Why do we sometimes charge fees?

The NHS provides health care free of charge, but there are exceptions.

It is important to understand that GPs are self-employed and offer their services to the NHS and they have to cover their costs eg. staff, buildings, heating, lighting, etc. The NHS covers these costs for NHS work, but for non-NHS work.

The British Medical Association (BMA) suggests fees for non-NHS work which is not covered under a GP’s NHS contract. However, these fees are guidelines only, not recommendations, and a doctor is not obliged to charge the rates suggested.

Please see our Practice leaflet on Private work for more information.

Why can it take a long time to complete a form?

Time spent completing forms and preparing reports takes the GP away from the medical care of his or her patients. Most GPs have a very heavy NHS workload and this paperwork is done in around the patient care.

When a doctor signs a certificate or completes a report, it is a condition of remaining on the Medical Register that they only sign what they know to be true. In order to complete even the simplest of forms, therefore, the doctor might have to check the patient’s entire medical record. Carelessness or an inaccurate report can have serious consequences for the doctor.

What is the charge?

These prices are approximate examples only:

• Copy of full medical records (on disc) £50.00
• Patients can access a copy of their medical records free of change after 25th May 2018 due to General Data Protection Regulations.  Please ask the Secretarial Team for details, and allow 30 days.  
• Disabled bus pass £25.00
• Fitness reports (travel, fly, perform, drive) £15.00
• To whom it may concern letter £15.00
• Medical examinations (excluding occupational health) £80.00 to £120.00
• Insurance claim form from £45.00
• Private prescription (+ any pharmacy charge) £15.00
• Access to medical records – please contact us for more information

Every patient at the practice is allocated a named, accountable GP. This ensures you have a ‘usual’ GP as a point of contact and to assist with continuity of care. You should always try and see your usual GP, especially for ongoing problems, however we understand this is not always possible which is why there are no restrictions on seeing other doctors.

It is possible to change your named GP at any time, please contact reception who will be happy to help.

You can find out how we have been rated:

• GP patient survey
• NHS choices
• CQC

This is a guide to the General Practitioners Publication Scheme as required by the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

Introduction

This Publication Scheme is a complete guide to the information routinely made available to the public by Leigh View Medical Practice. It is a description of the information about our Doctors and the 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. (Where information is provided at a cost the charges are as below).

How is the information made available?

The information within each Class is currently available via this website, in our information folder in reception and can be requested in hard copy from reception (There will be a small charge for photocopies of documents).

Your rights to information

In addition to accessing the information identified in the Publication Scheme, you are entitled to request information about the practice and the partners 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 General Practitioners have been obliged to respond to requests about information that they hold, that is recorded in any format. These rights are subject to some exemptions, which have to be taken into consideration before deciding what information can be released.

Under the Data Protection Act 1998, you are also entitled to access your clinical records or any other personal information held about you and you can contact the practice secretary to do this.

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:

Classes Of Information

All information at Leigh View Medical 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 for 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:

Who We Are

Details of the practice, organisational structures and key personnel can be found in the practice profile in our patient information folder. The practice adheres to the National General Medical Services contract. The contract is with the NHS England.

The practice aims to follow National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) and National Health Service guidelines. Copies of these can 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 practices, Primary Care Trusts and other NHS services in your area by using NHS Choices Website. A full list of local General Practices can also be found there.

The full names of the GPs are listed in the introduction to this scheme, the practice leaflet and practice profile. As can be seen from the profile we employ a practice manager, practice nurses and a full range of administrative staff.

Our Services

The range of services we provide includes:

• Cervical cytology
• Child health surveillance
• Contraceptive services
• Immunisations
• Chronic disease management
• Minor Surgery
• Access to district nurse, midwife and health visitor

Financial information

Funding details and charging policies:

• The practice receives money from NHS England according to its contract in exchange for providing services for patients.
• The practice also charges for certain services which are not provided within the NHS.

Regular publications and information for the public

Guidance and information leaflets

Complaints

If you wish to make a complaint about any aspect of our service you should read the How to make a complaint leaflet.

All complaints should be put into writing to:

The complaints procedure can also be found on this website, on the notice board in reception, and in the patient information folder.

Our policies and procedures

Policies and procedures for use within the practice include, but are not restricted to: data protection; prescribing and prescription; and health and safety.

This Publication Scheme

In this class, we will publish any changes we make to this Publication Scheme, the criteria on which our information management policies are made and a referral point for all enquiries regarding information management. We will also publish any proposed changes or additions to publications already available.

Cost of Information

We will charge you only for hard copies or the transfer of media onto external devices. Some information is available for free, but for others, there may be a charge. The charges will vary according to how information is made available. Charges are as follows:

1. Via the practice intranet – photocopying charges only.
2. Leaflets – leaflets on services we offer to the public, health advice leaflets and information regarding complaints/suggestions and Access to data are available free of charge from reception and can be viewed in our patient information folders.
3. “Glossy” or other bound paper copies, CD Rom, video or other mediums, are not currently available from the practice.

The charges will be reviewed regularly.

Useful Resources

Websites

Information Commissioner website.

Publications

Freedom Of Information Act 2000.

NHS England Contracting.

Copyright

Material available through this Publication Scheme is subject to the copyright of this General Practice unless otherwise indicated. Unless expressly indicated to the contrary, it may be reproduced free of charge in any format or medium provided it is done so accurately in a manner which will not mislead. Where items are re-published or copied to others, you must identify the source and acknowledge copyright status. This permit does not extend to third party material, accessed through the scheme. See HMSO Guidance Notes.

Rights

• All patients registered at the practice have a named, accountable GP responsible for their overall care, but any patient can see any doctor or nurse they choose.
• Patients have the right to say if they would prefer to see a particular doctor or nurse and we will try to arrange this (as long as they are available). We understand that ‘continuity of care’ is important. Seeing the same nurse or doctor for a particular condition can make it easier to get the right diagnosis and plan your treatment/management better.
• Registered patients are invited to have a health check from time to time. We hope you will take up this service.
• We also offer all patients over 40 an NHS Health Check every 5 years. Please contact reception to discuss this.
• Patients have the right to see their own health records, subject to the terms of the Data Protection Act.

Responsibilities

• Please arrive on time for your appointment. That way clinics are more likely to run on time.
• Please inform the practice if you can’t make an appointment or if the appointment is no longer necessary, so the slot can be offered to another patient.
• Please try and attend the surgery and do not make a request for a home visit unless absolutely necessary. Home visits are for housebound or seriously ill patients. In the time it takes to conduct 1 home visit we can typically see at least 4 patients at the surgery.
• Please make requests for repeat prescriptions in good time. We suggest at least 72 hours before you need more medication.
• Please co-operate with all practice staff and treat them courteously. They are trying to help you.

Your Suggestions

We are always seeking to enhance our service and welcome suggestions for the improvement of the practice and the website.

We welcome suggestions via our email address: leighview.post@nhs.net

Please note that patient identifiable information MUST never be sent to us via email and nor do we accept any complaints via email.

Your compliments

If you feel that any staff member has gone above and beyond, do please take the time to let us know.  The staff really value positive feedback.

leighview.post@nhs.net
Please note that patient identifiable information MUST never be sent to us via email.

Complaints

Everyone at Leigh View Medical Practice endeavors to provide the best service and care possible. Unfortunately, we understand that there may be times when you feel this has not happened.

How patients can make a complaint October 2020

Please note that we do not accept emailed complaints at all due to patient confidentiality, and all formal complaints must be received in writing with the patient’s signature.

Our address for suggestions, compliments and complaints is:

Overview

Under the Health and Social Care Act 2008 every registered provider must have a Statement of Purpose that includes the required set of information about our service. The Statement describes:

• The Provider’s aims and objectives in providing the service
• The kinds of service provided
• The health or care needs the service sets out to meet
• The locations where the services are actually provided or provided from
• Details from the provider including their legal status, and any manager, including the ‘address for service’ for all registered persons

Information from the Care Quality Commission

Our practice is inspected by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to ensure we are meeting essential standards of quality and safety.

This widget provides a summary of the results of the latest checks carried out by the CQC.

Leigh View Medical Practice

CQC overall rating

Good

15 November 2016

See the report

Overview

All the health care professionals that look after you maintain records about your health and any treatment or care that you have previously received. This includes hospitals, GP surgeries, walk-in clinics etc.

NHS health records may be electronic, paper-base or a mixture of both and we will ensure that all your information is kept confidential and secure.

Information which this GP Practice holds about you may include:

• Details about you, such as your address, carer, legal representative, emergency contacts
• Any contact the surgery has had with you in the past, 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

Your records are used to ensure you receive the best possible care. Information held about you may also be used to help protect the health of the public and for a clinical audit to monitor the quality of the service provided.

Some of this information will be held centrally and used for statistical purposes. Where we do this, we take strict measures to make sure that individual patients cannot be identified. Occasionally your information may also be requested for research purposes. The practice will always ask for your consent before agreeing to do this.

Identifying patients’ health risks

Risk identification tools are increasingly being used in the NHS to help understand a patient’s risk of suffering from a particular condition in the future. As once we know this we can offer preventative 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 using software managed by NHS England. Risk stratification enables your GP to focus on preventing ill health and offer you additional services to help you not to become ill in the future. Please note that you have the right to opt-out of your data being used in this way.

Medicines Management

The Practice may carry out reviews of the medications prescribed to its patients to ensure that all patients are receiving 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 1998
• 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 new information sharing principle following Dame Fiona Caldicott’s information sharing review 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. They should be supported by the policies of their employers, regulators and professional bodies.

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
• NHS Commissioning Support Units
• Independent contractors such as dentists, opticians, pharmacists
• Private sector providers
• Voluntary sector providers
• Ambulance Trusts
• Clinical Commissioning Groups
• Social Care Services
• Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC)
• Local Authorities
• Education Services
• Fire and Rescue Services
• Police & Judicial Services
• 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 explicit consent for this to happen.

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.

Access To Personal Information

You have a right, under the Data Protection Act 1998, 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. In order to request this, you need to do the following:

• Your request must be made in writing to the GP – for information from the hospital you should write direct to them
• There may be a charge to receive a printed copy of the information
• We are required to respond to you within 40 days
• 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

Objections/Complaints

Should you have any concerns about how your information is managed, please contact our Practice Manager at Leigh View Medical Practice, Bradford Road, Tingley, Wakefield, WF3 1RQ. If you are still unhappy, following a review by the Practice you can complain to the Information Commissioners Office (ICO) via their website, email: casework@ico.org.uk, Tel: 0303 123 1113 (local rate) or 01625 545 745.

General Data protection Regulations (GDPR)

Here are some additional documents that we have prepared for our patients regarding GDPR:

VIDEO

FORMS

• FORM Discuss my health with someone consent form
• FORM Access to my health record request form

INFORMATION

• Privacy Notice GDPR Leigh View 2018 GDPR
• How we use your medical records – for under 16s / easy read Poster for GDPR
• How we use your medical records – poster
• FAQ GDPR and My GP Patient record
• Practice leaflet insert May 2018
• Young persons guide to accessing services – June 2018

Cookies

We do not use cookies on this website.

Change of Details

It is important that you tell the person treating you if any of your details, such as your name or address, have changed or if any of your details such as date of birth is incorrect so that we can amend this. You have a responsibility to inform us of any changes so our records are accurate and up to date for you.

Notification

The Data Protection Act 1998 requires organisations to register the purposes for which they process personal and sensitive information. This information is publicly available on the Information Commissioner’s website. The practice is registered with the Information Commissioners Office (ICO).

Who is the Data Controller?

The Data Controller, responsible for keeping your information secure and confidential is Miss Victoria Allen – Practice Manager and Dr S Hulme (on behalf of Leigh View Medical Practice)