In order to provide the right level of care, we are required to hold personal information about you on our computer systems and in paper records to help us to look after your health needs, and your doctor is responsible for their accuracy and safe-keeping. Please help to keep your record up to date by informing us of any changes to your circumstances.
Confidentiality and Personal Information
You can be assured that anything you discuss with any member of the surgery staff, whether doctor, nurse or receptionist, will remain confidential. Even if you are under 16, nothing will be said to anyone, including parents, other family members, care workers or teachers, without your permission. The only reason why we might want to consider passing on confidential information without your permission would be to protect you or someone else from serious harm. In this situation, we would always try to discuss this with you first.
If you have any worries or queries about confidentiality, please ask a member of staff.
Doctors and staff in the practice have access to your medical records to enable them to do their jobs. From time to time information may be shared with others involved in your care if it is necessary. Anyone with access to your record is properly trained in confidentiality issues and is governed by both legal and contractual duty to keep your details private.
All information about you is held securely and appropriate safeguards are in place to prevent accidental loss.
In some circumstances we may be required by law to release your details to statutory or other official bodies, for example if a court order is presented, or in the case of public health issues. In other circumstance you may be required to give written consent before information is released – such as for medical reports for insurance, solicitors etc.
To ensure your privacy, we will not disclose information over the telephone or fax unless we are sure that we are talking to you. Information will not be disclosed to family, friends or spouses unless we have prior written consent, and we do not, leave messages with others.
You have a right to see your records if you wish. Please ask at reception if you would like further details. An appointment may be required. In some circumstances a fee may be payable.
Privacy Notice
We are required to provide you with a Privacy Notice by law. It explains how we use the personal and healthcare information we collect, store and hold about you.
We understand how important it is to keep your personal information safe and secure and we take this very seriously. We have taken steps to make sure your personal information is looked after in the best possible way and we review this regularly.
If you would like to read our Privacy Notice, please click here.
If you are unclear about how we process or use your personal and healthcare information, or if you have any questions about this Privacy Notice or any other issue regarding your personal and healthcare information, then please contact our Data Protection Officer, Dr Julian Rees or a member of the Data Protection Team at miltonabbassurgery@nhs.net.
PLEASE REMEMBER: If you change ANY of your contact details, you must inform us immediately to prevent any chance of a third party receiving your information.
Personal Data
The following IT systems are in use at the practice:
- Referral Management (using NHS numbers in referrals)
- Electronic Appointment Booking (the facility to book routine appointments online and, similarly, to cancel appointments
- Online booking of repeat prescriptions
- Summary Care Record (uploading details of your current medication and allergies to the national “spine” so that these are available for doctors involved in your care elsewhere)
- GP to GP transfers (the electronic transfer of records from practice to practice when you re-register
- Patient Access to records (the facility to view your medical records online).
If you are not already registered for online access and would like to be please speak to a member of our reception team.
If you would like access to your medical records enabled or would like to opt out of the local or national summary care record, please contact reception.