Practice Philosophy
We are fully committed to the NHS; however we will refer you to a private specialist if requested. We work closely as a multi-disciplinary team.
We operate an equal opportunities policy and are committed to serving the needs of all our clients, regardless of race, creed, sexuality or disability.
We have disabled access.
At Newton Heath Health Centre we aim to provide a quality medical service for all our patients. We believe that successful medical care involves a partnership between patients, doctors and the primary care team.
As patients we hope you will use our services thoughtfully, respect our premises and take overall responsibility for your own health and that of your family.
How We Use Your Information
Patient Privacy Notice
Child Privacy Notice
Information about you and the care you receive is shared, in a secure system, by healthcare staff to support your treatment and care.
It is important that we, the NHS, can use this information to plan and improve services for all patients. We would like to link information from all the different places where you receive care, such as your GP, hospital and community service, to help us provide a full picture. This will allow us to compare the care you received in one area against the care you received in another, so we can see what has worked best.
Information such as your postcode and NHS number, but not your name, will be used to link your records in a secure system, so your identity is protected. Information which does not reveal your identity can then be used by others, such as researchers and those planning health services, to make sure we provide the best care possible for everyone.
You have a choice. If you are happy for your information to be used in this way you do not have to do anything. If you have any concerns or wish to prevent this from happening, please speak to practice staff or download a copy of the leaflet “How information about you helps us to provide better care” below.
We need to make sure that you know this is happening and the choices you have.
for further information see the links below
How information about you helps us provide better care
Care Data - Frequently asked questions
Practice Policy
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.
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.
Access to Medical Records
What Constitutes a Health Record?
A health record could include, and not exhaustively, hand-written clinical notes, letters between clinicians, lab reports, radiographs and imaging, videos, tape-recordings, photographs and monitoring printouts. Records can be held in both manual and computerised.
How we use your health records
Your doctor and other NHS healthcare professionals, caring for you, keep records about your health and any treatment and care you receive from the NHS. These records may be written down (manual records) or held on computer.
We understand just how sensitive your information is, so all staff are given training on Information Security. We have three guiding principles for Information Security, specifically:
- Confidentiality: Ensure information is accessible only to those authorised to have access.
- Integrity: Safeguard the accuracy and completeness of information and processing methods.
- Availability: Ensure only authorised users have access to information when required.
All staff working for the NHS have a legal and ethical duty to keep your personal information confidential.
If you would like more information on how we use your health records, please ask a member of the GP surgery staff for a leaflet.
If you do not want your medical information to be used for anything other than your direct medical care, please discuss with your doctor.
Freedom of Information
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.
Patient Access to Medical Records Policy
The General Data Protection Regulation May 2018
This scope of this directive includes the right of patients to request information on their own medical records. Requests for information under this Directive must:
Subject Access Request (SAR) completed by the patient and passed to the Practice Manager / Assistant Manager at the Practice. Verbal requests can be accepted where the individual is unable to put the request in writing – this must be noted on the patient record).
Accompanied with sufficient proof of identity to satisfy the Manager/ Assistant Manger to enable them to locate the correct information (where requests are made on behalf of another, the practice must satisfy themselves that correct and adequate consent has been given);
The Practice Manager / Assistant Manager should check whether all the individual’s health record information is required or just certain aspects.
There is no fee unless an information request has been previously fulfilled
Requests for health records information should be recorded internally and fulfilled within 1 calendar month (unless under exceptional circumstances – the applicant must be informed where a longer period is required). Information given should be in a manner that is intelligible to the individual.
Which clinician should be consulted for information?
The correct clinician to be consulted about an individual’s information should be:
- The clinician who is currently, or was most recently, responsible for the clinical care of the individual in connection with the information which is the subject of the request; or
- Where there is more than one such clinician, the one who is the most suitable to advise on the information which is the subject of the request.
Parental Requests for Information pertaining to their children
Parents will normally have responsibility for accessing the health record of their children, however, care must be taken to obtain consent of the child where necessary (16 and 17 year olds are seen as adults in relation to confidentiality, and their consent would be necessary). It is important to be aware that children under 16 who have capacity and understanding for decision-making should also have their confidence respected, however, they should be encouraged to involve parents and guardians in their healthcare matters.
Publications of Earnings
Publications of Earnings