Privacy Notice under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)

One of the biggest changes to UK data privacy law comes into effect on 25th May 2018.  The General Data Protection Regulation, also known as GDPR, means that you will have more control over how your data is used.  It also means that organisations provide better protection of your data.  To reflect these changes and new obligations, we have updated our privacy notice which now tells you what we do with your personal data, how it's used and your rights as an individual under the new law.  The new privacy notice is available by clicking the following link Data Protection Notice

Additional information (Other Rights) you should know is available here

NHS Lanarkshire's Data Protection Notice can be found on their website at www.nhslanarkshire.org.uk

You can also access detailed information and legislation through the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), at www.ico.org.uk

Disclosure of Patient Data in Primary Care

Your personal information is recorded in your health records and on computer and we are registered under the Data Protection Act.  Our staff have a legal and contractual duty to keep personal health information secure, and confidential at all times.  However, for the effective functioning of a multi-disciplinary team it is sometimes necessary that medical information about you is shared between members of the team.  The information held assists us in analysing and auditing various aspects of health care.  We take care to ensure your personal information is only accessible to authorised people.  In order to find out more about current data protection legislation and how we process your information, please visit the Data Protection Notice on the Privacy Statement tab above, or ask a member of staff for a copy of our Data Protection Notice.

The following are examples of how your health information may be used :

Care and Treatment

• Routine record keeping, consultation of records etc, in the course of the provision of care and treatment
• Processing of records in the event of a medical emergency
• Disclosures made by one health professional or organisation to another, e.g. where a GP refers a patient to a specialist
• Clinical audit, e.g. the monitoring of a patient care pathway against existing standards and benchmarks

Administration

• Processing for administrative purposes, e.g. disclosure by a GP made in order to receive payment for treatment provided and post-payment verification of payments
• Administrative audit, which may include studies designed to improve the efficiency of the NHS as an organisation, e.g. to support decisions about the allocation of resources

Research and Teaching

• Statutory and non-statutory disclosures to disease registers and for epidemiological research
• Clinical Trials

Use and Disclosures for Non-Health Purposes

• Disclosures for Crime and Disorder Act 1998 purposes
• Disclosures to the police

The above list is not exhaustive. Please ask our Office Manager if you have any concerns or require further information.

Access to your Health Records

The Data Protection Act and GDPR gives you the right to see personal health information about yourself. Information on how you can apply for access to your health records is available at reception. Access to medical records for people outside the health care team (or who are involved in the patient’s clinical care) is only given with the patient’s written permission.

Freedom of Information Act Publication Scheme

With effect from 1st January 2005, The Freedom of Information Act 2000 will oblige the practice to produce a Publication Scheme. A copy of the Publication Scheme will be available on request from that date.

Whilst we try our best at all times to provide patients with high quality healthcare, we realise no system is perfect.

If you have a complaint or comment about the service you have received from any member of the team working in this practice, please let us know.

The following information will guide you through our complaints procedure.

Who to:

If your complaint is about any aspect of care received from practice reception staff, nursing or medical staff please advise Angela Patterson/Office Manager by either arranging to speak to her in person or by writing to her.

Should your complaint be in relation to the practice premises, grounds or facilities you should advise Linda Fortune/Practice Business Manager again either by speaking to her personally or in writing.

What we will do:

The responsible manager will investigate your complaint and hopefully will be able to deal with your complaint to your satisfaction.  However if she is unable to do so your complaint will be passed to Dr. Porte who is the nominated doctor to deal with these situations.

We will always tell you who is dealing with your complaint.  Our complaints procedure has two stages:

Stage 1 - early, local resolution

We aim to resolve complaints quickly and close to where we provide the service.  Where appropriate, this could mean an on-the-spot apology and explanation if something has clearly gone wrong, and immediate action to resolve the problem.

Sometimes we will have to make some enquiries before we can respond to your complaint.  We will give you our decision at Stage one in five working days or less, unless there are exceptional circumstances.  If we cannot resolve your complaint at this stage, we will explain why and tell you what you can do next.  We might suggest that you take your complaint to Stage two.  You may choose to do this immediately or sometime after you get our initial decision.

Stage 2 - investigation

Stage two deals with two types of complaint: those that have not been resolved at Stage one and those that are complex and require detailed investigation.

When using Stage two we will:

• acknowledge receipt of your complaint within 3 working days;
• where appropriate, discuss your complaint with you to understand why you remain dissatisfied and what outcome you are looking for; and
• give you a full response to the complaint as soon as possible and within 20 working days.

If our investigation will take longer than 20 working days, we will tell you.  We will agree revised time limits with you and keep you updated on progress.

Complaining on behalf of someone else

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 their permission to do so.  This should be in the form of either a note or letter from the person concerned, and signed by them, unless they are incapable of signing this (due to illness).

We hope that if you have a problem you will use and be satisfied with our own complaints procedure.  However if you feel that you cannot raise your complaint with us or are dissatisfied with the result of our investigation, you should contact: The Scottish Public Service Ombudsman, Freepost EH641, Edinburgh EH3 0BR.  Tel: 0800 377 7330   Website: www.spso.org.uk E-mail:ask@spsp.org.uk

A leaflet fully explaining our Complaints Procedure is available here or on request at reception.

The practice welcomes comments or suggestions from our patients.

All health and social care services in Scotland have a duty of candour.  In addition to a professional duty of candour, this is a legal requirement which means that when unintended or unexpected adverse events happen that result in death or harm as defined in the Act, the people affected understand what has happened, receive an apology, and that organisations learn how to improve for the future.  

An important part of this duty is that we provide an annual report about how the duty of candour is implemented in our services.  The Glencairn Medical Practice report 2020 (covering the period 1 April 2019 till 31 March 2020) can be viewed by clicking the link below:

Duty of Candour Report 2020

PALS (Patient Advice and Liaison Service)

The NHS employs over a million staff in thousands of locations. It is a large and complex organisation providing a broad range of services. It is not surprising that sometimes you or a loved one may feel bewildered or concerned when using the NHS. And this can be at times when you are feeling at your most vulnerable and anxious.

So, what should you do if you want on the spot help when using the health service? The NHS expects all members of staff to listen and respond to you to the best of their ability. But sometimes, you may wish to talk to someone employed especially to help you. The Patient Advice and Liaison Service, known as PALS, has been introduced to ensure that the NHS listens to patients, their relatives, carers and friends, and answers their questions and resolves their concerns as quickly as possible.

PALS also helps the NHS to improve services by listening to what matters to patients and their loved ones and making changes, when appropriate.

What does PALS do?

In particular, PALS will:

• Provide you with information about the NHS and help you with any other health-related enquiry
• Help resolve concerns or problems when you are using the NHS
• Provide information about the NHS complaints procedure and how to get independent help if you decide you may want to make a complaint
• Provide you with information and help introduce you to agencies and support groups outside the NHS
• Inform you about how you can get more involved in your own healthcare and the NHS locally
• Improve the NHS by listening to your concerns, suggestions and experiences and ensuring that people who design and manage services are aware of the issues you raise
• Provide an early warning system for NHS Trusts and monitoring bodies by identifying problems or gaps in services and reporting them.

Find out more
If you would like more information about PALS, the functions it is intended to provide and the standards it should strive to achieve , follow this link.

This Charter sets out the standards of service we aim to provide to all our patients.

Our commitment to you:

Our objective is to provide you with high quality health care. We will encourage you to develop a healthier lifestyle.

By working together this will be accomplished.

• We have developed a range of services within the Practice. Our Health Promotion clinics are aimed at preventing or detecting illness at an early stage. Appropriate treatment is therefore more effective.
• You will be treated courteously at all times by our staff.
• We run an appointment system in this Practice. We will endeavour to give you a time that is convenient to you.
• We will try to ensure that you are seen on time. However, emergencies and serious problems are always given priority. This unavoidably may cause disruption to our scheduled appointments. Should there be a prolonged delay the receptionist will give an explanation. Please be patient ... sometime you may require urgent treatment.
• Urgent cases will be seen on the same day; otherwise you will be given the first available appointment. Please make it clear when you call if you consider your complaint of an urgent nature.
• Home visits will be arranged for those patients who are too ill or incapable of coming to the surgery.
• All our discussions with you will be treated confidentially.
• Appropriate treatments and investigations will always be discussed with you. No course of action will be taken without your consent.
• You have the right to a second opinion or to be referred to a Consultant that you agree to.
• You have the right at any time to leave our list and to register with another Practice.
• We are continually striving to improve our service to you. We are interested in your views and opinions. Any complaints you have will be fully investigated and you will be advised of our inquiry.

Our request to you:

• We request that you treat the Doctors and Practice staff with courtesy and respect.Violent or abusive behaviour towards any member of our practice team may result in removal from our list
•  We ask you to co-operate in your care by following the medical advice offered and by taking any prescribed medication as advised.
• Please try to arrive on time for your appointments. Arriving late may inconvenience other patients.
• In the event of you cancelling an appointment, please inform us as early as possible so that the time may be allocated to another needy patient requiring assistance.
• Should you require a home visit please try to telephone before 11.15a.m. After this time the Doctors may have left the Practice and your visit may be delayed.
• Please do not arrange a specialist appointment without first discussing the matter with your Doctor.
• If you decide you no longer require a hospital appointment please inform both the Hospital and the Practice.
• We provide cover for emergencies out with surgery hours. We ask that you use this service only if you require urgent treatment or advice before the next surgery.
• We have the right to have patients removed from our list. We can assure you that we will exercise this right only under exceptional circumstances and if considered to be absolutely necessary.

Medical students and Nursing students attend the practice from time to time. We hope that you will co-operate with us and help the students to learn about general practice. However, you will be informed of their presence in advance, and if you do not want them present at a consultation, your wishes will be respected. This will not affect your treatment in any way.

Thinking of having private treatment?

Due to long waiting times for investigations, specialist appointments and operations within the NHS, some people are deciding to attend private hospitals and clinics, locally and abroad.

If you are thinking about using a private health provider we strongly advise you to read the guidance contained in the link below:

Information for people attending private hospitals and clinics