Practice Policies
Freedom of Information Act
The practice is registered under this Act and has an approved publication scheme, a copy of which is available from Claire Crook.
For further information on our publication scheme click on the link below.....
 Bury Knowle Publication Scheme
How the Practice uses Personal Health Information (Data Protection Act)
Bury Knowle Health Centre is registered under the Data Protection Act to hold patient records in both paper and computer formats. We have procedures in place to ensure that confidentiality and security of this information is safeguarded at all times.
We ask you for information about yourself so that you can receive the best possible care and treatment. We keep this information, together with details of your care, to ensure that the health professionals involved in your care have up-to-date and accurate information that may be needed when we see you again.
We may use some of this information to give you health care and treatment, to help us protect the health of the general public, to manage and plan the NHS, to train staff and to review standards of care. There are times when we have to pass on information about you to other people such as hospitals, Social Services or the Health Authority. We only use or pass information about you if there is a genuine need for it in your and everyone’s interests. This is always done confidentially or by removing your identifying details when they are not essential.
The NHS Central Register for England & Wales contains basic personal details of all patients registered with a general practitioner. The Register does not contain clinical information.
Patient Confidentiality & NHS National Computer Systems
Accessing Your Medical Records
You have a right of access to your medical records. The Data protection Act, 1998, allows you to find out what information about you is held on computer and in manual records. If you want to see your records, you can discuss this with the health care professionals caring for you or you can write in to the practice. Assistance is given if required. A member of staff will stay with you at all times to ensure confidentiality of other patients’ records.
If copies or a computer printout are required, a charge is made for this to cover costs incurred. In some circumstances, your right to see some details of your records may be limited in your own or other’s interest. Access to medical records for people outside the health care team (or who are not involved in the patient's clinical care) is only given with the patient's express written permission.
Click here for more information on accessing your medical records
Access to health records of a deceased patient
Confidentiality
Everyone working for the NHS has a legal duty to maintain the highest level of confidentiality about patient information. Any medical information relating to you will not be given to a third party including family members. Anyone who receives information from us is also under a legal duty to keep it confidential. If at any time you would like to know more about how we use your information you can speak to our Deputy Practice Manager.
Patient Responsibility - Zero Tolerance
Our aim is to provide patient-centred healthcare, through a skilled team, working in an innovative, caring and educational environment. To help us to do this we expect all patients to be respectful towards the staff, premises and any other persons in the building at all times. This means that any form of verbal or physical abuse will not be tolerated, and will result in removal from our practice list.
Patient Responsibilities mean:
- Courtesy to the staff at all times - remember they are working under doctors' orders.
- Responding in a positive way to questions asked by the reception staff.
- To attend appointments on time or give the practice adequate notice that they wish to cancel. Someone else could use your appointment!
- An appointment is for one person only - where another member of the family needs to be seen or discussed, another appointment should be made and the Medical Record be made available.
- Patients should make every effort when consulting the surgery to make best use of nursing and medical time - home visits should be medically justifiable and not requested for social convenience.
- When patients are asked to give 48 hours notice for repeat prescriptions, please give us this time as it is to allow for accurate prescribing.
- Out-of-hours calls (e.g. evenings; nights & weekends) should only be requested if they are felt to be truly necessary.
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