Practice Policies

Confidentiality & Medical Records

Practice Policies 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

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 under a Subject Access Request 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.

Appropriate Behaviour


In order to build a successful relationship with your GP please consider the following guidance seriously. This gives an indication of what your GP can expect from you and what you can expect in return from your GP.

This is what you can expect from us:

  • Politeness, respect and confidentiality
  • Immediate attention for very serious illness or very painful conditions.
  • Appropriate appointments for non-urgent conditions.
  • Home visits for housebound people who cannot travel to surgery.
  • Repeat prescriptions available within agreed time limits.
  • Appropriate disease management for long term health problems such as diabetes, asthma and raised blood pressure.
  • Clean, safe and well equipped surgery premises.
  • Appropriate investigation of health problems.
  • Appropriate treatment.
  • Referral to a specialist when required.


This is what we expect from you:

  • Politeness and respect
  • The booking of routine appointments well ahead of time.
  • A request for urgent appointments only for genuinely urgent conditions.
  • Attendance at surgery, by those people physically able to do so, rather than request a home visit.
  • To attend all appointments on time.
  • To cancel any booked appointments that are no longer required.
  • To request repeat prescriptions in good time, ensuring that all items are ordered together rather than in individual lots.
  • To respect surgery premises and property.
  • To use the doctors and nurses time in an appropriate manner. Do not attend surgery for minor ailments that can be self treated such as coughs, colds and minor aches and pains.
  • Do not attend the surgery unnecessarily frequently.
  • Do not request a "note from the doctor" unless absolutely essential.

Inappropriate Behaviour

Our staff are trained to help you in a polite and courteous manner and we ask that you treat them politely too. We know that when we are busy it may be frustrating to have to wait for attention, but we are not prepared to accept rude or abusive language or behaviour. We always record any such behaviour in the medical records and if our staff are subjected to physical or verbal threatening behaviour we will inform the police and remove the patient from our list.

Referrals to Primary Care Sheffield

The doctors at Charnock Health may refer patients for treatment to Primary Care Sheffield, a company in which this GP practice has a minority shareholding in. Doctors at our practice wish to inform patients that any decision to refer a patient to any service provider will be taken with the best interests of the patient in mind and after consideration of all treatment options. This GP practice's decision to refer patients to Primary Care Sheffield will not be influenced by this practice's minority shareholding in Primary Care Sheffield.



 
Call 111 when you need medical help fast but it’s not a 999 emergencyNHS ChoicesThis site is brought to you by My Surgery Website