The Accessible Information Standard tells us how we should make sure that disabled patients receive information in formats that they can understand and receive appropriate support to help them to communicate.  We must follow the Accessible Information Standard by law. These standards include ensuring that people get information in different formats if they need it, such as: large print, braille, easy read, email etc.

Further information can be found on NHS England’s website at: www.england.nhs.uk/ourwork/patients/accessibleinfo/

Please let the receptionists know if you require any communication or information support needs.

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.

Please read this Privacy Notice (‘Privacy Notice’) carefully, as it contains important information about how we use the personal and healthcare information we collect on your behalf.

1. Why we are providing this privacy notice

We are required to provide you with this Privacy Notice by Law. It explains how we use the personal and healthcare information we collect, store and hold about you. If you are unclear about how we process or use your personal and healthcare information, or you have any questions about this Privacy Notice or any other issue regarding your personal and healthcare information, then please do contact our Data Protection Officer (details below).

The Law says:

1. We must let you know why we collect personal and healthcare information about you;
2. We must let you know how we use any personal and/or healthcare information we hold on you;
3. We need to inform you in respect of what we do with it;
4. We need to tell you about who we share it with or pass it on to and why; and
5. We need to let you know how long we can keep it for.

2. The data protection officer

The Data Protection Officer at the Surgery is Dr Ernest Norman- Williams . You can contact Dr. Ernest Norman-Williams if:

• You have any questions about how your information is being held;
• If you require access to your information or if you wish to make a change to your information;
• If you wish to make a complaint about anything to do with the personal and healthcare information we hold about you;
• Or any other query relating to this Policy and your rights as a patient.

3. About Us

We, at the Acrefield Surgery situated at 700 Field End Road, South Ruislip HA4 0QR, are a Data Controller of your information. This means we are responsible for collecting, storing and handling your personal and healthcare information when you register with us as a patient.

There may be times where we also process your information. That means we use it for a particular purpose and, therefore, on those occasions we may also be Data Processors. The purposes for which we use your information are set out in this Privacy Notice.

4. Information we collect from you

The information we collect from you will include:

1. Your contact details (such as your name and email address, including place of work and work contact details);
2. Details and contact numbers of your next of kin;
3. Your age range, gender, ethnicity;
4. Details in relation to your medical history;
5. The reason for your visit to the Surgery;
6. Medical notes and details of diagnosis and consultations with our GPs and other health professionals within the Surgery involved in your direct healthcare.

5. Information about you from others

We also collect personal information about you when it is sent to us from the following:

• a hospital, a consultant or any other medical or healthcare professional, or any other person involved with your general healthcare.

6. Your summary care record

Your summary care record is an electronic record of your healthcare history (and other relevant personal information) held on a national healthcare records database provided and facilitated by NHS England.

This record may be shared with other healthcare professionals and additions to this record may also be made by relevant healthcare professionals and organisations involved in your direct healthcare.

You may have the right to demand that this record is not shared with anyone who is not involved in the provision of your direct healthcare. If you wish to enquire further as to your rights in respect of not sharing information on this record then please contact our Data Protection Officer.

To find out more about the wider use of confidential personal information and to register your choice to opt out if you do not want your data to be used in this way, please visit NHS: Your Data Matters

Note if you do choose to opt out, you can still consent to your data being used for specific purposes. However, if you are happy with this use of information you do not need to do anything. You may however change your choice at any time.

7. Who we may provide your personal information to and why

Whenever you use a health or care service, such as attending Accident & Emergency or using Community Care Services, important information about you is collected to help ensure you get the best possible care and treatment. This information may be passed to other approved organisations where there is a legal basis, to help with planning services, improving care, research into developing new treatments and preventing illness. All of this helps in proving better care to you and your family and future generations. However, as explained in this Privacy Notice, confidential information about your health and care is only used in this way where allowed by law and would never be used for any other purpose without your clear and explicit consent.

We may pass your personal information on to the following people or organisations, because these organisations may require your information to assist them in the provision of your direct healthcare needs. It, therefore, may be important for them to be able to access your information in order to ensure they may properly deliver their services to you:

1. Hospital professionals (such as doctors, consultants, nurses, etc);
2. Other GPs/Doctors;
3. Pharmacists;
4. Nurses and other healthcare professionals;
5. Dentists;
6. Any other person that is involved in providing services related to your general healthcare, including mental health professionals.

8. Other people who we provide your information to

1. Commissioners;
2. Clinical Commissioning Groups;
3. Local authorities;
4. Community health services;
5. For the purposes of complying with the law e.g. Police, Solicitors, Insurance Companies;
6. Anyone you have given your consent to, to view or receive your record, or part of your record. Please note, if you give another person or organisation consent to access your record we will need to contact you to verify your consent before we release that record. It is important that you are clear and understand how much and what aspects of, your record you give consent to be disclosed.
7. Extended Access – we provide extended access services to our patients which means you can access medical services outside of our normal working hours. In order to provide you with this service, we have formal arrangements in place with the Clinical Commissioning Group and with other practices whereby certain key “hub” practices offer this service on our behalf for you as a patient to access outside of our opening hours. This means, those key “hub” practices will have to have access to your medical record to be able to offer you the service. Please note to ensure that those practices comply with the law and to protect the use of your information, we have very robust data sharing agreements and other clear arrangements in place to ensure your data is always protected and used for those purposes only.

The key Hub practices are as follows:

• THROUGH HILLINGDON FEDERATION
• EASTCOTE HEALTH CENTRE
• HESA CENTRE
• UXBRIDGE HEALTH CENTRE
• SHAKESPEARE HEALTH CENTRE

1. Data Extraction by the Clinical Commissioning Group – the clinical commissioning group at times extracts medical information about you, but the information we pass to them via our computer systems cannot identify you to them. This information only refers to you by way of a code that only your practice can identify (it is pseudo-anonymised). This therefore protects you from anyone who may have access to this information at the Clinical Commissioning Group from ever identifying you as a result of seeing the medical information and we will never give them the information that would enable them to do this.

There are good reasons why the Clinical commissioning Group may require this pseudo-anonymised information, these are as follows:

• EXTENDED ACCESS HUB ,
• COMMISSIONED SERVICES,
• FEDERATION SERVICES

9. Anonymised Information

Sometimes we may provide information about you in an anonymised form. If we do so, then none of the information we provide to any other party will identify you as an individual and cannot be traced back to you.

10. Your rights as a patient

The Law gives you certain rights to your personal and healthcare information that we hold, as set out below:

Access and Subject Access Requests

You have the right to see what information we hold about you and to request a copy of this information.

If you would like a copy of the information we hold about you please email our Data Protection Officer. We will provide this information free of charge however, we may in some limited and exceptional circumstances have to make an administrative charge for any extra copies if the information requested is excessive, complex or repetitive.

We have one month to reply to you and give you the information that you require. We would ask, therefore, that any requests you make are in writing and it is made clear to us what and how much information you require.

1. Online Access
2. We are currently working towards offering all patients on-line access to their medical records. We hope to achieve this for existing patients in the next 18-24 months. All new patients will automatically be given on-line access to their records.
3. Please note that online access will also provide access to all relevant correspondence attached to your record. It is your responsibility to make sure that you keep your information safe and secure if you do not wish any third party to gain access.
4. Correction

We want to make sure that your personal information is accurate and up to date. You may ask us to correct any information you think is inaccurate. It is very important that you make sure you tell us if your contact details including your mobile phone number has changed.

Removal

You have the right to ask for your information to be removed however, if we require this information to assist us in providing you with appropriate medical services and diagnosis for your healthcare, then removal may not be possible.

Objection

We cannot share your information with anyone else for a purpose that is not directly related to your health, e.g. medical research, educational purposes, etc. We would ask you for your consent in order to do this however, you have the right to request that your personal and healthcare information is not shared by the Surgery in this way. Please note the Anonymised Information section in this Privacy Notice.

Transfer

You have the right to request that your personal and/or healthcare information is transferred, in an electronic form (or other form), to another organisation, but we will require your clear consent to be able to do this.

11. Third parties mentioned on your medical record

Sometimes we record information about third parties mentioned by you to us during any consultation. We are under an obligation to make sure we also protect that third party’s rights as an individual and to ensure that references to them which may breach their rights to confidentiality, are removed before we send any information to any other party including yourself. Third parties can include: spouses, partners, and other family members.

12. How we use the information about you

We use your personal and healthcare information in the following ways:

1. when we need to speak to, or contact other doctors, consultants, nurses or any other medical/healthcare professional or organisation during the course of your diagnosis or treatment or on going healthcare;
2. when we are required by Law to hand over your information to any other organisation, such as the police, by court order, solicitors, or immigration enforcement.

We will never pass on your personal information to anyone else who does not need it, or has no right to it, unless you give us clear consent to do so.

13. Legal justification for collecting and using your information

The Law says we need a legal basis to handle your personal and healthcare information.

CONTRACT: We have a contract with NHS England to deliver healthcare services to you. This contract provides that we are under a legal obligation to ensure that we deliver medical and healthcare services to the public.

CONSENT: Sometimes we also rely on the fact that you give us consent to use your personal and healthcare information so that we can take care of your healthcare needs.

Please note that you have the right to withdraw consent at any time if you no longer wish to receive services from us.

NECESSARY CARE: Providing you with the appropriate healthcare, where necessary. The Law refers to this as ‘protecting your vital interests’ where you may be in a position not to be able to consent.

LAW: Sometimes the Law obliges us to provide your information to an organisation (see above).

14. Special Categories

The Law states that personal information about your health falls into a special category of information because it is very sensitive. Reasons that may entitle us to use and process your information may be as follows:

PUBLIC INTEREST: Where we may need to handle your personal information when it is considered to be in the public interest. For example, when there is an outbreak of a specific disease and we need to contact you for treatment, or we need to pass your information to relevant organisations to ensure you receive advice and/or treatment;

CONSENT: When you have given us consent;

VITAL INTEREST: If you are incapable of giving consent, and we have to use your information to protect your vital interests (e.g. if you have had an accident and you need emergency treatment);

DEFENDING A CLAIM: If we need your information to defend a legal claim against us by you, or by another party;

PROVIDING YOU WITH MEDICAL CARE: Where we need your information to provide you with medical and healthcare services

15. How Long we keep your personal information

We carefully consider any personal information that we store about you, and we will not keep your information for longer than is necessary for the purposes as set out in this Privacy Notice.

16. Children

There is a separate Privacy Notice for patients under the age of 16, a copy of which may be obtained on request.

17. If English is not your first language

If English is not your first language you can request a translation of this Privacy Notice. Please contact our Data Protection Officer.

18. Complaints

If you have a concern about the way we handle your personal data or you have a complaint about what we are doing, or how we have used or handled your personal and/or healthcare information, then please contact our Data Protection Officer.

However, you have a right to raise any concern or complaint with the UK information regulator, at the Information Commissioner’s Office

19. Our Website

The only website this Privacy Notice applies to is the Surgery’s website. If you use a link to any other website from the Surgery’s website then you will need to read their respective Privacy Notice. We take no responsibility (legal or otherwise) for the content of other websites.

20. Cookies

The Surgery’s website uses cookies. For more information on which cookies we use and how we use them, please see our Cookies Policy.

21. Security

We take the security of your information very seriously and we do everything we can to ensure that your information is always protected and secure. We regularly update our processes and systems and we also ensure that our staff are properly trained. We also carry out assessments and audits of the information that we hold about you and make sure that if we provide any other services, we carry out proper assessments and security reviews.

22. Text messaging and contacting you

Because we are obliged to protect any confidential information we hold about you and we take this very seriously, it is imperative that you let us know immediately if you change any of your contact details.

We may contact you using SMS texting to your mobile phone in the event that we need to notify you about appointments and other services that we provide to you involving your direct care, therefore you must ensure that we have your up to date details. This is to ensure we are sure we are actually contacting you and not another person.

23. CCTV Recording

Closed circuit television (CCTV) is installed at the Practice premises for the purposes of staff, patient and premises security. Cameras are located at various places on the premises, and images from the cameras are recorded.

The use of CCTV falls within the scope of the Data Protection Act 1998 (“the 1998 Act”). This code of practice follows the recommendations issued by the Data Protection Commissioner in accordance with powers under Section 51 (3)(b) of the 1998 Act.

The full policy is available on the website and reception as CCTV POLICY AND CODE OF PRACTICE

24. Where to find our privacy notice

You may find a copy of this Privacy Notice in the Surgery’s reception, on our website, or a copy may be provided on request.

25. Changes to our privacy notice

We regularly review and update our Privacy Notice. This Privacy Notice was last updated on 23/3/2019 .

Primary Care and Community Based Research

The Acre and Acrefield surgeries are privileged to be part of this organisation as Hub practices for Hillingdon.

The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) is funded through the Department of Health to improve the health and wealth of the nation through research.

The NIHR is a large, multi-faceted and nationally distributed organisation.

Since its establishment in April 2006, the NIHR has transformed research in the NHS. It has increased the volume of applied health research for the benefit of patients and the public, driven faster translation of basic science discoveries into tangible benefits for patients and the economy, and developed and supported the people who conduct and contribute to applied health research.

The Health and Social Care Act 2012 places a statutory duty to promote research, and powers to support it, on the Secretary of State and on all levels of the NHS including the NHS Commissioning Board, and Clinical Commissioning Groups. The NIHR provides a key means through which the Secretary of State discharges this duty. The NIHR plays a key role in the Government’s strategy for economic growth, attracting investment by the life-sciences industries through its world-class infrastructure for health research.

Together, the NIHR people, programmes, centres of excellence, and systems represent the most integrated health research system in the world.
The NIHR Clinical Research Network is the clinical research delivery arm of the NHS in England, tasked with supporting the rapid set-up and effective conduct of studies, so that researchers can gather the robust evidence needed to improve treatments for NHS patients.

As a result through the surgery we will where we feel our patients may benefit we will invite you take part in different research projects. The clinical leads for this in the practice are:

Dr Thakrar and Dr Patel.
The main admin contact is Payal Thakrar.

We try at all times to deal with patients in a polite and courteous manner. In return we expect that the same is shown to both the staff and doctors at the surgery. Whilst we understand that a visit to the doctors can at times be stressful or worrying we will not tolerate aggression or abuse to either our reception staff or any of the Professional staff at the surgery.

Any patient being threatening or abusive to any member of our team may be removed from our practice list without further warning.

NHS England require that the net earnings of doctors engaged in the practice is publicised and that the required disclosure is shown below. However it should be noted that the prescribed method for calculating earnings is potentially misleading because it takes no account of how much time doctors working in the practice and should not be used for any judgement about GP earnings, nor to make comparisons with other practices.

The average pay for GP’s working at Acre and Acrefield Surgery in the last financial year was £65,949 before tax and national insurance.

The Practice may conduct Medicines Management Reviews of medications prescribed to its patients. This service performs a review of prescribed medications to ensure patients receive the most appropriate, up to date and cost effective treatments. This service is provided by pharmacists and Technicians employed Hillingdon Commissioning Group. They are bound by the same confidentiality rules as our staffs are.

How we use your information

• We collect and hold data about you for the purpose of providing safe and effective healthcare
• Your information may be shared with our partner organisations to audit services and help provide you with better care
• Information sharing is subject to strict agreements on how it is used
• We will only share your information outside of our partner organisations with your consent*
• If you are happy with how we use your information you do not need to do anything
• If you do not want your information to be used for any purpose beyond providing your care please let us know so we can code your record appropriately
• You can object to sharing information with other health care providers but if this limits your treatment options we will tell you
• Our guiding principle is that we are holding your information in the strictest confidence
• For more information about who are our partner organisations and how your data is used please see the privacy notice  ask at reception

*Unless the health & safety of others is at risk, the law requires it or it is required to carry out a statutory function.

Fair Processing Notice under the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) 2018 (formerly the Data Protection Act 1998)

How we use your personal information

This fair processing notice explains why the GP practice collects information about you and how that information may be used.
The health care professionals who provide you with care maintain records about your health and any treatment or care you have received previously (e.g. NHS Trust, GP Surgery, Walk-in clinic, etc.). These records help to provide you with the best possible healthcare.

NHS health records may be electronic, on paper or a mixture of both, and we use a combination of working practices and technology solutions to ensure that your information is kept confidential and secure.

Records which this Practice hold about you may include the following information:

• Details about you, such as your address, carer, legal representative, emergency contact details, next of kin
• Any contact the surgery has had with you, such as appointments, telephone, Patchs submitted by you, etc.
• Details about you, such as your address, carer, legal representative, emergency contact details, next of kin
• Any contact the surgery has had with you, such as appointments, telephone, Patchs submitted by you, etc.
• Notes and reports about your health
• Details about your treatment and care
• Results of investigations such as laboratory tests, x-rays etc.
• Relevant information from other health professionals, relatives or those who care for you

To ensure you receive the best possible care, your records are used to facilitate the care you receive. Information held about you may be used to help protect the health of the public and to help us manage the NHS. Information may be used within the GP practice for clinical audit to monitor the quality of the service provided. Some of this information will be held centrally and used for statistical purposes. Where we do this, we take strict measures to ensure that individual patients cannot be identified. Sometimes your information may be requested to be used for research purposes – if this information needs to be identifiable, the surgery will always gain your explicit consent before releasing the information for this purpose.

The practice complies with data protection and access to medical records legislation. Doctors, nurses and administration staff operate a strict policy of patient confidentiality, and you should feel confident in disclosing any information which is important to your medical care. Information in your medical records may be shared with others directly involved in your care: other members of the practice team, other clinicians, and practice staff for administrative purposes. Information will not be given to anyone else without your consent, except in very rare circumstances, for instance where there are child protection concerns.

Record may also be used for purposes of professional development and revalidation of doctors.

Such information will be anonymised and the ‘robust safeguards’ required by the Information Commissioner put in place.

We welcome all types of feedback. It is encouraging to hear what we are doing well, and helpful to find out where you think we could make improvements. We have a book for your comments on the desk at reception.

Despite our best efforts, sometimes a patient may feel they have a genuine cause for complaint. We will always try to resolve this in-house where possible; if you are unhappy about any aspect of your care we suggest you discuss this in the first instance, with the member of the practice team you feel most comfortable with, who may be able to deal with the problem quickly and easily.

Should you feel you have cause to complain, in the first instance please contact the reception team to inform the senior partners Dr Shilpa Patel and Dr Diviash Thakrar.

You may wish to seek independent help with your complaint. You can contact the NHS Complaints Advocacy Service for more information:

Telephone: 0300 330 5454
Fax: 0330 088 3762
You can email them or visit the website

Their address is as follows:
NHS Complaints Advocacy, VoiceAbility
Mount Pleasant House
Huntingdon Road,
Cambridge CB3 0RN

Patients who have a comment or complaint about a GP, dentist, pharmacy or optician, which cannot be resolved locally with the practice manager, can contact NHS England using the details below.

NHS England

PO BOX 16738
Redditch
B97 9PT
Tel: 0300 311 22 33
Contact NHS England

If you are unhappy with our response, you have the right to go to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman for an Independent Review. The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman can be contacted as follows:

The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman 

Millbank Tower
Millbank
London
SW1 4QP
Tel: 0345 015 4033
Fax: 0300 061 4000

You can email them or visit their website