Access to Patient Information

Confidential patient data will be shared within the practice health care team and with other health care professionals to whom you are referred for care.  Those clinical teams providing your care for the essential purpose of clinical audit may use your clinical data. Confidential patient data may also be required for the broader purposes of public health and audit, research, provision of health care services, teaching and training.  Data disclosed will be kept to a minimum required to serve the purpose and if possible will be anonymised before disclosure.

Confidential and identifiable information will not be disclosed otherwise without explicit written consent, unless:

• It is a matter of life and death or serious harm to you or to another individual.
• It is overwhelmingly in the public interest to do so. 
• There is a legal obligation to do so.

The minimum identifiable information that is essential to serve the purpose may be revealed to someone with a legal entitlement to access the data for that purpose. All individuals with access to your data have a professional and/or contractual duty to confidentiality.

If you are concerned about any of the ways in which confidential data is handled in the practice further information is available from the Practice Manager. You are entitled to register an objection at anytime.   If you are meeting or expecting someone to join you please inform the reception staff, this will give permission for us to divulge the fact that you are in the practice, otherwise, due to the confidentiality clause we will not be able to disclose this information about you.

The Data Protection Act 1998 allows you to find out what information about you is held on computer and in certain manual records. This is known as “right of subject access.” It applies to your health records. If you want to see them you should make a written request to the NHS organisations where you are being, or have been, treated. You are entitled to receive a copy but should note that a charge will usually be made. You should also be aware that in certain circumstances your right to see some details in your health records may be limited in your own interest or for other reasons.

You may request access to your medical record, or part of it, at any time.

Your request may be a verbal, though we prefer requests in writing

You may be asked for proof of identity when requesting access to your medical records: Photographic ID such as passport, bus pass, student pass, driving licence. In the event of minor parents should produce a birth certificate if possible.

You can request access at the reception desk, during a consultation, or over the telephone.

Your request may take up to 21 days to process

If you believe your record is incorrect you should put this in writing.

Any queries will be dealt with initially by the practice manager then passed to a clinician for their approval before replying to the patient.

We will try to answer any queries within in 14 days.