On the 1 January 2005 the Freedom of Information Act 2000 came into force. The Act requires that all public bodies make available, with certain exceptions, information that is produced and held by them to members of the public if requested.

 

This Publication Scheme is a complete guide to the information routinely made available to the public by Dr Higginson. It is a description of the information about our Practice which we make publicly available. It will be reviewed at regular intervals and we will monitor its effectiveness.

How is the information made available?
The information within each class is available by downloading from our practice website at http://wellingtonsq-surgery.co.uk/or by writing to the Practice Manager at the surgery. Written requests for our publications will be responded to within 20 working days. Please include a stamped self addressed envelope with written requests.

Your rights to information
~In addition to accessing the information identified in the Publication Scheme, you are entitled to request information about our Practice under the NHS Openness Code 1995.

~The Freedom of Information Act 2000 recognizes that members of the public have the right to know how public services are organized and run, how much they cost and how decisions are made.

~From 1st January 2005, the Freedom of Information Act obliges all General Practices to respond to requests about information that they hold and record in any format. The Act will create a right of access to that information. These rights are subject to some exemptions which have to be taken into consideration before deciding what information can be released.

~Environmental information regulations were introduced in 2004. These enable similar access to environmental information as under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

~Under the Data Protection Act 1998 you are also entitled to access your clinical records or any other personal information held about you by our practice. You can request to see your own medical record by writing to the Practice Manager at the surgery.

Feedback
We welcome suggestions about how this publication scheme and the presentation of the information itself might be improved. If you have any comments, or if you have any difficulty accessing any information please write to the Practice Manager.

Classes of information
All information at this practice is held, retained and destroyed in accordance with NHS guidelines.

Our commitment to publish or supply information excludes any information which can be legitimately withheld under the exemptions set out in the NHS Openness Code or Freedom of Information Act 2000 or any information which has been destroyed or updated in accordance with NHS guidelines.

Where individual classes are subject to exemptions, the main reasons are for example the protection of commercial interests and personal information under the Data Protection Act 1998. This applies to all classes within the publication scheme.

The information available under this scheme is grouped into the following broad categories:

Class 1: Who we are
This NHS practice is part of Hastings & Rother Primary Care Trust and provides medical services for patients living within the boundaries of Hastings and St Leonards-on-Sea.

A full list of the General Practices in this area and further details about how the Primary Care Trust fits into the NHS, a major part of the public sector, can be found on the Primary Care Trust website www.hastingsandrotherpct.nhs.uk or by writing to them at Hastings & Rother PCT, Bexhill Hospital, Holliers Hill, Bexhill-on-Sea, TN40 2DZ.

Our Practice is contracted to provide General Medical Services for our registered patients under contract to the Hastings & Rother Primary Care Trust in accordance with the our PMS Contract. Some information about our practice will be withheld, including personal, confidential information about individuals which is protected by the Data Protection Act 1998.

The details of the current doctors are described elsewhere.

The following key nurses work within the Practice and are employed by the Practice.


Class 2: Our Services
A full list of the services we provide can be found in our practice leaflet and on the website www.martinsoak.co.uk in which we include:

details of our Doctors clinical interests

a timetable of our opening hours

Copies of the practice leaflet can be obtained free of charge from reception or through our website.

We provide an Out of Hours service through South East Health. Further information about this service can be obtained from:
South East Health Ltd
Kingston House
Ground Floor Offices Suites A & B
The Long Barrow
Orbital Park
Ashford
Kent  TN24 0GP

We share information with other service providers in accordance with the policies agreed with the Hastings & Rother Primary Care Trust and by reference to the Data Protection Act.

Class 3: Financial and funding information

We receive fees for providing medical services to our registered patients from the Hastings & Rother Primary Care Trust through the mechanism of our PMS Contract. This includes the following main expenses:

Running costs and maintenance of the premises and equipment

Administrative costs including pay

IT support and maintenance

Communications support, maintenance and running costs

Infrastructure investment such as clinical equipment

We receive a drug budget that is set by the Hastings & Rother Primary Care Trust on a yearly basis to provide prescriptions for our registered patients. The budgets received vary from year to year and can be obtained by contacting the Practice Manager.

We have a scale of fees for non NHS work that is displayed on notices in reception, and will be on our website.

Class 4: Regular publications and information for the public

1) We keep a range of leaflets on medical problems that can be accessed by asking our Practice Nurses or the Doctors.

2) We keep you informed of temporary alterations in our opening hours by:

      i) Prominent notices on the waiting room notice board

      ii) Accessing our website

3) We publish a practice leaflet which is available from reception. Once an update is produced, previous copies are destroyed and are no longer available for publication.

4) We keep some leaflets and information produced by other organizations. These can be accessed from:

       i) Leaflet racks

       ii) Website

       iii) Nurses and Doctors

The leaflets available under Class 4 are free of charge.

Leaflets may from time to time become unavailable due to replacement by an alternative or because they have been updated.

Class 5: Complaints

We have a practice complaints procedure which has been agreed with our Primary Care Trust for all practices and a copy may be obtained from the Practice Manager. If you wish to make a complaint please write or ask to speak to the Practice Manager.

There may be circumstances where material cannot be released because it is confidential to a third party as regulated by the Data Protection Act 1998 or is no longer available under NHS guidelines or our Practice Records Management Policy.

Class 6: Our Policies and Procedures

We keep policies in the following areas:

1) patient privacy and confidentiality

2) clinical procedures

3) administrative procedures

4) complaints

5) records management, information sharing and data protection

6) drugs, dispensing, prescribing and prescriptions

7) health and safety

8) employment

These policies are subject to regular review. They are available by writing to the Practice Manager. There may be circumstances where material cannot be released because it is:

       ~  confidential or 

       ~  security based 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 or

           ~ no longer available under NHS guidelines or our Practice Records Management Policy or

            ~ no longer current and has been replaced

There is a charge for producing a hard copy of this information as detailed in class 7 below.

Class 7: The Publication Scheme.

In this class we will publish any changes we make to this Publication Scheme, the criteria on which our information management policies are made and a referral point for all enquiries regarding information management generally in our practice. We will also publish any proposed changes or additions to publications already available.

Some information is available free, but there may be a nominal charge to cover costs if you require a hard copy of information.

These charges will vary according to how the information is available.

Although individual copies of single items covering a single page will be provided free, a charge will be made to cover the costs of supplying information.

Charges

1.Website

a) Free of charge - You may download any publication that we post on the web site using your own computer. Charges for the Internet Service Provider and personal printing costs would have to be met by you.

b) If you do not have access to the Internet:

    i) The Public Library have a service you can use.

    ii) Printouts are available from the practice by writing to the Practice Manager and enclosing a stamped addressed envelope

           (1) A single print out from the website will attract a charge of 40p per sheet.

           (2) Requests for multiple printouts or for archived copies of documents that are no longer accessible or available on the website will attract a charge for retrieval, photocopy and postage etc. We will let you know the cost and charges that will have to be paid in advance.

           (3) We are not able to provide printouts of other organisations’ websites.

     iii) Copying onto electronic media from our own website only will incur a charge of £10.

2. Publications

1. Leaflets and brochures about our practice are available at the reception desk or from the Reception Manager free of charge for single copies.

2. Glossy, laminated or other bound paper copies or in some cases a CD ROM, video or other media will be charged for. We will let you know the cost and charges that will have to be paid in advance.

3. E-mail will be free of charge unless otherwise specified in advance.

Any cost incurred for postage will be charged for and you are requested to submit a stamped self addressed envelope with any request for hard copies to be sent by post.

The charges will be reviewed regularly.

Any enquiries regarding information management in this practice should be referred to Mrs Jackie Horton the Practice Manager.