Practice Policies & Information

Access to Patient Information

Confidential patient data will be shared within the health care team at the practice and with other health care professionals to whom a patient is referred. Those individuals have a professional and contractual duty of confidentiality.

Confidential and identifiable information relating to patients will not be disclosed to other individuals without their explicit consent, unless it is a matter of life and death or there is a serious risk to the health and safety of the patients or it is overwhelmingly in the public interest to do so.

In these circumstances the minimum identifiable information that is essential to serve a legal purpose may be revealed to another individual who has a legal requirement to access the data for the given purpose.

That individual will also have a professional and/or contractual duty of confidentiality. Data will otherwise be anonymised if possible before disclosure if this would serve the purpose for which data is required.

Medical Research Data Collection

The staff at this practice record information about you and your health so that you can receive the right care and treatment. We need to record this information, together with the details of the care you receive, so that it is available each time we see you.

The information recorded about you may be used for reasons other than your personal care, for example, to help to protect the health of the general public, to plan for the future, to train staff and to carry out medical and other health research.

We are involved in research studies which require access to anonymous information from patients’ notes. You cannot be identified from these notes as all personal details (name, address, post code, full date of birth) are removed. Individual patients’ records are added into a much larger anonymous database from many patients across the UK which is used by researchers outside this practice. This data may be anonymously linked to other data, such as hospital data.

If you would like to opt out of this data collection scheme, please let your doctor know and your records will not be collected for use in the anonymous research database. This will not affect your care in any way.

If anything to do with the research would require that you provide additional information about yourself, you will be contacted by your GP to see if you are willing to take part; you will not be identified in any published results.

You have a right of access to your health records. If at any time you would like to know more, or have any concerns about how we use your information, please ask reception for more details.

Non NHS Work

The NHS does not cover some medical examinations, reports and certificates. Typically these include insurance medicals, holiday cancellation reports, private patient certificates, medicolegal work and private letters or certificates for employers (this list is not exclusive). As this work is not covered by the NHS there will be a charge which must be paid in advance.

Current charges will be available at the surgery at the time of your request.

Some travel vaccinations also incur a fee.

Bersted Green Surgery Publication

Welcome to the Dr M Weeks; Dr M Dormer; Dr N Geoghegan; Dr H Schaeper; Dr B Meek; Dr F Frizelle General Practitioner Publication Scheme. This is a guide to the General Practitioners (who practice together) within the partnership practice Publication Scheme as required by the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

Part I: Introduction

This Publication Scheme is a complete guide to the information routinely made available to the public by
Dr M Weeks; Dr M Dormer; Dr N Geoghegan; ; Dr H Schaeper Dr B Meek; Dr F Frizelle  General Practitioners. It is a description of the information about our General Practitioners and Practice which we make publicly available. It will be reviewed at regular intervals and we will monitor its effectiveness.

How much does it cost?

The publications are all free unless otherwise indicated within each Class (with £). Where information is provided at a cost the charges will be calculated as set out in Class 7.

How is the information made available?

The information within each Class is available in hard copy from:

The Practice Manager
Bersted Green Surgery
32 Durlston Drive
Bognor Regis
West Sussex
PO22 9TD

Some information may be downloadable from the practice website.

Your rights to information

• In addition to accessing the information identified in the Publication Scheme, you are entitled to request information about Bersted Green Surgery General Practice under the NHS Openness Code 1995.
• The Freedom of Information Act 2000 recognises that members of the public have the right to know how public services are organised and run, how much they cost and how the decisions are made.
• From January 1st 2005 it will oblige the General Practice to respond to requests about information that it holds, and is recorded in any format and it will create a right of access to that information. These rights are subject to some exemptions which have to be taken into consideration before deciding what information it can release.
• New environmental information regulations may be introduced as early as 2003. These will enable similar access to environmental information as under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
• Under the Data Protection Act 1998, you are also entitled to access your clinical records or any other personal information held about you. For this, please contact:The Practice Manager
  Bersted Green Surgery
  32 Durlston Drive
  Bognor Regis
  West Sussex
  PO22 9TD

Feedback

If you have any comments about the operation of the Publication Scheme, or how we have dealt with your request for information from the Scheme, please write to:

The Practice Manager
Bersted Green Surgery
32 Durlston Drive
Bognor Regis
West Sussex
PO22 9TD

Part II: Classes of Information

All information at the Bersted Green Surgery General Practice is held, retained and destroyed in accordance with NHS guidelines. Our commitment to publish information excludes any information which can be legitimately withheld under the exemptions set out in the NHS Openness Code or Freedom of Information Act 2000.

Where individual Classes are subject to exemptions, the main reasons are e.g. the protection of commercial interests and personal information under the Data Protection Act 1998. This applies to all Classes within the Publication Scheme. The information on this Scheme is grouped into the following broad categories:

1. Who we are

Details of the practice, organisational structures, key personnel and how we fit into the NHS

This practice adheres to the national General Medical Services contract. The contract is with: NHS England, 1 The Causeway, Goring-by-Sea, Worthing, West Sussex, BN12 6BT

The practice aims to follow National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) and National Service Framework guidelines. Copies of these can also be found on the NICE website or the Department of Health website.

The NHS is a very large part of the public sector. It is possible to find out information about our practice, the NHS West Sussex Primary Care Trust and other NHS services in your area by using www.nhs.uk. A full list of local General Practices can be found there too. The Bersted Green Surgery provides general medical services for the geographical area of North and South Bersted.

The full names of GPs at our practice are listed in the introduction to this publication scheme. The practice also employs:

• Administrative staff
• Practice manager(s)
• Practice nurse(s)
• Health Care Assistants

A full list of the services we provide is detailed in Class 2 below.

There is a national NHS Plan that explains how the NHS is changing and sets out how all the different parts function and work together. A copy is available on the Department of Health website.

Some information will be withheld, including personal, confidential information about individuals which is protected by the Data Protection Act 1998.

2. Our services

The range of services we provide under contract to the NHS

This is the range of services we provide:

• Baby clinic
• Cervical cytology
• Child health surveillance
• Contraceptive services
• Counsellor
• Disease management clinics
• District nurse
• Health promotions clinics
  (e.g. well man and well woman clinics)
• Immunisations
• Maternity medical services
• Minor surgery services
• Obstetric services
• Family Planning Services
• Smoking Cessation Service

For any policies relating to our services, please refer to Class 6.

Our practice leaflet is available free of charge from:

The Practice Manager
Bersted Green Surgery
32 Durlston Drive
Bognor Regis
West Sussex
PO22 9TD

Our practice premises:

Bersted Green Surgery
32 Durlston Drive
Bognor Regis
West Sussex
PO22 9TD

Our opening times:

• Mondays: 8.30–18.30
• Tuesdays:
•  Wednesdays: 8.30
•  Thursdays: 8.30
•  Fridays: 8.30-
•  Saturdays: Closed
• Sundays: Closed

ut of hours arrangements: Ic24 covers our out-of-hours arrangements

Language and translation information: We use Language Line who provide a telephone translation service

Clinical interests at our practice: Dr Geoghegan – Women’s Health & Dermatology, Dr Weeks – Therapeutics, Asthma & COPD, Dr Dormer – Child Health, Dr Schaeper – Cardiology and Diabetes, Dr Meek Minor Surgery.

3. Financial and funding information

Funding details and charging policies

The Bersted Green Surgery receives money from NHS West Sussex  according to its contract (as per Class 1 above) in exchange for services provided for patients.

The total income received from the NHS before expenses in 2001/2002 was £500000. The sum spent on drugs prescribed by the Bersted Green Surgery in 2001/2002 was £52000.

Please see Part III for a link to the document titled “Statement of Fees and Allowances payable for General Medical Practitioners in England”. Please apply to the Department of Health for information on costs and the formats this is available in.

There may be circumstances where material cannot be released because it is confidential or commercial information or the appropriate officer designated for these purposes under the Act has taken the view that it may be prejudicial to the conduct of the Practice’s affairs.

4. Regular publications and information for the public

Information leaflets relating to the clinical services and health services that we provide for patients and the public, and our range of regular publications are freely available at the surgeries, in the reception areas.
Alternatively, please contact:

The Practice Manager
Bersted Green Surgery
32 Durlston Drive
Bognor Regis
West Sussex
PO22 9TD

5. Complaints

Policies, procedures and contacts for complaints

If you wish to make a complaint about any aspect of our service, you should first contact:

Practice Manager
Bersted Green Surgery
32 Durlston Drive
Bognor Regis
West Sussex
PO22 9TD
01243 821392

The complaints policy for our practice can be obtained from our website or in hardcopy from:

The Practice Manager
Bersted Green Surgery
32 Durlston Drive
Bognor Regis
PO22 9TD
01243 821392

6. Our policies and procedures

Part III: Useful Resources

There will shortly be a change in data protection law, so we’re providing you with more details on how we collect and manage your personal information.

The General Data Protection Regulation becomes law on 25th May 2018 with its main purpose to protect individual’s personal data and strengthen the rights and privacy of residents across the EU.

To reassure you, this does not mean that we are changing which data we collect from you or how we use this information.

To make things easier and more transparent for you, we have updated our privacy notices which explain in more detail what we do with your personal information and your rights relating to the information we hold about you.

Our Data Protection Officer is Richard Newell – who can be contacted via the practice.

BGS Organisational statement on Accountability May 2018

BGS Privacy Notice – Care Quality Commission May 2018

BGS Privacy Notice – Comissioning, Planning, risk stratification, patient identification May 2018

BGS Privacy Notice – Direct Care – Emergencies May 2018

BGS Privacy Notice – Direct Care, (routine care and referrals) May 2018

BGS Privacy Notice – GP’s as employers

BGS Privacy Notice – National Screening Programs May 2018

BGS Privacy Notice – NHS Digital

BGS Privacy Notice – Payments May 2018

BGS Privacy Notice – Public Health May 2018

BGS Privacy Notice – Research May 2018

BGS Privacy Notice – Safeguarding May 2018

BGS Privacy Notice – Summary Care Record May 2018

You have a right to expect a high standard of care from our practice and we will try at all times to provide the very best care possible within the resources available.

In order to assist us in this we require that you take full responsibility for ensuring that you do not abuse the service. For example, it is your responsibility to ensure that you keep medical appointments and follow the medical advice given. In addition, if you feel that your medical problem is complicated, or you have more than one problem to discuss with your doctor, we would suggest that you consider discussing this with the receptionist to see if a longer appointment would be appropriate. Please remember that your appointment is for you alone and your doctor will not be able to give medical advice to anyone accompanying you unless they have made a separate appointment.

Very occasionally a practice/patient relationship breaks down completely. In this situation the patient may choose to register with a different practice. The practice also has the right to remove that patient from their list. This would generally only follow a warning that had failed to remedy the situation and we would normally give the patient a specific reason for the removal.

You have the right to express a preference of practitioner when you make an appointment.

The NHS was founded on a common set of principles and values, and the NHS Constitution establishes the principles and values of the NHS in England. It sets out rights to which patients, public and staff are entitled, and pledges that the NHS is committed to achieving. It also sets out responsibilities, which the public, patients and staff owe to one another to ensure that the NHS operates fairly and effectively. For further information:

http://www.nhs.uk/choiceintheNHS/Rightsandpledges/NHSConstitution/Pages/Overview.aspx

Violent Patients – Zero Tolerance

The NHS operates a Zero Tolerance Policy with regard to violence and abuse and the practice has the right to remove violent patients form 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 are obliged to 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 circumstances leading to it. NHS West Sussex is then responsible for providing further medical care for such patients.

Routine Health Check

If you are an adult aged 16 to 75 and have not been seen within the past three years you may make an appointment to see your doctor. If you are over 75 and have not been seen with the past twelve months you may make an appointment to see your doctor.

Publication of GP net earnings

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

The average pay for GPs working at Bersted Green Surgery in the last financial year was £83,510 before tax and National Insurance. This is for three full time GPs and six part time GPs who worked in the practice for more than six months.

NHS England require the net earnings of doctors engaged in the practice is published by 31 March 2018 at the latest.  However, it should be noted that the prescribed method of 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 for any judgement about GP earnings, nor to make any comparisons with other practices.

Click below to download a PDF copy of our latest Privacy Notice.

Download a copy of our Privacy Notice

We always welcome comments and suggestions about ways in which we may improve our services for you. Please let our Practice Manager know.

If you have a specific complaint about our services then please let our Practice Manager know either verbally or in writing. She will be happy to explain the procedure if you have a complaint you wish to take further.

There is a free and independant advocacy service run by Healthwatch who can give you support and advice if you feel you need it

Healthwatch West Sussex Independent Health Complaints Advocacy Service (IHCAS)

Telephone: 0300 012 0122

Email: helpdesk@healthwatchwestsussex.co.uk

Address: The Billingshurst Community Centre, Roman Way, Billingshurst, West Sussex RH14 9QW

You are also free to contact NHS England by calling 0300 311 2233 or emailing england.contactus@nhs.net and they will be able to investigate for you.

If you are not unhappy with the outcome from either the practice or NHS England you have a right to ask for an independent review through the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO). Their address is:

Parliamentary and Health service Ombudsman
Millbank Tower
Millbank
London SW1P 4QP

Tel: 03450 154033

e-mail: phso.enquiries@ombudsman.org.uk