The practice is registered and complies with the Data Protection Act 1998. Any request for access to notes by a patient, patient’s representative or outside body will be dealt with in accordance with the Act. Please contact the Practice Manager for further information.

Your Data Matters to the NHS

Your health records contain a type of data called confidential patient information. This data can be used to help with research and planning.

You can choose to stop your confidential patient information being used for research and planning. You can also make a choice for someone else like your children under the age of 13.

Your choice will only apply to the health and care system in England. This does not apply to health or care services accessed in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland.

Find out how this data is used and how to opt out on the following link: https://www.nhs.uk/your-nhs-data-matters/

Personal Data

The following IT systems are in use at the practice:

• Referral Management (using NHS numbers in referrals)
• Electronic Appointment Booking (the facility to book routine appointments online and, similarly, to cancel appointments
• Online booking of repeat prescriptions
• Summary Care Record (uploading details of your current medication and allergies to the national “spine” so that these are available for doctors involved in your care elsewhere)
• GP to GP transfers (the electronic transfer of records from practice to practice when you re-register
• Patient Access to records (the facility to view your medical records online) – visit SystmOnline to view your records online

If you would like access to your medical records enabled or would like to opt out of the local or national summary care record, please contact reception.

We will always respect your privacy, dignity and your religious and cultural beliefs particularly when intimate examinations are advisable – these will only be carried out with your express agreement and you will be offered a chaperone to attend the examination if you so wish.

You may also request a chaperone when making the appointment or on arrival at the surgery (please let the receptionist know) or at any time during the consultation.

Our aim is to provide the highest level of care for all our patients. We will always be willing to hear if there is any way that you think we can improve the service we provide.

Making a complaint

If you have any complaints or concerns about the service that you have received from the doctors of staff working for this practice, please let us know.

We hope that most problems can be sorted out easily and quickly, often at the time they arise with the person concerned. If your problem cannot be sorted out in this way and you wish to make a complaint, we would like you to let us know as soon as possible – ideally within a matter of days or at most a few weeks – because this will enable us to establish what happened more easily. If it is not possible to do that, please let us have details of your complaint:

• Within 6 months of the incident that caused the problem; or
• Within 6 months of discovering that you have a problem; provided that is within 12 months of the incident

Our Practice Manager will be pleased to deal with any complaints. They will explain the procedure to you and make sure that your concerns are dealt with promptly. You can make your complaint:

By ‘phone’ – ask to speak to the Deputy Practice Manager or the Practice Manager

In writing – some complaints may be easier to explain in writing – please give as much information as you can, then send your complaint to the practice for the attention of the Practice Manager as soon as possible.

What we will do

Our complaints procedure is designed to make sure that we settle any complaints as quickly as possible.

We shall acknowledge your complaint within 5 working days and aim to have looked into your complaint within 20 working days of the date when you raised it with us.

When we look into your complaint we shall aim to:

• Find out what happened and what went wrong
• Make it possible for you to discuss the problem with those concerned, if you would like this
• Make sure you receive an apology, where appropriate
• Identify what we can do to make sure the problem does not happen again

At the end of the investigation your complaint will be discussed with you in detail, either in person or in writing.

Complaining on behalf of someone else

Please note that we keep strictly to the rules of medical confidentiality. If you are complaining on behalf of someone else, we have to know that you have his or her permission to do so. A note signed by the person concerned will be needed, unless they are incapable (because of illness) of providing this.

What you can do next 

We hope that, if you have a problem, you will use our practice complaints procedure. We believe that this will give us the best chance of putting right whatever has gone wrong and the opportunity to improve our practice. However, this does not affect your right to approach NHS England if you feel you cannot raise your complaint with us or you are dissatisfied with the way we are dealing with your complaint:

NHS England,
P O Box 16738,
Redditch,
B97 9PT
Tel: 0300 311 2233
E-mail: [email protected]

Should you wish to make a complaint and need further advice or support please contact POHWER on 0300 456 2370.
E-mail [email protected]
Website: www.POhWER.net

If you remain dissatisfied with the responses to your complaint, you have the right to ask The Health Service Ombudsman to review your case. The Health Service Ombudsman provides a free service, is independent and will usually only investigate a complaint after the NHS has had a chance to try to resolve it. You can contact them on 0345 015 4033 or write to them at:-

Health Service Ombudsman,
Millbank Tower,
Millbank,
LONDON,
SW1 4QP
Website: www.ombudsman.org.uk
Email: [email protected]

Help us get it right. We constantly try to improve the service we offer.

Please let us know when you think we have done something well or if you have any suggestions as to how we can do something better.

All GP practices are required to declare the mean earnings (e.g. average) for GPs working to deliver NHS services to patients at each practice.

The average pay for GPs working in the Minster Medical Practice in the financial year 2022/23 before tax and National Insurance was £121,673. This is for 4 full time GPs, 2 part time GPs, and 0 locum GPs who worked in the practice for more than 6 months.

It should be noted that the prescribed method for calculating earnings is potentially misleading because it takes no account of how much time doctors spend working in the practice, and should not be used to form any judgement about GP earnings, nor to make any comparison with any other practice.

You may be aware that all GP Practices are now required to provide their patients with a ‘named, accountable GP’.

As stated on the BMA website:

The contract requires the named accountable GP to take responsibility for the co-ordination of all appropriate services required under the contract and ensure that they are delivered to each of their patients where required (based on the clinical judgement of the named accountable GP).

All of our patients here at Minster Medical Practice, including children, have a named allocated GP who is responsible for their overall care. Patients will be notified of their named GP during appointments, or they are welcome to contact reception to ask for the name of their GP.

Please note that this does not prevent you from seeing any GP of your choice in the practice as you currently do now, and you are unlikely to see any notable change in the way care is delivered to you by us.

You can be assured that anything you discuss with any member of the surgery staff, whether doctor, nurse or receptionist, will remain confidential. Even if you are under 16, nothing will be said to anyone, including parents, other family members, care workers or teachers, without your permission. The only reason why we might want to consider passing on confidential information without your permission would be to protect either you or someone else from serious harm. In this situation, we would always try to discuss this with you first.

If you have any worries or queries about confidentiality, please feel to ask a member of staff.

If you would like to discuss matters of a confidential nature, either with our receptionists or a member of the dispensary team, we have a side room available in reception for this purpose.

We aim to treat our patients courteously at all times and expect our patients to treat our staff in a similarly respectful way.

It is your responsibility to keep your appointments, inform us of your past illnesses, medication, hospital admissions and any other relevant details.

As data controllers, GPs have fair processing responsibilities under the Data Protection Act and GDPR law 2018. This means ensuring that your personal confidential data (PCD) is handled in ways that are safe, transparent and what you would reasonably expect. Please find documents and links below.

This privacy notice lets you know what happens to any personal data that you give to us, or any that we may collect from or about you.

This privacy notice applies to personal information processed by or on behalf of the practice.

This Notice explains:

• Who we are, how we use your information and our Data Protection Officer
• What kinds of personal information about you do we process?
• What are the legal grounds for our processing of your personal information (including when we share it with others)?
• What should you do if your personal information changes?
• For how long your personal information is retained by us?
• What are your rights under data protection laws?

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) was incorporated into the UK’s Data Protection Act on 25th May 2018. This is a single EU-wide regulation on the protection of confidential and sensitive information.

For the purpose of applicable data protection legislation (including but not limited to the General Data Protection Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2016/679) (the “GDPR”), and the Data Protection Act 2018 (currently in Bill format before Parliament) the practice responsible for your personal data.

This Notice describes how we collect, use and process your personal data, and how, in doing so, we comply with our legal obligations to you. Your privacy is important to us, and we are committed to protecting and safeguarding your data privacy rights.

How we use your information and the law

The practice will be what’s known as the ‘Controller’ of the personal data you provide to us.

We collect basic personal data about you which does not include any special types of information or location-based information. This does however include name, address, contact details such as email and mobile number etc.

We will also collect sensitive confidential data known as “special category personal data”, in the form of health information, religious belief (if required in a healthcare setting) ethnicity, and sex during the services we provide to you and or linked to your healthcare through other health providers or third parties.

Why do we need your information?

The health care professionals who provide you with care maintain records about your health and any treatment or care you have received previously (e.g. NHS Trust, GP Surgery, Walk-in clinic, etc.). These records help to provide you with the best possible healthcare.

NHS health records may be electronic, on paper or a mixture of both, and we use a combination of working practices and technology to ensure that your information is kept confidential and secure. Records which the Practice hold about you may include the following information;

• Details about you, such as your address, carer, legal representative, emergency contact details
• Any contact the surgery has had with you, such as appointments, clinic visits, emergency appointments, etc.
• Notes and reports about your health
• Details about your treatment and care
• Results of investigations such as laboratory tests, x-rays etc
• Relevant information from other health professionals, relatives or those who care for you

To ensure you receive the best possible care, your records are used to facilitate the care you receive. Information held about you may be used to help protect the health of the public and to help us manage the NHS. Information may be used within the GP practice for clinical audit to monitor the quality of the service provided.

How do we lawfully use your data?

We need to know your personal, sensitive and confidential data in order to provide you with Healthcare services as a General Practice, under the General Data Protection Regulation we will be lawfully using your information in accordance with:

Article 6, e) processing is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in the controller

Article 9, (h) processing is necessary for the purposes of preventive or occupational medicine, for the assessment of the working capacity of the employee, medical diagnosis, the provision of health or social care or treatment or the management of health or social care systems

This Privacy Notice applies to the personal data of our patients and the data you have given us about your carers/family members.

Risk Stratification

Risk stratification data tools are increasingly being used in the NHS to help determine a person’s risk of suffering a condition, preventing an unplanned or (re)admission and identifying a need for preventive intervention. Information about you is collected from a number of sources including NHS Trusts and from this GP Practice. A risk score is then arrived at through an analysis of your de-identified information is only provided back to your GP as data controller in an identifiable form. Risk stratification enables your GP to focus on preventing ill health and not just the treatment of sickness. If necessary, your GP may be able to offer you additional services. Please note that you have the right to opt out of your data being used in this way.

Medicines Management

The Practice may conduct Medicines Management Reviews of medications prescribed to its patients. This service performs a review of prescribed medications to ensure patients receive the most appropriate, up to date and cost-effective treatments.

How do we maintain the confidentiality of your records?

We are committed to protecting your privacy and will only use information collected lawfully in accordance with:

• Data Protection Act 2018
• The General Data Protection Regulations 2016
• Human Rights Act 1998
• Common Law Duty of Confidentiality
• Health and Social Care Act 2012
• NHS Codes of Confidentiality, Information Security and Records Management

Information: To Share or Not to Share Review

Every member of staff who works for an NHS organisation has a legal obligation to keep information about you confidential.

We will only ever use or pass on information about you if others involved in your care have a genuine need for it. We will not disclose your information to any third party without your permission unless there are exceptional circumstances (i.e. life or death situations), where the law requires information to be passed on and / or in accordance with the information sharing principle following Dame Fiona Caldicott’s information sharing review (Information to share or not to share) where “The duty to share information can be as important as the duty to protect patient confidentiality”. This means that health and social care professionals should have the confidence to share information in the best interests of their patients within the framework set out by the Caldicott principles.

Our practice policy is to respect the privacy of our patients, their families and our staff and to maintain compliance with the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) and all UK specific Data Protection Requirements. Our policy is to ensure all personal data related to our patients will be protected.

All employees and sub-contractors engaged by our practice are asked to sign a confidentiality agreement. The practice will, if required, sign a separate confidentiality agreement if the client deems it necessary. If a sub-contractor acts as a data processor for the practice an appropriate contract (art 24-28) will be established for the processing of your information.

In certain circumstances you may have the right to withdraw your consent to the processing of data. Please contact the Data Protection Officer in writing if you wish to withdraw your consent. If some circumstances we may need to store your data after your consent has been withdrawn to comply with a legislative requirement.

Some of this information will be held centrally and used for statistical purposes. Where we do this, 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 surgery will always gain your consent before releasing the information for this purpose in an identifiable format. In some circumstances you can Opt-out of the surgery sharing any of your information for research purposes.

We would however like to use your name, contact details and email address to inform you of services that may benefit you, with your consent only. There may be occasions were authorised research facilities would like you to take part on innovations, research, improving services or identifying trends.

At any stage where we would like to use your data for anything other than the specified purposes and where there is no lawful requirement for us to share or process your data, we will ensure that you have the ability to consent and opt out prior to any data processing taking place. This information is not shared with third parties or used for any marketing and you can unsubscribe at any time via phone, email or by informing the practice DPO as below.

Where do we store your information Electronically?

All the personal data we process is processed by our staff in the UK however for the purposes of IT hosting and maintenance this information may be located on servers within the European Union.

No 3rd parties have access to your personal data unless the law allows them to do so and appropriate safeguards have been put in place. We have a Data Protection regime in place to oversee the effective and secure processing of your personal and or special category (sensitive, confidential) data.

Who are our partner organisations?

We may also have to share your information, subject to strict agreements on how it will be used, with the following organisations:

• NHS Trusts / Foundation Trusts
• GPs
• eMBED Health
• Independent Contractors such as dentists, opticians, pharmacists
• Private Sector Providers
• Voluntary Sector Providers
• Ambulance Trusts
• Clinical Commissioning Groups
• Social Care Services
• NHS England (NHSE) and NHS Digital (NHSD)
• Local Authorities
• Education Services
• Fire and Rescue Services
• Police & Judicial Services
• Voluntary Sector Providers
• Private Sector Providers
• Other ‘data processors’ which you will be informed of

You will be informed who your data will be shared with and in some cases asked for consent for this to happen when this is required.

We may also use external companies to process personal information, such as for archiving purposes. These companies are bound by contractual agreements to ensure information is kept confidential and secure. All employees and sub-contractors engaged by our practice are asked to sign a confidentiality agreement. If a sub-contractor acts as a data processor for the practice an appropriate contract (art 24-28) will be established for the processing of your information.

How long will we store your information?

We are required under UK law to keep your information and data for the full retention periods as specified by the NHS Records management code of practice for health and social care and national archives requirements.

How can you access, amend move the personal data that you have given to us?

Even if we already hold your personal data, you still have various rights in relation to it. To get in touch about these, please contact us. We will seek to deal with your request without undue delay, and in any event in accordance with the requirements of any applicable laws. Please note that we may keep a record of your communications to help us resolve any issues which you raise.

Right to object: If we are using your data because we deem it necessary for our legitimate interests to do so, and you do not agree, you have the right to object. We will respond to your request within 30 days (although we may be allowed to extend this period in certain cases). Generally, we will only disagree with you if certain limited conditions apply.

Right to withdraw consent: Where we have obtained your consent to process your personal data for certain activities (for example for a research project), or consent to market to you, you may withdraw your consent at any time.

Right to erasure: In certain situations (for example, where we have processed your data unlawfully), you have the right to request us to “erase” your personal data. We will respond to your request within 30 days (although we may be allowed to extend this period in certain cases) and will only disagree with you if certain limited conditions apply. If we do agree to your request, we will delete your data but will generally assume that you would prefer us to keep a note of your name on our register of individuals who would prefer not to be contacted. That way, we will minimise the chances of you being contacted in the future where your data are collected in unconnected circumstances. If you would prefer us not to do this, you are free to say so.

Right of data portability: If you wish, you have the right to transfer your data from us to another data controller. We will help with this with a GP to GP data transfer and transfer of your hard copy notes.

Access to your personal information

Data Subject Access Requests (DSAR): You have a right under the Data Protection legislation to request access to view or to obtain copies of what information the surgery holds about you and to have it amended should it be inaccurate. To request this, you need to do the following:

• Your request should be made to the Practice – for information from the hospital you should write direct to them
• There is no charge to have a copy of the information held about you
• We are required to respond to you within one month
• You will need to give adequate information (for example full name, address, date of birth, NHS number and details of your request) so that your identity can be verified, and your records located information we hold about you at any time

What should you do if your personal information changes?

You should tell us so that we can update our records please contact the Practice Manager as soon as any of your details change, this is especially important for changes of address or contact details (such as your mobile phone number), the practice will from time to time ask you to confirm that the information we currently hold is accurate and up-to-date.

Minster Medical Practice aims to provide the best possible health care for their patients. However, there may be circumstances when it would be considered reasonable, or in the best interests of the patient, to remove patients from the list. The purpose of this policy, therefore, is to define the practice guidelines for when it is reasonable to remove a patient from the practice list for unacceptable behaviour and to ensure that any concerns about removing patients from the list are dealt with fairly.

The practice supports the Government’s Zero Tolerance Campaign in relation to violence and abuse. The staff and GPs at the surgery have the right to care for others without the fear of being attacked or abused. Violent patients can be reported to the police and offending patients will be removed from the GPs list. We ask that you treat your GP and practice staff without any violence, intimidation or verbal abuse. Situations which justify removal:

Violence

When a patient:-

• Is physically violent or threatening towards a doctor, practice staff or other patients on the practice premises. This may include but not limited to swearing, throwing objects, spitting, threatening behaviour, being rude, shouting or raising ones voice beyond reasonable levels, sarcasm, pointing fingers aggressively, intimidating staff or repeatedly insisting points being made for argumentative purposes, any mention or display of any object that could be used as a weapon. This may be via any forms of communication e.g. face to face/telephone or by email.
• Causes physical damage to practice premises or other patient’s property.
• Gives verbal abuse or makes threats towards the doctor, practice staff or other patients.
• Gives racist abuse, orally or physically.
• Is violent or uses or condones threatening behaviour to doctors (or some other members of the primary health care team) while visiting the patient’s home. Such behaviour may involve the patient, a relative, a household member, or pets (such as unchained dogs).

Irretrievable Breakdown of the Doctor-Patient Relationship

Where a patients behaviour falls outside of that which is normally considered reasonable and leads to an irretrievable breakdown of the doctor-patient relationship. This includes where a patient:-

• Fraudulently obtains drugs for non-medical reasons.
• Deliberately lies to the doctor or other member of the primary/secondary health care team (e.g. by giving a false name or false medical history) in order to obtain a service or benefit by deception.
• Attempts to use the doctor to conceal or aid any criminal activity.
• Steals from practice premises.
• Guidance on removing patients due to irretrievable breakdown of the doctor-patient relationship.

Occasionally patients persistently act inconsiderately and their behaviour falls outside that which is normally considered to be reasonable. In such circumstances there may be a complete breakdown in the doctor-patient relationship.

Warning

The patient will be warned verbally or in writing that they are at risk of removal from the practice within 12 months before the date of the request to NHS England. Should the patient not heed the verbal or written warning then they may be removed from the practice list.

However no warning is required if:

• The practice has reasonable grounds for believing that the issue of such a warning would be harmful to the physical or mental health of the patient.
• The practice has reasonable grounds for believing that the issue of such a warning would put at risk the safety of members of the practice or those entitled to be on the practice premises.
• It is, in the opinion of the contractor, not otherwise reasonable or practical for a warning to be given.
• If no reason is given an explanation in writing should be made and retained for potential future inspection by NHS England.

Family Members

When a decision is made to remove a patient from the practice list, the removal may well be extended to other members of the family or household i.e. if the patient is deemed violent and we worry for the staff’s safety, or the named responsible person for children is deregistered. The practice manager will write to the family / household offering an explanation for the removal. They will be allowed 4 weeks to re-register rather than being removed from the practice list immediately.