Head of Information Governance MLCSU
Heron House, 120 Grove Road, Fenton, Stoke-on-Trent, ST4 4LX
Tel 01782 872648
Email mlcsu.dpo@nhs.net

In accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998 and Access to Health Records Act, patients may request to see their medical records. All requests must be made in writing or via patient triage 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.

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.

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.

The practice is committed to providing equality and fairness for all patients in their treatment, to eliminating discrimination and encouraging diversity amongst our workforce and to not discriminating on grounds of gender, marital status, race, ethnic origin, colour, nationality, national origin, disability, medical condition, sexual orientation, religion/belief or age. The practice will not tolerate any form of unlawful or unfair discrimination, including comments or jokes which may be considered offensive.

Our commitment is:

• To treat all patients, staff and visitors fairly and with dignity and respect.
• To create an environment in which individual differences and the contributions of all our patients, staff and visitors are recognised and valued.
• To offer equal opportunities to all patients, staff and visitors
• To not tolerate any discrimination against any patient (including those wishing to register), staff or job applicant or visitor for any of the above reasons; any such discrimination will be considered as a disciplinary offence.
• To review all our policies and working practices and procedures to ensure fairness.

If you feel that you are being discriminated against or not offered equal opportunities, you should bring the matter to the attention of the practice manager as quickly as possible, who will investigate the matter thoroughly and confidentially, establish the facts and decide whether discrimination has taken place and advise you of the outcome of the investigation in writing within ten working days and finally take appropriate action to prevent further discrimination and discipline the offender(s), if appropriate, via the practice’s disciplinary procedure.

We aim to provide a high standard of medical practice and care, to treat patients with dignity, respect and honesty and to work together in partnership to protect and promote overall health and well being.