Practice Policies

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 and Access to Health Records Act, patients may request to see their medical records. Such requests should be made through the practice manager. No information will be released without the patient consent unless we are legally obliged to do so.

Please complete the Access to Medical Records request form and bring it to reception. If you wish to grant permission to another person to access your medical records, you will need to provide your consent. Please click on the link to download the appropriate form. Click here for a patient information leaflet.

Chaperone Policy

This policy is designed to protect both patients and staff from abuse or allegations of abuse and to assist patients to make an informed choice about their examinations and consultations. A chaperone is an “impartial observer”, and as a patient, you can request a chaperone for any clinical examination, but it will normally be offered for intimate examinations.

WHO CAN ACT AS A CHAPERONE?

A variety of people can act as a chaperone in the practice. Where possible, it is strongly recommended that chaperones should be clinical staff. Where suitable clinical staff members are not available the examination should be deferred.

Where the doctor/nurse determines that non-clinical staff will act in this capacity, this will only be if you agree to the presence of a non-clinician in the examination, and be at ease with this.

The staff member should be trained in the procedural aspects of personal examinations, comfortable in acting in the role of chaperone, and be confident in the scope and extent of their role.

CONFIDENTIALITY

The chaperone should only be present for the examination itself, and most discussion with you should take place while the chaperone is not present.
You should be reassured that all practice staff understand their responsibility not to divulge confidential information.

PROCEDURE

Before conducting an intimate examination, the doctor or nurse should:

explain to you why an examination is necessary and give you an opportunity to ask questions
explain what the examination will involve, in a way you can understand, so that you have a clear idea of what to expect, including any pain or discomfort
get your permission before the examination and record that you have given it
offer you a chaperone
if dealing with a child or young person:-
the doctor or nurse will assess their capacity to consent to the examination
if they lack the capacity to consent, the doctor or nurse will seek their parent’s consent
The doctor/nurse will contact a member of the nursing staff to request a chaperone
The doctor/nurse will record in the notes that the chaperone is present, and identify the chaperone
Where no chaperone is available the examination will not take place –you should not normally be permitted to dispense with the chaperone once a desire to have one present has been expressed.
The doctor/nurse will always ensure that the you are provided with adequate privacy to undress and dress.

During the examination:

The doctor/nursewill

explain what they are going to do before they do it and, if this differs from what you been told before, they will explain why and seek your permission
stop the examination if you asks them to
keep discussion relevant and not make unnecessary personal comments.
The chaperone will enter the room discreetly and remain in room until the doctor/nurse has finished the examination.
The chaperone will normally attend inside the curtain at the head of the examination couch and watch the procedure if practical. They should be introduced by name.
To prevent embarrassment, the chaperone should not enter into conversation with you or the doctor/nurse unless requested to do so, or make any mention of the consultation afterwards.
If you do not want a chaperone, this will be recorded in your notes that the offer was made and declined.
The chaperone must be prepared to raise concerns if they are concerned about the doctor’s behaviour or actions.

Violence & Abuse 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. Zero Tolerance Policy