If you would like a chaperone to be present during an intimate physical examination, please let us know.

We have specially trained staff members who are trained in this regard, if they are not available at the time of your appointment, you may need to re book your appointment.

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

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.

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.

The average pay for GPs working in the Aspley Medical Centre in the last financial year before tax and National Insurance was £56,435.

This is for 1 full time GPs, 6 part time GPs, and 0 locum GPs who worked in the practice for more than 6 months.

All registered patients have a named doctor who has overall responsibility for their care and support. Your registered GP is also your named accountable GP.

Your allocated GP will be responsible for the provision of your healthcare. However, if you choose to see another doctor at the surgery you are entirely free to go on doing so.

If you are unsure of who is your named Doctor please ask at reception.

Patients have the right to express a preference of doctor on their records. However, the practice may not always be able to comply with your request. If this is the case, we will explain why.

What are the responsibilities of the named accountable GP?

The named accountable GP will take responsibility for the co-ordination of all appropriate services and ensure that they are delivered to each of their patients where required (based on the GP’s clinical judgment) to each of their patients

The British Medical Association (BMA) advises that the role of the named GP will not:

• Take on vicarious responsibility for the work of other doctors or health professionals
• Take on 24-hour responsibility for the patient, or have to change their working hours
• Imply personal availability for GPs throughout the working week
• Be the only GP or clinician who will provide care to that patient
• If you would like to know who your named GP is, please ask when you next attend the surgery.
• Please note that whenever a GP leaves or joins the partnership, the health authority reallocates the patient lists. It may be that your named GP will change under such circumstances. We are not able to contact patients individually about such changes, but we will publicise any partnership changes and advise patients wishing to know who their named GP is to ask at the surgery.

Please click on the link Here for more information on National Data Opt Out.

How we use your information

Our Privacy Notice explains why we collect your information and how that information may be used.

Under the Data Protection Act 1998 we must ensure that your personal confidential data (PCD) is handled in ways that are transparent and that you would reasonably expect. The Health and Social Care Act 2012 has altered the way that personal confidential data are processed. Consequently, you must be aware and understand these changes and that you have the opportunity to object and understand how to exercise that right.

Health care professionals who provide you with care are required by law to maintain records about your health and any treatment or care you have received within any NHS organisation. These records help to provide you with the best possible healthcare.

NHS health records may be processed electronically, on paper or a mixture of both and through established working procedures and best practice coupled with technology we ensure your personal data is kept confidential and secure. Records held by us may include the following:

• Your personal data, such as address and next of kin;
• Your history with us, such as appointments, vaccinations, clinic visits, emergency appointments, etc;
• Notes and reports about your health;
• Details about your treatment and care;
• Results of investigations and referrals such as blood tests, x-rays, etc;
• Relevant information from other health professionals, relatives or those who care for you.

The Practice shares your diabetes related data with the Diabetic Eye Screening Programme operated by Health Intelligence (commissioned by NHS England). This supports your invitation for eye screening (where you are eligible and referred by the Practice) and ongoing care by the screening programme. This data may be shared with any Hospital Eye Services you are under the care of to support further treatment and with other healthcare professionals involved in your care, for example your Diabetologist.

For further information, take a look at Health Intelligence’s Privacy Notice on the diabetic eye screening website: www.berkshiredes.nhs.uk

We obtain and hold data for the sole purpose of providing healthcare services to our patients and we will ensure that the information is kept confidential. We can disclose your personal information if:

(a) It is required by law;

(b) You consent – either implicitly or for the sake of your own care or explicitly for

other purposes; and

(c) It is justified in the public interest

Some of this information is held centrally and used for statistical purposes. Where we hold data centrally, we take strict measures to ensure that individual patients cannot be identified. Sometimes your information may be requested to be used for research purposes – the Practice will always endeavour to gain your consent before releasing the information.

The Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC), under the powers of the Health and Social Care Act 2012 (HSCA), can request Personal Confidential Data (PCD) from GP

Practices without seeking patient consent. The Care.Data Programme allows PCD to be collected by the HSCIC to ensure that the quality and safety of services is consistent across the country. Improvements in information technology are also making it possible for us to share data with other healthcare providers with the objective of providing you with better care.

You may choose to withdraw your consent to personal data being used in this way. When we are about to participate in a new data-sharing project we will make patients aware by displaying prominent notices in the Practice and on our website at least four weeks before the scheme is due to start. Instructions will be provided to explain what you have to do to ‘opt out’ of each new scheme.

A patient can object to their personal information being shared with other health care providers but if this limits the treatment that you can receive then the doctor will explain this to you at the time.

Risk Stratification

Risk Stratification is a process that helps your family doctor (GP) to help you manage your health. By using selected information from your health records, a secure NHS computer system will look at any recent treatments you have had in hospital or in the surgery and any existing health conditions that you have. This will alert your doctor to the likelihood of a possible deterioration in your health. The clinical team at the surgery will use the information to help you get early care and treatment where it is needed. NHS Central Southern CSU DSCRO (the regional processing centre) supports GP Practices with this work. NHS security systems will protect your health information and patient confidentiality at all times.

Please note that you have the right to opt out of Risk Stratification.

Should you have any concerns about how your information is managed, or wish to opt out of any data collection at the Practice, please contact the practice, or your healthcare professional to discuss how the disclosure of your personal information can be limited.

Patients have the right to change their minds and reverse a previous decision. Please contact the practice, if you change your mind regarding any previous choice.

Invoice validation

We will use limited information about individual patients when validating invoices received for your healthcare, to ensure that the invoice is accurate and genuine.  This will be performed in a secure environment and will be carried out by a limited number of authorised CSU staff. These activities and all identifiable information will remain with the Controlled Environment for Finance (CEfF) approved by NHS England. Where possible we will strive to use the NHS number as a quasi-identifier to preserve your confidentiality.

Our partner organisations

We may need to share your information, subject to agreement on how it will be used, with the following organisations:

• NHS Trusts
• Health & Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC)
• Specialist Trusts
• Independent Contractors such as dentists, opticians, pharmacists
• Private Sector Providers
• Voluntary Sector Providers
• Ambulance Trusts
• Clinical Commissioning Groups
• Commissioning Support Units
• Social Care Services
• Local Authorities
• Education Services
• Fire and Rescue Services
• Police
• Other ‘data processors’

Access to personal information held about you

Under the Data Protection Act 1998, you have a right to access/view information we hold about you, and to have it amended or removed should it be inaccurate. If we do hold information about you we will:

• give you a description of it;
• tell you why we are holding it;
• tell you who it could be disclosed to; and
• let you have a copy of the information in an intelligible form.

If you would like to make a ‘subject access request’, please contact the Practice Manager in writing. There may be a charge for this service.

Any changes to this notice will be published on our website and in a prominent area at the Practice.

We are registered as a data controller under the Data Protection Act 1998. The registration can be viewed online in the public register at:

http://ico.org.uk/what_we_cover/register_of_data_controllers

How we keep your personal information confidential

We are committed to protecting your privacy and will only use information collected lawfully in accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998 (which is overseen by the Information

Commissioner’s Office

There is a new Central NHS Computer System called the Summary Care Record (SCR). It is an electronic record which contains information about the medicines you take, allergies you suffer from and any bad reactions to medicines you have had.

Why do I need a Summary Care Record?

Storing information in one place makes it easier for healthcare staff to treat you in an emergency, or when your GP practice is closed.

This information could make a difference to how a doctor decides to care for you, for example which medicines they choose to prescribe for you.

Who can see it?

Only healthcare staff involved in your care can see your Summary Care Record.

How do I know if I have one?

Over half of the population of England now have a Summary Care Record. You can find out whether Summary Care Records have come to your area by looking at our interactive map or by asking your GP

Do I have to have one?

No, it is not compulsory. If you choose to opt out of the scheme, then you will need to complete a form and bring it along to the surgery. You can use the form at the foot of this page.

More Information

For further information visit the NHS Care records website.

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.