct.nhs.uk
Patient Advisory and Liaison Service (PALS)
The Patient Advisory and Liaison Service focuses on improving the service to NHS patients. It is there to help when you need advice, have concerns or don't know where to turn.
The PALS office is also located at Charter House. You can telephone them on 01707 361281 or email to pals@herts-pct.nhs.uk
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