Confidentiality & Medical Records

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 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.

Consent

We can only speak to and give clinical information to the patient themselves. Where appropriate, and if consent has been granted from the patient, then we may discuss clinical information with whomever is granted permission by the patient.

Consent can either be a consent form (forms can be collected at reception) signed by the patient and handed in to the surgery or done verbally if information is needed there and then e.g. over the phone. This can be anyone whom the patient wishes to deal with their medical record from a partner to a family member or carer.

Age of consent for children in Scotland

In Scotland, all children over 12 years of age are deemed to have capacity to give consent to accessing their medical records, unless there is a medical reason they do not have capacity.

By law they are entitled to make decisions as to who can access their records and what information is provided to them. 

We cannot discuss any clinical information with parents of children 12 years and over without their express consent, whether this be verbally or written consent.