We have a lift and wheelchair ramps for our disabled patients, along with a disabled toilet. It is possible to enter via the rear access from the Staff car park, if we have prior notification.

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Suggestions or Complaints

We hope you will find our services efficient, accessible and relevant to your needs. We welcome any suggestions you may have for improvements. Should you have any suggestions, or feel you have reason for complaint, please speak to the Complaints Manager Ben Lawrence.

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Patients' Responsibilities

Patients are expected to keep appointments made at the correct time. Please ring the appointments line to cancel any appointment you are unable to keep. Missed appointments affect the efficiency and delivery of services to everyone and are costly to the Surgery and the NHS.

We have zero tolerance to rudeness, verbal abuse or violence and reserve the right to withdraw services from such persons immediately.

Patients are expected to keep us up-to-date with any changes in phone numbers, address and mobile numbers. This is for patient safety.

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IT / Electronic Patient Records Statement of Intent

New contractual requirements came into force from 1st April 2014 requiring that GP practices should make available a statement of intent in relation to the following IT developments:-

Referral Management
Electronic Appointment Booking
Online Booking of repeat prescriptions
Summary Care Record
GP2GP transfers
Patient Access to records

Please find below details of the practice stance with regards to these developments:-

Referral management

All practices must include the NHS Number as the primary identifier in all NHS clinical correspondence issued by the practice.

Lowfield Medical Centre have this actioned.

Electronic appointment booking

Practices are required to promote and offer the facility for all patients, who wish to, to book, view, amend, cancel and print appointments online.

Lowfield Medical Centre currently offer the facility for booking and cancelling appointments online.

Online booking of repeat prescriptions

Practices are required to promote and offer the facility for all patients, who wish to, to order online, view and print a list of their repeat prescriptions for necessary drugs, medicines or appliances.

Lowfield Medical Centre currently offers the facility for ordering repeat prescriptions.

Interoperable records/Summary Care Record

Practices are required to enable successful automated uploads of any changes to a patient’s summary information, at least on a daily basis to the Summary Care record.

Having your Summary Care Record available will help anyone treating you without your full medical record. They will have access to information about any medication you may be taking and any drugs that you have a recorded allergy or sensitivity to.

Lowfield Medical Centre is already live with SCR. However, if you do not want your medical records to be available in this way then you will need to let us know so that we can update your record. You can do this via the ‘opt out form’.

GP2GP record transfers

There is a contractual requirement to utilise the GP2GP facility for the transfer of patient records between practices, when a patient registers or de-registers. It is very important that you are registered with a doctor at all times. If you leave your GP and register with a new GP, your medical records will be removed from your previous doctor and forwarded on to your new GP via NHS England. It can take several weeks for your paper records to reach your new surgery. With GP to GP record transfers, your electronic record is transferred to your new practice much sooner.

Lowfield Medical Centre confirms that GP2GP transfers are already active and we send and receive patient records via this system.

Patient access to their GP record

Practices are required to promote and offer the facility for patients to view online, export or print any summary of information from their records relating to medications, allergies, adverse reactions and any other items/date such as ‘additional’ record elements which has been agreed between the contractor and the patient.

Our computer system is now compliant and we are starting to add the appropriate codes to allow patients to see the minimum data available. Please note that identification has to be shown to the reception staff before this facility is switched on.

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GP Earnings

All GP practices are required to declare the mean earnings (e.g. average pay) for GPs working to deliver NHS services to patients at each practice.

The average pay for GPs working in Lowfield Medical Practice in the financial year 2016/17 was £51,932 before tax and National Insurance.

This is for 5 part time GPs who worked in the practice for more than six months.

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Anonymised Data Collection

As a practice we contribute to the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) and to the Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD). We provide anonymised data for clinical studies and research, which is very important for public health and medicines safety.

For more information please speak to the data protection officer (Ben Lawrence).

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Subject access requests

Application

Individuals wishing to exercise their right of access should:

Make a written application to the Practice holding the records, including via email and then they will be asked to complete the request form.
Provide such further information as the Practice may require to sufficiently identify the individual.

An individual must raise a request using the form that is displayed here.

Who can make an Access Request?

An application for access to personal data may be made to the Practice by any of the following:

an individual
a person authorised by the individual in writing to make the application on an individual’s behalf e.g. solicitor, family member, carer
a person having parental responsibility for the individual where he/she is a child
a person appointed by a court to manage the affairs of an individual who is deemed incompetent
individuals who hold a health and welfare Lasting Power of Attorney
where the individual has died, the personal representative and any person who may have a claim arising out of the individual’s death (the executor of the deceased’s will; someone who has been appointed as an Administrator of the Estate by the Courts; someone who has the written consent of either of the above to be given access, someone who is in the process of challenging the deceased’s will)

The Police may, on occasion, request access to personal data of individuals. Whilst there is an exemption in the Data Protection Act which permits the Practice to disclose information to support the prevention and detection of crime, the Police have no automatic right to access; however they can obtain a Court Order.

Parental responsibility for a child is defined in the Children’s Act 1989 as ‘all the rights, duties, powers, responsibilities and authority, which by law a parent of a child has in relation to a child and his property’. Although not defined specifically, responsibilities would include safeguarding and promoting a child’s health, development and welfare, including if relevant their employment records. Included in the parental rights which would fulfil the parental responsibilities above are:

having the child live with the person with responsibility, or having a say in where the child lives;
if the child is not living with her/him, having a personal relationship and regular contact with the child;
controlling, guiding and directing the child’s upbringing.

Request for Access to Records Form.

Download the Request for Access to Records Form.

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Site Last Updated 10-Oct-19