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
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.
Access to Records
In accordance with the Data Protection Act 2018 GDPR and Access to Health Records Act, patients may request to see their medical records. Such requests should be made through the practice manager and may be subject to an administration charge. No information will be released without the patient consent unless we are legally obliged to do so.
Complaints
Complaints about specific problems should be raised as soon as possible after the incident. The facts will be investigated in full.
If you have any compliments, comments, suggestions or complaints please speak in confidence the Practice Manager Mrs Lyndsey Jones. 01942 481531
Alternatively, you can contact the Patients Advice Liaison Co-ordinator at Ashton, Leigh and Wigan Primary Care Trust on 01942 822376.
If after discussing the matter with the practice you are still unhappy please feel free to contact:
Complaints department
Judith Blagborough
Wigan Borough CCG
Wigan Life Centre
Wigan
WN1 1NJ
01942 482 885
Judith.blagborough@wiganboroughccg.nhs.uk
NHS England can be contacted by: Telephone: 0300 311 22 33 (8am-6pm Monday to Friday, excl. Bank Hols)
Post: NHS England, PO Box 16738, Redditch, B97 9PT
To take your complaints to the Ombudsman visit:
www.ombudsman.org/make-a-complaint
Telephone: 0345 015 4033
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.