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Freedom of Information Freedom of Information – The Act The Freedom of Information (FOI) Act was passed on 30 November 2000. It gives a general right of access to all types of recorded information held by public authorities, with full access granted in January 2005. The Act sets out exemptions to that right and places certain obligations on public authorities. FOI will replace the Open Government Code of Practice, which has been in operation since 1994. To read the full act click here. Data Protection and FOI – how do the two interact? The Data Protection Act 1998 came into force on 1 March 2000. It provides living individuals with a right of access to personal information held about them. The right applies to all information held in computerised form and also to non-computerised information held in filing systems structured so that specific information about particular individuals can retrieved readily. Individuals already have the right to access information about themselves (personal data), which is held on computer and in some paper files under the Data Protection Act 1998. The right also applies to those archives that meet these criteria. However, the right is subject to exemptions, which will affect whether information is provided. Requests will be dealt with on a case by case basis. The Freedom of Information Act and the Data Protection Act are the responsibility of the Lord Chancellor’s Department. A few of its strategic objectives being: · To improve people’s knowledge and understanding of their rights and responsibilities · Seeking to encourage an increase in openness in the public sector · Monitoring the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information · Developing a data protection policy which properly balances personal information privacy with the need for public and private organisations to process personal information The Data Protection Act does not give third parties rights of access to personal information for research purposes. The FOI Act does not give individuals access to their personal information, though if a request is made, the Data Protection Act gives the individual this right. If the individual chooses to make this information public it could be used alongside non-personal information gained by the public under the terms of the FOI Act. Click here to see the Data Protection Act 1998. Requests using FOI What type of information can be requested? Complaints Procedure In the case where information is requested and there are sections of the information that are exempt then the document should be clearly marked to show where exempt information is withheld. If all information is withheld, then the public body will have to give full reasons as to why the information has been withheld. If the person requesting access is not satisfied with the reasons, they have the right to appeal. They may also appeal if they think that the charges for information are unfair. Actual Publication Scheme on the Freedom of Information Act Web Site: http://www.foi.nhs.uk/practice?id=1847
Welcome to the Dr Victor Schrieber; Dr Anthony De Cothi; Dr Judith Hardwick; Dr Christopher Wilkinson; Dr Paul Thompson; Dr Fiona Simpson; Dr Sally Rumley; Dr Bhaskar Appanna General Practitioner 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. Part I: Introduction This Publication Scheme is a complete guide to the information routinely made available to the public by How much does it cost? How is the information made available? Senior Receptionist Some information may be downloadable from the practice website (www.northumberlandhousesurgery.co.uk) Your rights to information · In addition to accessing the information identified in the Publication Scheme, you are entitled to request information about Northumberland House Surgery General Practice 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. For this, please contact: Practice Manager Feedback Practice Manager Part II: Classes of Information All information at the Northumberland House Surgery General Practice 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 Details of the practice, organisational structures, key personnel and how we fit into the NHS This practice has a local Personal Medical Services contract. The contract is with: Wyre Forest Primary Care Trust, 7th Floor - Brook House, Kidderminster Hospital, Bewdley Road, Kidderminster, Worcestershire, DY116RJ, (www.worcestershirehealth.co.uk/Primary_Care_Trust/Wyre_forest_PCT/default.asp) The practice aims to follow National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) and National Service Framework guidelines. Copies of these can also be found on the NICE website (www.nice.org.uk) or the Department of Health website (www.doh.gov.uk). The NHS is a very large part of the public sector. It is possible to find out information about our practice, the Wyre Forest Primary Care Trust and other NHS services in your area by using www.nhs.uk. A full list of local General Practices can be found there too. The Northumberland House Surgery provides general medical services for the geographical area of Oldington, Foley Park and Spennells districts of Kidderminster.. The full names of GPs at our practice are listed in the introduction to this publication scheme. The practice also employs: · Administrative staff · Practice manager(s) · Practice nurse(s) · Health Care Support Workers 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 sets out how all the different parts function and work together. A copy is available on the Department of Health website (www.doh.gov.uk/nhsplan). Some information will be withheld, including personal, confidential information about individuals which is protected by the Data Protection Act 1998. 2. Our services The range of services we provide under contract to the NHS This is the range of services we provide: · Baby clinic · Cervical cytology · Child health surveillance · Contraceptive services · Counsellor · Dietician · Disease management clinics · District nurse · Immunisations · Maternity medical services · Minor surgery services · INR Testing · Retinal Photography · Phlebotomy · Vasectomy · Alcohol Counsellor · Drug Counsellor Some of these services are provided in partnership with other agencies, namely: · Relate Counselling Services · Wyre Forest Primary Care Trust · Medical Imaging For any policies relating to our services, please refer to Class 6. See also our practice leaflet which is available free of charge from: Included in our practice leaflet is information on the following: · our practice address(es) · our opening and closing times · the arrangements we have for out of hours cover · the clinical interests of our doctors 3. Financial and funding information Funding details and charging policies The Northumberland House Surgery receives money from Wyre Forest according to its contract (as per Class 1 above) in exchange for services provided for patients. The total income received from the NHS before expenses in 2001/2002 was £1,100,000. The sum spent on drugs prescribed by the Northumberland House Surgery in 2001/2002 was £1,160,000. Please see Part III for a link to the document titled “Statement of Fees and Allowances payable for General Medical Practitioners in England”. Please apply to the Department of Health for information on costs and the formats this is available in. There may be circumstances where material cannot be released because it is confidential 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. 4. Regular publications and information for the public Guidance and information leaflets Information leaflets relating to the clinical services and health services that we provide for patients and the public, and our range of regular publications are freely available at the surgeries, in the reception areas. Alternatively, please contact: Senior Receptionist 5. Complaints Policies, procedures and contacts for complaints If you wish to make a complaint about any aspect of our service, you should first contact: Mrs Annette Heneghan The complaints policy for our practice can be obtained at a cost of £ 0.00 from our website or in hardcopy from: Practice Services Manager 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, zero tolerance and health and safety. We have policies available on the following: · complaints (£ 0.00) · confidentiality (£ 3.00) · data protection (£ 3.00) · health and safety (£ 3.00) · information sharing with other agencies (£ 3.00) · removal of patients from the practice list (£ 3.00) · zero tolerance to violence (£ 3.00) Each of the above are available in hardcopy and some are available on our website. If you would like a copy, please contact: Practice Services Manager 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 practice. We will also publish any proposed changes or additions to publications already available. Cost of Information a) Via the General Practice website – 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 Practice Services Manager, Northumberland House Surgery, 437 Stourport Road, Kidderminster, Worcestershire, DY117BL or by personal application at the Northumberland House Surgery General Practice. 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. A list is available in Class 4. c) “Glossy” or other bound paper copies, or in some cases a CD-ROM, video or other mediums are for charge as in our publication lists available from Practice Services Manager, , 437 Stourport Road, Kidderminster, Worcestershire, DY117BL, 01562 745715 , annette.heneghan@gp-m81005.nhs.uk d) E-mail will be free of charge unless it says otherwise. The charges will be reviewed regularly. Part III: Useful Resources Websites: Our website www.northumberlandhousesurgery.co.uk Wyre Forest Primary Care Trust www.worcestershirehealth.co.uk/Primary_Care_Trust/Wyre_forest_PCT/default.asp Information Commissioner www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk Lord Chancellors Department www.lcd.gov.uk NHS Freedom of Information www.foi.nhs.uk General Medical Council www.gmc-uk.org Publications: NHS Openness Code FOI Act 2000 Code of Practice under Section 45 FOI Act 2000 Code of Practice under Section 46 FOI Act 2000 Statement of Fees and Allowances payable for General Medical Practitioners in England
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