Confidentiality & Medical Records
We provide a confidential service to all our patients, including under 16s. This means that you can tell others about a visit to the surgery, but we won't.
You can be sure that anything you discuss with any member of this practice– family doctor, nurse or receptionist – will stay confidential.
Even if you are under 16 nothing will be said to anyone – including parents, other family members, care workers or tutors – without your permission. The only reason why we might have to consider passing on confidential information without your permission, would be to protect you or someone else from serious harm. We would always try to discuss this with you first.
Confidential patient data will be shared within the health care team at the practice, including nursing staff, admin staff, secretaries and receptionists, and with other health care professionals to whom a patient is referred. Those individuals have a professional and contractual duty of confidentiality.
All of our medical records are held on the surgery server. We do not hold any records on laptops, USB sticks or other portable devices.
If you have any worries about confidentiality or medical records, please speak to the practice manager or contact the Caldicott Guardian for the practice, Dr Neil Bhatia.
We will not upload your medical records to any NHS database or the Hampshire Summary Care Record without your explicit consent.
You have the right of access to your own health record and if you wish to do this, you should make a written request to the Oaklands practice. A charge will usually be made for providing permanent copies of the record.
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.
To download a copy of the The Oaklands Practice FOI Policy or Scheme, please click on the following links: FOI Policy, FOI Scheme
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.
To download a copy of The Oaklands Practice Access to Medical Records Policy, please click on the following link: Access to Medical Records
Complaints
We make every effort to give the best service possible to everyone who attends our practice.
However, we are aware that things can go wrong resulting in a patient feeling that they have a genuine cause for complaint. If this is so, we would wish for the matter to be settled as quickly, and as amicably, as possible.
To pursue a complaint please contact the practice manager who will deal with your concerns appropriately. Further written information is available regarding the complaints procedure from reception or by clicking on the following link: Patient Complaints Procedure
Violence Policy
The NHS operate a zero tolerance policy with regard to violence and abuse and the practice has the right to remove violent patients from the list with immediate effect in order to safeguard practice staff, patients and other persons. Violence in this context includes actual or threatened physical violence or verbal abuse which leads to fear for a person’s safety. In this situation we will notify the patient in writing of their removal from the list and record in the patient’s medical records the fact of the removal and the circumstances leading to it.