Freedom of information act
SOUTHGATES MEDICAL & SURGICAL CENTRE PUBLICATION SCHEME
Welcome to the Southgates Medical & Surgical Centre’s General Practitioner’s Publication Scheme. This is a guide to the General Practitioners’ (who practice together) within the partnership, practice Publication Scheme as required by the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
Introduction
This Publication Scheme is a complete guide to the information routinely made available to the public by Dr Alan Heath, Dr Hilary Lazarus, Dr Laurence Atkinson, Dr Ian Hotchin, Dr Kathy Connolly, Dr Chris McKenzie ,Dr Caroline Delves and Dr Vandana Bendre. It is a description of the information about our General Practitioners and Practice which we make publicly available. It will be reviewed at regular intervals and we will monitor its effectiveness.
How much does it cost?
The publications are all free unless otherwise indicated within each Class. Where information is provided at a cost the charges will be calculated as set out in Class 7.
How is the information made available?
The information within each Class is either downloadable from the practice website or available in hard copy from:-
Noel McGivern (General Manager)
41 Goodwins Road
King’s Lynn
Norfolk
PE30 5QX
Tel 01553 819460,
Fax 01553 819466,
e-mail nmcgivern@nhs.net
Your rights to information
* In addition to accessing the information identified in the Publication Scheme, you are entitled to request information about Southgates Medical & Surgical Centre under the NHS Openness Code 1995.
* The Freedom of Information Act 2000 recognises that members of the public have the right to know how public services are organised and run, how much they cost and how the decisions are made.
* From January 1st 2005 it will oblige the General Practice to respond to requests about information that it holds, and is recorded in any format and it 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 it can release.
* New environmental information regulations may be introduced as early as 2003. These will 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 and you can contact Noel McGivern (General Manager) to do this.
Feedback
If you have any comments about the operation of the Publication Scheme, or how we have dealt with your request for information from the Scheme, please write to:
Noel McGivern (General Manager)
41 Goodwins Road
King’s Lynn
Norfolk
PE30 5QX
Tel 01553 819460,
Fax 01553 819466,
e-mail nmcgivern@nhs.net
CLASSES OF INFORMATION
All information at the Southgates Medical & Surgical Centre is held, retained and destroyed in accordance with NHS guidelines. Our commitment to publish 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. Where individual Classes are subject to exemptions, the main reasons are e.g. 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 on this Scheme is grouped into the following broad categories:
1. Who we are
Dr Heath & Partners trading as Southgates Medical & Surgical Centre. The Practice is a member of West Norfolk Practice based commissioning group. The Practice is also a member of the Norfolk Surgical & Diagnostic Centres Partnership
The practice has a local Personal Medical services contract with Norfolk Primary Care Trust, St James, Extons Road, King’s Lynn, Norfolk, PE30 5NU.(www.norfolk-pct.nhs.uk)
The practice aims to follow National Institute for clinical excellence (NICE) and National Service Framework (NSF) guidelines.
Copies of these can be found on the NICE website(www.nice.org.uk) or the department of health website (www.doh.gov.uk)
A full list of local practices can be found at www.norfolk-pct.nhs.uk
The practice area covers King’s Lynn, West Lynn, Clenchwarton, North & South Wootton, Castle Rising, Gaywood, South Lynn, North Lynn, Leziate, Pott Row, Grimston, Roydon, North Runcton, Ashwicken, Middleton, West Winch, East Winch, Blackborough End, Tilney All Saints, Wiggenhall St. Germans’, Gayton, Eau Brink, Setchey. Terrington St Clement
A Full list of the GP partners of the practice are found in the introduction to this publication scheme. The practice also employs:-
Dr Flora Hill – salaried GP
Dr Shona Lidgey, salaried GP
General Manager – Noel McGivern
Administrative staff
Practice Nurses
Healthcare assistants
Counsellors
Interpreters
A Full list of the services we provide is detailed in Class 2 below
There is a national NHS plan that explains how the NHS is changing and how all the different parts function & work together.
2. Our Services
The range of services we provide under contract to the NHS are;-
*
A full range of personal medical services
*
Child Health surveillance
*
Minor Surgery
*
Contraceptive services
*
Maternity & Obstetric services
*
Child immunisation clinics
*
Disease Management clinics, vascular clinics – healthy heart, diabetes, asthma, COPD
*
Specialist Substance misuse clinics, including alcohol advice
*
Counselling clinics
*
Continence clinics
*
Community physiotherapy
*
Dietician
*
Near patient testing – phlebotomy
*
Interpreter services
For policies relating to our services please see Class 6
Secondary care services within Primary Care under HSG96/31 on orthopaedics, urology, general surgery, dermatology, gastroenterology, ophthalmology via Norfolk Surgical and Diagnostic Centres.
Some services require information with other health care agencies and we follow the Norfolk NHS & Social Care Information Community protocol for the sharing of personal information. A copy is available for perusal at the surgery; please ask at reception.
The Practice is open between the following hours:
Week days 8.00 am – 6.30 pm, Wednesday until 8:00 p.m
Saturdays open for routine appointments only until 11:00 a.m
Sundays Closed all day.
Out of hours cover is provided by East of England Ambulance Services between the hours of 6.30 pm and 8.00 am week days and all day on Saturdays and bank holidays.
The out of hours service is accessed via Medicom (the Norfolk-wide medical answering service) on telephone number 01603 488488 or by ringing the surgery.
Members of staff conduct consultations in English. If translation services are required, please contact us in advance. We have interpreters on site
Interests
Dr Alan Heath has an interest in General Surgery, Dermatology and Orthopaedics.
Dr Hilary Lazarus has an interest in Education of GP Registrars and COPD.
Dr Laurence Atkinson has an interest in Diabetes and Medical Education.
Dr Ian Hotchin has an interest in Urology, substance misuse, Mental Health and GP Education..
Dr Kathy Connolly has an interest in Diabetes and Prescribing Management.
Dr Chris McKenzie has an interest in Substance Misuse and Mental Health.
Dr Caroline Delves has an interest in women’s health , gynaecology and GP Education.
Dr Flora Hill has an interest in Mental Health.
Dr Vandana Bendre has an interest in child health and Diabetes
Dr Shona Lidgey has an interest in child health and women’s health.
3. Financial and funding information
The SM&SC receive money from West Norfolk PCT according to its contract with West Norfolk PCT in exchange for services provided for patients.
The total income received from the NHS before expenses in 2007/2008 June 07 to May 08 was £1432,329.
The sum spent on drugs prescribed by SM&SC in 2007/2008 was £1438,977.
4. Regular publications and information for the public
The following published information is available free of charge:
Practice Leaflet
The Protection & Use of Information Leaflet
Sickness or Medical Certificate Leaflet
Minor Surgery Leaflet
Various leaflets on specific medical conditions are freely available in the waiting rooms or upon request.
5. Comments, Suggestions and Complaints
The contact for comments, suggestions and complaints is Noel McGivern, General Manager email: nmcgivern@nhs.net
6. Our policies and procedures
General policies and procedures in use within the practice. These include, but are not restricted to, data protection, prescribing and prescription, health and safety , staff policies.
7. This 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 enquires regarding information management generally in the Trust. We will also publish any proposed changes or additions to publications already available.
Cost of Information
For the most part, we will charge you only for hard copies or copying onto media (e.g. CD ROM). Some information is available free, but for others there may be a charge. The charges will vary according to how information is made available. Charges are as follows:
[a) Via the General Practice/Primary Care Trust Web Site –Free of charge, although any charges for Internet Service provider and personal printing costs would have to be met by the individual
For those without Internet access, a single print-out as on the website would be available by post from Noel McGivern, General Manager or by personal application at Southgates Medical and Surgical Centre.
However, requests for multiple printouts, or for archived copies of documents which are no longer accessible or available on the web, may attract a charge for the retrieval, photocopy, postage etc. We will let you know the cost and charges that will have to be paid in advance. We will not provide printouts of other organisation’s websites.
b) Leaflets and brochures-free of charge for leaflets or booklets on, for example, services we offer to the public. These are available in our reception areas
c) e-mail-will be free of charge unless it says otherwise
The charges will be reviewed regularly.
Useful Resources
Web sites:
www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk
This is the web site of the Information Commissioner
www.lcd.gov.uk
This is the web site of the Lord Chancellor’s Department
www.foi.nhs.uk
This is the NHS Freedom of Information web site
Primary Care Trust web site
Queen Elizabeth web site http://www.qehkl.nhs.uk
Patient Choices web site http://www.nhs.uk
Publications
* NHS Openness Code- www.doh.gov.uk/nhsexec/codemain.htm
* FOI Act 2000 www.legislation.hmso.gov.uk/acts2000/2000036.htm
* Code of Practice under Section 45 FOI Act 2000
www.lcd.gov.uk
* Code of Practice under Section 46 FOI Act 2000 www.lcd.gov.uk
* Statement of Fees and Allowances payable for General Medical Practitioners in England.
Copyright
Material available through this Publication Scheme is subject to the General Practice’s copyright unless otherwise indicated. Unless expressly indicated to the contrary, it may be reproduced free of charge in any format or medium provided it is done so accurately in a manner which will not mislead. Where items are re-published or copied to others, you must identify the source and acknowledge copyright status. This permit does not extend to third party material, accessed through the scheme. For HMSO Guidance Notes see www.hmso.gov.uk/guides.htm