Confidentiality & Medical Records

 

The practice complies with data protection and access to medical records legislation. Identifiable information about you will be shared with others in the following circumstances:

  • To provide further medical treatment for you e.g. from district nurses and hospital services.
  • To help you get other services e.g. from the social work department. This requires your consent.
  • When we have a duty to others e.g. in child protection cases anonymised patient information will also be used at local and national level to help the Health Board and Government plan services e.g. for diabetic care.

If you do not wish anonymous information about you to be used in such a way, please let us know.

Reception and administration staff require access to your medical records in order to do their jobs. These members of staff are bound by the same rules of confidentiality as the medical staff.

confidentiality and medical records

 

Freedom of Information

Information about the General Practioners and the practice required for disclosure under this act can be made available to the public. All requests for such information should be made to the practice manager.

 

Access To Records

In accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998 and Access to Health Records Act, patients may request to see their medical records. Such requests should be made through the practice manager and may be subject to an administration charge. No information will be released without the patient consent unless we are legally obliged to do so.

 

Confidentiality

We respect your right to privacy and keep all your health information confidential and secure.

 
Use of Personal Health Information

Disclosure of identifiable patient information to any outside agencies will only be done after written permission from the patient is received (for example insurance reports). Anonymized data may be required for verification and auditing purposes.

 
Data Protection Act and Confidentiality

The practice uses computers in many aspects of day to day activities. The computer is also used during consultations as it enables us to keep your records up to date and helps us to maintain an efficient register of all our patients. It is an invaluable tool to prevention medicine, screening and education. Patient records are held on the computer in accordance with the guidelines of the Data Protection Act.