Whitefields Surgery

Hunsbury Hill Road, Camp Hill, Northampton NN4 9UW Tel: 01604 760171

Home     Appointments/Opening hour     Doctors & Staff     Repeat Prescriptions     Sexual health & Youth     Wellbeing Service     Contact/Find Us     FAQ     Latest News      
Freedom of Information Ac      
This is the combined Publication Schemes of the following Partners within this General Practice:

            Dr P Walsma

            Dr J Hunt

            Sister A Harford

 

            .

The combined Publication Scheme is in three parts as follows:

1.      Introduction

2.      Classes of the information that we hold.

3.      Index to the Publication Scheme and useful resources.

 

Introduction

What is a Publication Scheme?

This Publication Scheme is a complete guide to the information routinely published by Whitefields Surgery. It is a description of the information about our General Practitioners and Practice, which we make publicly available. We shall review the scheme at regular intervals and monitor how it is operating.

 

It is important that this scheme meets your needs and it has been designed to ensure that information about Whitefields Surgery can be easily found. Unless otherwise stated the information is free of charge. The Scheme states how the information can be obtained.

 

Your rights in relation to Freedom of Information, The Data Protection Act and the NHS Openness Code.

 

In addition to accessing the information identified in this combined Publication Scheme, you are entitled to request information about Whitefields Surgery under the NHS Openness Code 1995. A link to this is available in Part 3. Hard copies are available free of charge from the Department of Health. Sometimes some of all of the information cannot be provided and we will explain the reasons why not when this happens, such as when the information is of a sensitive, personal or confidential nature. Under the Data Protection Act 1998, you are also entitled to access your clinical records or any other personal information held about you. Requests should be made in writing and addressed to your doctor.


Feedback

We welcome feedback on the Publication Scheme. Please write to Mrs Dana Ball Practice Manager, if you:

·        Have any suggestions, questions, comments or complaints about this scheme.

·        Have a complaint about the operation of the combined Publication scheme, or how we have dealt with your request for information from the Scheme.

·        Feel that we have not dealt with your complaint adequately and wish to take the complaint further to the Information Commissioner

 

The Classes of Information

All information at the Whitefields Surgery is held, retained and destroyed in accordance with NHS guidelines. The information on the scheme is grouped in to the following broad categories:

·        The NHS and how we fit in

·        Who we are

·        Our services

·        How we spend public money

·        Complaints

·        Regular publications and Information for the Public

·        This Publication Scheme.

In selecting information which is to be included in each class, we will have to take into account that some of the material included in the contents may have to be exempted from disclosure under the NHS Openness Code or the Freedom of Information Act. This means that sometimes not all of the material can be made available for publication or the materiel may be edited.

 

2.1 The NHS and how we fit in

The NHS Plan explains how the NHS is changing and sets out how all the different parts function and work together. A copy is available on the Department of Health website; the address is given in Part 3 of this scheme.

 

The practice aims to follow NICE and National Service Framework guidelines. These can also be found on the Department of Health website.

 

The NHS is a very large part of the public sector. A full list of local General Practices can be found on the Northamptonshire Primary Care Trust website www.northamptonshire.nhs.uk/ntonpct. Whitefields Surgery provides medical services for the geographical area written in the practice information leaflet, copies of which are available from Whitefields Surgery, Hunsbury Hill Road, Camphill, Northampton NN4 9UW, telephone number 01604 760171.  A full list of our services appears below in Class 3 of the Publication Scheme.

 

 

2.2 Who are we?

Details of the General Practice Organisational structure and key personnel are outlined in the practice information leaflet, available free of charge from Whitefields Surgery, Hunsbury Hill Road, Camphill, Northampton NN4 9UW, telephone number 01604 760171. This includes the full name of each partner and whether they are full or part time, senior managers and senior health professionals employed by the practice e.g. practice nurses. The practice leaflet also contains information about staff employed by Northamptonshire Primary Care Trust (PCT) but attached to the practice. For fuller details of these staff please consult the PCT’s Publication Scheme.

 

This practice adheres to the national Primary Medical Services contract and the partners are independent contractors who as a practice have a contract with Northamptonshire Primary Care Trust to provide primary care services for registered patients of the practice.

 

Some information will be withheld, including personal, confidential information about individuals, which is protected by the Data Protection Act.

 

2.3   Our Services.

Our services are outlined in the practice information leaflet available from Whitefields Surgery Reception or can be downloaded from our website (being updated).  This explains the range of services we provide ourselves or together with other agencies. Some services may involve information sharing (e.g. child protection conferences) with other agencies and our policy on data protection and the protocols are available from the Whitefields Surgery.

The surgery hours of opening are set out in the practice information leaflet and the surgery can be contacted by telephoning (01604) 760171 or by Fax on (01604) 708528. The practice information leaflet explains arrangements for out of hours cover and emergencies. The partners consult in English; interpreters can be arranged and need to be booked in advance via the Primary Care Trust or by contacting reception.

 

All doctors can be consulted about any problem that lies within the practice remit. For particular problems you may be advised to see a particular doctor after the initial consultation.

 

Dr J Williams, a salaried GP working within the practice has a special interest in Diabetes and is the Surgery Caldecott lead.

 

2.4 How we spend public money

This sets out how we obtain our NHS funding. See part 3 for the link to the statement of Fees and Allowances payable for medical practitioners in England.

 

The GPs at Whitefields Surgery receive money from Northampton PCT according to its contract (as per class 2 above) in exchange for NHS services provided to patients.

The total income received from the NHS before expenses including staff costs in 2008/9 was £……………..The sum identified for spending on NHS drugs prescribed by the Whitefields Surgery for 2008/9 was £                                           

 

There may be circumstances where material cannot be released because it is confidential or commercial information or the appropriate officer designated for these purposes under the Act has taken the view that it may be prejudicial to the conduct of the practice’s affairs.

 

2.5 Complaints

A copy of the complaints policy for the practice is available at the Whitefields Surgery; Dana Ball is the person to whom a complaint should be made in writing in the first instance.

 

2.6 Regular publications and Information for the Public

Our policies are available from Whitefields Surgery (please write in) those marked with a £ attract a fee.

·         Disciplinary Policy and Grievance procedure

·         Confidentiality Policy

·         Zero Tolerance Policy in respect of difficult patients

·         Health and Safety Policy

·         Policy and procedure on reporting of accidents, injuries, disease and dangerous occurrences £

·         Fire Safety Policy £

·         Manual handling Policy £

·         Infection Control Policy £

·         Policy on harassment, bullying and/or discrimination at work £

·         Policy on dealing with alcohol, drug and other substance abuse within the workplace £

·         Policy on stress management £

·         Policy on data protection and security £

·         Policy on financial responsibility, prevention of fraud £

·         Policy on confidentiality £

·         Policy for telephone access £

·         Repeat Prescription Policy

·         Practice IT security policy £

·         Practice Chaperone Policy for intimate examinations £

·         Practice Carers Policy

 

Information leaflets relating to the clinical services and health services that we provide for patients and the public are freely available at the surgery reception or can be downloaded from our website at …..(being updated)

Some of this information is of a personal and confidential nature and will be excluded as will any other confidential material. Material relating to the health and safety of specific individuals, as to law enforcement or criminal or regulatory enforcement issues may also be excluded from publication. There may be circumstances where material cannot be released because the appropriate office designated for these purposes under the Act has taken the view that it may be prejudicial to the conduct of public affairs.

 

2.7 This publication scheme

The Freedom of Information Act does not change the right of patients to protection of their patient confidentiality in accordance with Article 8 of the Human Rights Convention, the Data Protection Act and at common law. Maintaining the right to patient confidentiality continues to be an important commitment on our part. To help us with this the Primary Care Trust has appointed someone who is called a Caldicott Guardian, and who has responsibility to ensure the protection of patient confidentiality.

The Caldicott Guardian responsible for the Whitefields Surgery is: Dr. J Williams, Whitefields Surgery,

Hunsbury Hill Road
, Camphill, Northampton, NN4 9UW

 

The Caldicott Guardian oversees the governance of access to patient identifiable information for all general practices in the Northampton Primary Care Trust.

 

Under Section 19 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (there is a link to the Act in Section 3 below), each General Practitioner has a legal duty to adopt and maintain a publication scheme for the publication of the information held. The purpose of the Act is to promote greater openness by public authorities, which includes General Practitioners. From 2005 it also obliges the General Practice to respond to requests about the information that they hold and is recorded in any form and it will create a right of access to that information. These rights are subject to some exemptions that the General Practice has to take into account before deciding what information can be released. This combined Publication Scheme will help you to find all the information that General Practitioners in the Whitefields Surgery publish.

 

This combined Publication Scheme aims to make as much information about Whitefields Surgery available as possible, on a continuous basis. We will continue to add to the information here proactively and regularly. Whenever we make changes to any of the information above, we will ensure that the Publication Scheme reflects these changes.


 

3. Useful Resources

Web Sites:

www.informationcommisioner.gov.uk

www.lcd.gov.uk

www.foi-uk.org

www.hmso.gov.uk/guides.htm

www.foi.nhs.uk

Northamptonshire Primary Care Trust www.northamptonshire.nhs.uk/ntonpct

 

Publications

·        NHS Openness Code – www.doh.gov.uk/nhsexec/codemain.htm

·        Freedom of Information Act 2000  www.legislation.hmso.gov.uk/acts2000/2000036.htm

·        Code of Practice under Section 45 Freedom of Information Act 2000 www.lcd.gov.uk

·        Code of Practice under Section 46 Freedom of Information Act 2000 www.lcd.gov.uk

·        Statement of Fees and Allowances payable for General Medical Practitioners in England.

 

Copyright

Material available through this Publication Scheme is subject to the General Practice’s copyright 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 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 this scheme. For HMSO Guidance Notes see www.hmso.gov.uk/guides.htm