Confidentiality

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.

Freedom of Information

The ICO has published a new Model Publication Scheme that all public authorities are required to adopt.

Model Publication Scheme - further information

Comments & Complaints

We make every effort to give the best service possible to everyone who attends our practice.

However, we are aware that things can go wrong resulting in a patient feeling that they have a genuine cause for complaint. If this is so, we would wish for the matter to be settled as quickly, and as amicably, as possible.

To pursue a complaint please contact the practice manager and she will deal with your concerns appropriately. Further written information is available on the complaints procedure from reception.

In the majority of cases, concerns can be resolved quite easily. However, if you feel that we have not dealt with the complaint properly, you can write to the Chief Executive at Central Lancashire PCT. The PCT also runs a Patients Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) which can often help resolve any problems before they become formal complaints. 

To speak to a PALS officer, free phone (0800) 032 2424.

We are continually striving to improve our service. Any helpful suggestions would be much appreciated.

The Health Service Ombudsman in England

The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman website contains detailed information on raising a complaint about any aspect of the NHS in England. There is also a leaflet explaining the procedure of bringing a complaint to the ombudsman.

Zero Tolerance Policy

We aim to treat our patients courteously at all times and expect our patients to treat our staff in a similar way. Threatening, violent or abusive behaviour towards any of our staff or patients will not be tolerated. If a patient is violent or abusive, we may take action to have them excluded from our list of patients.