Your Records
To help with the efficient management of your care, personal health data is held on computer, as well as on paper, and managed in accordance with the Data Protection Act and other guidance on privacy and data confidentiality, which we take very seriously and which gives you the right to know how we will use your personal health information. In order to manage services and improve quality of care we provide, we share some information on practice activity with, for example, our Health Boards and Trusts, The Scottish executive and Common Services Agency. Whenever possible, this information is anonymised. You have the right to object to us making use of your information and you can ask us to change or restrict the way we use your information and we are obliged to agree if it is possible to do so, however this may effect the level of care we are able to offer you and other patients. We are obliged by law to provide certain information e.g. notification of certain infectious diseases. Information is NOT shared with any third party outside the Health Service (e.g. insurance, employer, solicitor) without your explicit consent. Third parties include members of your family so we do not give any information concerning you to them without your written permission. Please contact the Practice Manager if you wish further information regarding this.
The GDPR and Data protection Act 2018 also gives you the right of access to any personal information that we hold about you, either in written medical records or on computer. If you wish to see or get a copy of your information, you should contact the Practice Manger who will explain how to access your record and can arrange for any abbreviations or jargon in the record to be explained to you. If you think any of the information in your record is inaccurate, incomplete or out of date you can ask to have your record amended.
You can help us to maintain accurate records by letting us know of any change in address, phone number or other personal details. Please ask at reception for a Change of Address Form to complete.
As our patient we endeavour to provide you with the best clinical care and administrative services that we can within the resources available to us. We ask you to help us by using our services in the ways described in this booklet including keeping appointment times. If you are unable to keep your appointment, please inform us as soon as possible.
We also welcome and rely upon your comments and feedback. We encourage you to make use of our suggestion box or you are welcome to phone or make an appointment to speak to the Practice Manager or your doctor.
Finally, we hope you will recognise that we always have our patient’s best interests at heart and trust that you will accord to the doctors and staff at Hermitage medical practices with the same respect.
Patients who act in a violent or abusive manner will be removed from our patient list.
Complaints
If you have any concerns about your treatment, you can talk to someone in the Practice. In many cases it should be possible to sort out the problem straight away or within 2 working days. If you require further information the NHS complaints procedure leaflet is available at reception.
Violence Policy
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.