GDPR & Policies
The General Data Protection Regulation of 2018
The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) came into force from 25th May 2018, This new regulation has been introduced to strengthen data protection for individuals within the EU.
This Practice has taken steps to ensure compliance with the new regulation so that your information is held securely and is available when your health care professionals need it in connection with your care and treatment.
The leaflet here will help to explain why the NHS collects your personal information, how we use it and how we keep it secure and confidential.
Our Patient Information leaflet for Young People is here.
The Protection and use of Patient Information
The medical records of fully registered patients are held here at Upton Group Practice. For the purposes of registration under the General Data Protection Regulation of 2018 the Data Controller is the Senior Partner – Dr G M Annett.
Her nominated representative to oversee matters in relation to data protection is the Practice Manager – Mrs Peta Murphy.
Here at Upton Group Practice we ask you for information so that you can receive proper care and treatment. We keep this information, together with details of your care, because it may be needed if we see you again.
We may use some of this information for other reasons: for example to help us protect the heath of the public generally and to see that the NHS runs efficiently, plans for the future, trains its staff, pays its bills and can account for its actions. Information may also be needed to help educate tomorrow’s clinical staff and to carry out medical and other health research for the benefit of everyone. Everyone working for the NHS has a legal duty to keep information about you confidential.
You may be receiving care from other people as well as the NHS. So that we can all work together for your benefit we may need to share some information about you.
We only ever use or pass on information about you if people have a genuine need for it in your and everyone’s interests. Whenever we can we shall remove details which identify you. Anyone who receives information from us is also under a legal duty to keep it confidential.
You have a right of access to your health records. If you wish to see these please ask at Reception. We will need the request in writing so you will be given a form to complete.
THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 2000
Please note that if you are printing this from our website you will need to print it as a Landscape document otherwise you will lose the edges of the text.
This Publication Scheme provides a guide to the services and practitioners who practice together within the Upton Group General Practice as required by the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
It based on the model publication scheme for general practices produced by the NHS Freedom of Information (FOI) project board and the British Medical Association.
PART ONE: INTRODUCTION
This Publication Scheme is a complete guide to the information routinely made available to the public by :
Dr G M Annett
Dr H V Kini
Dr D Thomas
Dr L M Dixon
It is a description of the information about Upton Group Practice and the General Practitioners who 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
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 the FOI Act 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.
In addition to accessing the information identified in this Publication Scheme, you are entitled to request information about Upton Group Practice under the NHS Openness Code 1995.
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 Upton Group Practice to do this.
This practice aims to follow national and local best practice guideline, including the NICE best practice guidelines and the National Service Frameworks.
Some information will be withheld including personal, confidential information about individuals that is protected by the Data Protection Act 1998.
How much does it cost and how do we make the information available?
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.
Charges are as follows:
- a) Web site – Free of charge – (charges for Internet Service provider and personal printing costs would have to be met by the individual)
The practice website address is www.uptongrouppractice.co.uk
If you do not have Internet access, a single print-out from the website would be available by post from the Practice Manager or by personal application at the Practice. The practice charges 35p per sheet + the cost of postage if required. To obtain a hard copy of any of the information – or for other details in this scheme where it lists the Practice Manager as the contact – please apply to
Mrs Peta Murphy
Practice Manager
Upton Group Practice,
32 Ford Road,
Upton
Wirral CH49 0TF
Tel: 0151 677 0486
Requests for multiple printouts, or for archived copies of documents that are no longer accessible or available on the web, will attract a small charge for the retrieval, photocopy, postage etc. We will let you know the cost and charges that will have to be paid in advance.
We are not able to provide printouts of other organisation’s websites.
- Leaflets and brochures – Free of charge for most leaflets or booklets on, for example, services we offer to the public.
- “Glossy” or bound paper copies, CD Rom, video or other copies will attract a charge.
- e-mail information – free of charge unless specified otherwise.
These charges will be reviewed regularly.
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 the Practice Manager.
PART TWO: CLASSES OF INFORMATION
All information at the Upton Group 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 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.
Class 1 information – Who we are and what we do
Upton Group Practice
32 Ford Road
Upton
Wirral CH49 0TF
Upton Group Practice is a four-Partner practice situated on the Wirral peninsula and it serves patients in Upton and the surrounding areas. Since April 2001 Upton Group Practice has been part of the Birkenhead and Wallasey Primary Care Trust (PCT) along with over 40 other practices in the area. In April 2006 Birkenhead and Wallasey PCT merged with Bebington and West Wirral PCT to become Wirral PCT. When the PCTs ceased to exist on 1 April 2013 Upton Group Practice was already part of the Wirral GP Commissioning Consortium (WGPCC). This later merged with the other two consortia to form Wirral Clinical Commissioning Group. The practice supplies services in accordance with a General Medical Services contract held with the National Commissioning Board.
Key personnel :
Dr Gina Annett – Part time Partner
MB, ChB 2001 (Aberdeen), DRCOG,DCH
Dr Helen Kini – Part time Partner
MB, ChB 2002 (Liverpool) DRCOG, DCH, DFFP
Dr David Thomas – Part time Partner
MB, ChB 2005 (Liverpool) DRCOG, MRCGP,DCH, DFSRH
Dr Louisa Dixon – Part time Partner
MB,ChB 2014 (Liverpool)
The practice is open at the following hours:-
Weekdays 8.00am – 6.30pm
Saturdays closed all day
Sundays closed all day
Out of Hours cover
Out of hours cover is provided by the Wirral Out of Hours Service between the hours of 6.30pm – 8.00am on weekdays, and all day on Saturdays, Sundays and Bank Holidays.
The telephone number for the Wirral Out of Hours Service is 111
Language
Members of staff conduct consultations in English.
Please contact us in advance if translation services are required.
Class 2 information – What we spend and how we spend it
How are we funded by the NHS?
Upton Group Practice receives money from Wirral Clinical Commissioning Group and from NHS England according to its contract with the National Commissioning Board in exchange for services provided for patients.
You can link to details on how General Practice is funded at present via the following website –
www.doh.gov.uk
and in the search facility type GMS Statement of Financial Entitlements for 2005 onwards
What we spend and how
In the year to 31 March 2012 the total cost to the NHS for our practice was £1086409. Our expenses include professional expenses, medical expenses, premises expenses, staff expenses, administrative expenses and depreciation.
For some of the services we provide – which are outside the scope of the NHS, there is a charge and we keep these charges in line with those recommended by the British Medical Association (BMA). Details of the charges are given on the Fees page of our website.
Class 3 information – what our priorities are and how we are doing
Each year in April we produce a Practice Development Plan setting out our objectives for the year ahead under the following headings:-
v Staffing Issues
v Contractual Issues
v Information Management and Technology (IM&T)
v Planning, Review and External Liaison issues
v Premises
This Plan provides our general priorities framework for the year although as other opportunities for development occur during the year we consider them and take them up as appropriate. At the end of eachyear as we are drafting our next annual Practice Development Plan we produce a report on the Plan for the year that is ending so we can see what we have achieved and what, if anything, we need to carry over.
You can request copies of our current Practice Development Plan and/or our previous Practice Development Plan and report by applying to the Practice Manager.
Class 4 – How we make decisions
Throughout the year we hold regular meetings within the practice as follows:-
| Partners | Partners and Practice Manager
Monthly |
| Practice | Partners, Registrar and all managers
Bi-Monthly –alternates with Clinical meetings |
| Clinical | All doctors, managers, and practice nurses
Bi-monthly – alternates with Practice meetings |
| Primary Healthcare team | Partners, Registrar, managers, Practice Nurses, District Nurses, Health Visitors, Community Psychiatric Nurses
Monthly – on first Friday |
| Nurses | attended by Lead Practice Nurse, a Partner & Practice Manager
Fortnightly on Friday |
| Receptionists | Practice Manager, Office Manager & Receptionists
Bi-monthly |
| Data Processors | Practice Manager, Computer Manager & Data Processors
Bi-monthly
|
All issues regarding the practice and any changes proposed are discussed at the appropriate level of meeting and all meetings are minuted and the minutes shared with key personnel in the practice, including the line managers who then brief their staff teams as necessary. Copies of the minutes of all meetings are held centrally within the practice for reference by any member of the team.
In addition to the regular meetings detailed above we also have allocated “Clinical and Admin Training sessions run on an afternoon per month throughout the year. For about a third of these events Wirral CCG organises an external training event for practices. The remainder of the sessions are for us to use at practice level to organise our own training and we use these sessions to:-
v complete our regular CPR training
v discuss the feedback from our patient survey and draw up our resulting action plan
v discuss our Practice Development Plan with the full practice team
v receive update training on employment law and health and safety issues
v do strategic planning on things such as Planning for Pandemic Flu or developing our Practice Disaster Plan
v hold further planning and discussion meetings as required to discuss and plan how we will take on new services offered by the National Commissioning Board and Clinical Commissioning Group.
Class 5 Information – Our policies and procedures
We have the following policies and procedures laid down for use in the practice:
Staff Confidentiality agreement
Handbook for General Practice Staff
Information Security Policy
Access to Health Records Policy
Data Protection Policy
Health and Safety Policy
Policy on Improved Access
The ones in italics above are available from this website. Look under the heading “Information” and the subheading “Data protection”
This practice follows the NHS complaints procedure and follows a strict protocol when dealing with all complaints. A copy of the practice complaints procedure is available from reception.
The following published information is available.
– Practice Brochure
– Practice Charter
You can request a copy of any of the above by contacting the Practice Manager.
In addition to our Practice Brochure and Practice Charter the practice offers a range of information about a variety of issues via the practice website.
Class 6 Information – Lists and Registers
The most important list we maintain in our list of registered patients. We have approximately 8000 patients registered with the practice. The list is confidential.
In accordance with the requirements of the New General Medical Services Contract we also hold a register of gifts at the practice in which all Partners and staff (and their spouses) are required to enter details of gifts which are estimated to be over the value of £100 and which are received from patients, relatives of patients, service providers or persons who wish to be service providers. Details of entries in the register are kept for a period of six years from the date of entry.
Class 7 Information – The services we offer
Upton Group Practice provides services under the General Medical Services contract within the NHS. The GPs in our practice are not employed by the NHS but work under contract as Independent Contractors for the NHS. We provide the following:-
v A full range of General Medical Services
v Child health surveillance
v Minor surgery
v Contraceptive services
v Obstetrics services
v Coronary Heart Disease monitoring
v Cryotherapy
v Childhood vaccinations & immunisations
We also provide Enhanced Services in the following areas:-
v Minor Surgery
v Rheumatology monitoring
v Fitting of contraceptive coils and implants
v MMR catchup campaign
v HPV (Human Papillovirus) vaccination
v Vascular Disease Programme
v Learning Disabilities
v Anticoagulation
Professional Interests
Our GPs have the following professional interests and commitments both in the practice and outside as detailed below:-
v Dr Partridge has a special interest in rheumatology and child health surveillance and he also runs a regular session in conjunction with the Wirral Drug Service.
v Dr Kini is trained to fit IUCDs and also contraceptive implants.
USEFUL RESOURCES
Web sites:
www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk
This is the website of the Information Commissioner
This is the website of the Lord Chancellor’s Department
This is the NHS Freedom of Information web site
This is the website of Wirral Clinical Commissioning Group
Publications
NHS Openness Code
www.doh.gov.uk/nhsexec/codemain.htm
FOI Act 2000
www.legislation.hmso.gov.uk/acts2000/2000036.htm
Code of Practice under Section 45 FOI Act 2000
Code of Practice under Section 46 FOI Act 2000
