Woodside Medical Practice

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NHS FREEDOM OF INFORMATION PROJECT BOARD/BRITISH MEDICAL ASSOCIATION MODEL PUBLICATION SCHEME FOR GENERAL PRACTICES

Welcome to the Woodside Medical General Practitioner’s Publication Scheme. This is a guide to the General Practitioners’ (who practice together) within the partnership /single 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 Woodside Medical General Practitioners. 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?

Some information is available free, but for others there may be a charge. The charges will vary according to how information is made available. [Where information is provided at a cost the charges will be calculated as set out Class 7].

How is the information made available?

The information within each Class is available by e-mail or in hard copy from any member of the practice on request.

Your rights to information

  • In addition to accessing the information identified in the Publication Scheme, you are entitled to request information about Woodside Medical 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 and you can contact the Practice Manager at Woodside Medical Practice 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:

The Practice Manager

Woodside Medical Practice

Wensley Green

Woodside

Telford

TF7 5NR

 

CLASSES OF INFORMATION

All information at the Woodside 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

Woodside Medical Practice is made up of four partners.

Dr M W Awty (Male), MBChB BSc DRCOG MRCGP

Dr I M Donnellan (Male) MBChB MRCGP

Dr D I Adnitt (Male) MBChB DRCOG DoccMed MRCGP

Dr C Hart (Female) MBChB DRCOG MRCGP

The practice adheres to the General Medical Services contract and employs a range of staff, including a practice manager; three practice nurses, a health care assistant, a practice secretary, and reception staff.

2. Our Services

            Details of services provided are listed in the practice leaflet, a copy of

which may be obtained from the practice without charge. Details can also be viewed on the practice website at www.woodside-medical-practice.org.uk

The practice is open from 8.30am to 5.45 pm the telephone is manned from 8.00am to 12.30pm and 1.30pm to 6.00pm.

The surgery doors are closed for lunch and staff training from 12.30pm  to 1.30pm.

Saturday

The surgery is open from 9.00am to 11.00am the telephone is manned from 8.30am to 12.00pm the Duty Doctor is available for emergencies without an appointment between 9.00am and 10.00am patients may make week day appointments and pick up repeat prescriptions between 9.00am and 10.45am.

Please note repeat prescriptions cannot be processed on a Saturday although they may be left to pick up during the week.

Outside of normal surgery hours, emergency services are provided by the Duty Doctor 12.30 to 1.30pm during the week and by SHROPDOC and NHS Direct at all other times.

Some services may involve information sharing (e.g. child protection conferences) with other agencies, but we adhere to our confidentiality policy, and disclose information only when absolutely necessary.

Some of the Doctors have specialised clinical interests; these include:

Dr Donnellan – diabetes

Dr Hart – Family Planning

Dr Adnitt – Occupational Health

Dr Awty - Therapeutics

 

3. Financial and funding information

See also the “Statement of Fees and Allowances payable for General Medical Practitioners in England”, which is available on the internet or from HMSO booksellers.

The Woodside Medical Practice receives money from the Telford and Wrekin Primary Care Trust and the Shropshire County Primary Care Trust according to its contract in exchange for services provided for patients.

The total funding received from the NHS before expenses in 2001/2002 was £357,977.00

The sum spent on drugs prescribed by the Woodside Medical Practice in 2001/2002 was £601,451.00.

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

Woodside Medical Practice produces a practice leaflet, and updates this as often as is practicable.

5. Complaints

We aim to provide a friendly courteous and efficient service. Although we do our best we accept that sometimes things do go wrong. If you have any problems, complaints, compliments or ideas on how to improve the service please ask to speak to the practice manager. We do have an in house complaints procedure through which we aim to address issues swiftly.

6. Our policies and procedures

General policies and procedures are in use within the practice.In addition to complaints, these include, but are not restricted to, confidentiality and data protection, prescribing and prescription, the NHS zero tolerance on violence and health and safety.

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

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 or by personal application to Woodside Medical Practice.

However, requests for multiple printouts, or for archived copies of documents which are no longer accessible or available on the web, may attract larger  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.

c) sending documents via e-mail will attract a nominal charge unless a large volume is involved.

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

Telford and Wrekin Primary Care Trust web site www.telfordpct.nhs.uk

 

Publications

 

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