Confidentiality & 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
Privacy Statement
Information Sharing
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.
Information about accessing your medical records is contained in the HRIS booklet, How to see your Health Records, a copy of which will be supplied on request. It is also found on the website www.hris.org.uk
The Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 Publication Scheme
Complaints
We make every effort to give the best service possible to everyone who attends our practice.
However, we are aware that things can go wrong resulting in a patient feeling that they have a genuine cause for complaint. If this is so, we would wish for the matter to be settled as quickly, and as amicably, as possible.
To pursue a complaint please contact the practice manager who will deal with your concerns appropriately. Further written information is available regarding the complaints procedure from reception.
Zero Tolerance Policy
The practice has a ‘zero tolerance’ approach to patients that treat any member of staff in an abusive, threatening or violent manner. All members of staff have a right to care for patients without concern of being abused, threatened or attacked.
We expect our staff to treat patients in a polite, helpful and respectful manner, and we also expect patients to provide our staff with the same level of respect.
We understand that there may be times that patients act out of character due to illness, pain or worry, however, aggressive/abusive behaviour towards staff will not be tolerated and may result in the patient’s removal from the practice list.
All instances of unacceptable behaviour are documented by practice staff and are discussed at a practice meeting. The following types of behaviours in or around the Health Centre, or over the telephone, would be found unacceptable to the practice and our staff:
- Persistent and/or unrealistic demands that cause stress to staff (requests will be met whenever possible and explanations given when they cannot)
- Verbal abuse in any form towards staff, including insults
- The use of bad language towards staff
- Any physical violence towards staff, including pushing/shoving
- Racial abuse/language
- Sexual harassment
- Any unlawful activity, e.g. theft, vandalism, fraud
In some instances we will report incidents to the Police. The patient will be given the opportunity to amend their behaviour, with the practice providing a warning that the Police will be called. If the Police are called, the patient will be removed from the practice list.
If a patient is unhappy with any aspect of the service provided by the practice this should be voiced appropriately, either by arranging an appointment to discuss the issue with our Practice Manager or by writing a letter of complaint.