Dr Oldroyd & Partners
Falsgrave Surgery
Freedom of Information Act
This publication scheme provides a guide to the services and practitioners who practice within
Falsgrave Surgery as required by the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
It is based on the model publication scheme for general practices produced by the NHS Freedom of
Information (FOI) project board and the British Medical Association.
Introduction
This Publication Scheme is a complete guide to the information routinely made available to the public
by Falsgrave surgery. It is a description of the information about the Practice and the General
Practitioners that work there that is available to the public. It will be reviewed at regular intervals and
we will monitor its effectiveness.
Your rights to information
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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.
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From January 1st 2005 the FOI Act will oblige the General Practice to respond to requests about
information. These rights are subject to some exemptions which have to be taken into
consideration before deciding what information it can release.
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In addition to accessing the information identified in this Publication you are entitled to request
information about Falsgrave Surgery under the NHS openness Code 1995.
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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 Manager at
Falsgrave Surgery to do this.
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New environmental information regulations may be introduced as early as 2004. These will
enable similar access to environmental information as under the Freedom of Information Act
2000.
How much does it cost?
Publications are all free unless otherwise indicated. Where there is a charge for providing information
the cost will be calculated as set out in each class.
How do we make information available?
Information may be downloaded from our Practice website www.falsgravesurgery.co.uk
Otherwise it is available in hard copy from the Practice Manager as indicated for each class of
information.
Feedback
If you have any comments about the operation of this publication scheme, or how we have dealt with
your request for information from the scheme, please write to:
Dr Oldroyd & Partners
The Practice Manager
Falsgrave Surgery
Lawrence House Medical Centre
1a Belgrave Crescent
Scarborough
YO11 1UB
Classes of Information
All information at Falsgrave Surgery 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 their main reasons are the protection of commercial
interests and the protection of confidential personal information under the Data Protection Act 1998.
This applies to all Classes within the Publication Scheme.
The information included in this Scheme is grouped into 7 broad categories:
Class 1 – Practice Structure & the NHS
Class 2 – Services
Class 3 – Funding & Charging
Class 4 – Guidance & Information
Class 5 – Complaints
Class 6 – Policies & Procedures
Class 7 – Changes to this document
Class 1 –Practice Structure & the NHS
Details of the Practice, Organisational Structure, Key Personnel and how we fit into the NHS
This NHS Practice is part of the Scarborough, & Ryedale Clinical Commissioning Board and provides
services for patients living within the boundaries of Scarborough. It supplies services in accordance
with the general medical services contract held with the NHS Commissioning Board (NHS England).
A full list of local General Practises can be found on the NHS Choices website www.nhs.uk
A full list of the services provided will be found at Class 2
Key Personnel:
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Dr David Oldroyd, Senior Partner
Michaela Dennis, Practice Manager
Jo Green, Deputy Practice Manager
Sue Mabbott, Nurse Practitioner
Pam Bamford, Senior Nurse
District Nurses are based within Practice; they visit patients who are physically unable to attend
the Surgery
Health Visitors (Community Team) are based in the Practice
Midwife (Community Team) is attached to the Practice
Mental Health Counsellor – Visiting
Addictive Behaviours Counsellor – Visiting
CATS Team – Visiting
Dr Oldroyd & Partners
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Podiatry – Visiting
Dietician – Visiting
Phlebotomist – Visiting
This practice aims to follow national and local best practice guidelines, including the NICE best
practice guidelines and the National Services Framework.
Some information will be withheld including personal, confidential information about individuals that
is protected by the Data Protection Act 1998.
Class 2 – The range of services we provide under contract to the NHS
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Child health surveillance
Minor surgery
Contraceptive services
Maternity services
Health promotion
Vaccinations
Smoking cessation
Flu vaccination clinics
The practice is open at the following times:
Weekdays 8.00am – 6.30pm
We offer additional appointments on Monday & Thursday evenings until 7.30pm
Weekends & Bank Holidays we are closed all day
Outside of Opening Hours:
When the surgery is closed the contact number is still 01723360835. Your call will be transferred to the
Out of Hours Service Primecare who will provide you with the most appropriate advice and/or services.
NHS Direct can be contacted 24 hours a day for further information and advice at:
NHS Direct Telephone:
Online advice:
111 (previously 0845 4647)
www.nhs.uk
Class 3: Funding details and charging policies
Falsgrave Surgery receives money from NHS Commissioning Board (NHS England) according to its
contract in exchange for services provided for patients. Details of funding can be obtained from NHS
Commissioning Board.
Class 4: Guidance and information leaflets
Regular publication and information for the public
The following published information is available
Maternity services
Baby booklet
Carers leaflet
Fasting glucose test
Dr Oldroyd & Partners
All these publications are free of charge. We hold a large collection of medical information leaflets. If
there is any area which you cannot find please ask at reception. The information on boards and leaflets
are rotated on a regular basis.
Class 5: Complaints
The practice follows the NHS complaints procedure and follows a strict protocol when dealing with all
complaints. Your complaint will be acknowledged within five working days then investigated and
responded to within ten working days. If for any reason we are unable to respond within this timescale
(e.g. staff concerned are away), we will let you know with reasons why the response is delayed.
Falsgrave Surgery has a complaints policy which is available from the Practice Manager.
Class 6: General policies and procedures in use within the Practice
The practice has a number of policies and procedures in place within the practice.
Class 7: Changes to this document
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 generally in the Practice.
About this Publication Scheme
Cost of Information:
Some information is available free, but there may be a nominal charge to cover costs if you require a
hard copy of information.
These charges will vary according to how information is made available.
Website – free of charge
The Practice web address is: www.falsgravesurgery.co.uk
NHS Commissioning Board (NHS England) www.england.nhs.uk
General NHS services/advice www.nhs.uk
If you don’t have internet access a single printout from the website would be available by post from the
Practice Manager or by personal application to the Practice. There may be a small charge for this (to
cover postage).
Requests for multiple printouts or for archived copies of documents that are no longer accessible or
available will attract a small charge for the retrieval, photocopy, postage, etc. We will let you know the
costs and charges that will have to be paid, in advance.
We are not able to provide printouts of other organisation’s websites.
Leaflets & booklets – free of charge for most leaflets and booklets on services we offer to the public. A
full list is available from the Practice Manager.
E-mail information – free of charge unless otherwise specified.
These charges will be reviewed regularly.
Dr Oldroyd & Partners
Data Protection Act
Privacy and Confidentiality of your Medical Records
Your medical record is a life-long history of your consultations, illnesses, investigations, prescriptions
and other treatments.
At Falsgrave Surgery we store our patient records in two ways:
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On our practice specialised computer system
In manual paper records kept in the practice
Your GP is responsible for the accuracy and safe keeping of your medical records. You can help us to
keep it accurate by informing us of any change in your name, address, etc. and by ensuring that we
have full details of your important medical history. We take regular ‘back up’ copies of all our
computerised patient records. This is so that we would have up to date information if anything
happened to the computer system.
If you move to another area or change GP, we will send your paper medical records plus a printout of
your computerised records to the Health Authority to be passed on to your Practice. The computerised
records may be transferred electronically where the surgery has the same computer system in place.
However, we do keep a copy of all computerised entries into your records made whilst you were
registered with us.
You have a right to keep your personal health information confidential between you and your doctor.
This applies to everyone over the age of 16 years of age and in certain cases to those under 16. The law
does impose a few exceptions to this rule, but apart from these (listed below) you have a right to know
who has access to your medical record.
There is a balance between your privacy and good health care. We will normally share some
information with other health professionals involved in your health care, unless you ask us not to. This
could include, doctors, nurses, therapists, pharmacists and technicians involved in your investigation
and treatment. These professionals may work for a variety of organisations such as the local acute and
community NHS trusts, social services or private hospitals.
Our Practice nursing team all have access to the computerised medical record system and paper
records. They are governed by the same professional codes of confidentiality as your GP and will not
disclose health information without your consent.
We aim to deliver the highest quality of care from a modern Primary Care Team.
Our practice staff have limited administrative access to the medical record system. They notify the
Health Authority of registration and claim details and perform various filing, data entry and secretarial
tasks on the medical records.
We are required by law to notify the government of certain diseases e.g. Meningitis or for public health
reasons. Law courts can also require GPs to disclose medical records to them. Doctors cannot refuse to
cooperate with the courts without risking serious punishment. We are also often asked for medical
reports from solicitors. These will always be accompanied by a patient’s written consent for us to
disclose information. We will not normally release any details about other people contained in your
records e.g. spouse, children, etc. unless we also have your consent.
Limited information is shared with Authorities and Primary Care Groups to help them organise national
programmes for public health (e.g. breast screening) and to monitor NHS activities (e.g. waiting lists).
Dr Oldroyd & Partners
The practice must keep the Health Authority up to date with all Privacy and Confidentiality of your
medical records.
Data Protection Act
To protect your privacy and confidentiality, we will not normally disclose any medical information
over the telephone or fax unless we are sure that we are talking to you. This means that we will not
disclose information to family, friends, or colleagues about any medical matters at all, unless we know
that we have your agreement to do so.
We have a duty to keep your medical records up to date. Please feel free to update and correct any
errors of fact that may have crept into your medical records over the years. After all these records are
yours and it is important that they are as accurate as possible.
We must also notify the Health Authority of certain procedures that we carry out on patient’s e.g.
contraceptive and maternity services, minor surgery, night visits and immunisations and other ‘items of
service’ procedures, where we are paid for performing those procedures.
Local authority and government agencies e.g. Social Services and Benefits Agency may require
medical reports on you from time to time. These may not include written consent, but we will assume
that you wish us to complete these reports in your best interests. Failure to co-operate with these
agencies can lead to patient’s loss of benefits or other support.
Life assurance companies frequently ask for medical reports on prospective clients from their GP.
These are always accompanied by your signed consent. GP’s must disclose all relevant medial
conditions in these reports. You can ask to see the report before it is sent back to the company and you
can instruct us not to make a full disclosure, but we must then inform the insurance company of your
instructions.
We are required by law to allow you access to your computer and written medical records. All such
requests must be made in writing. We are allowed to charge a fee to cover our administration and
photocopying charges.