Practice Policies & Patient Information
Patient Updates & Newsletters
Confidentiality
We take confidentiality very seriously. The Practice is registered with the Information Commissioners’ Office (ICO). We comply with the Data Protection Act (2018) and GDPR. All staff recognise the importance of this. We ask you for personal information so that you can receive appropriate care and treatment. This information is recorded electronically and/or via manual medical records. For the effective functioning of a multi-disciplinary team this requires that medical information about you is shared between members of this practice and, on occasion with other health care professionals. We will not release any information about you to other third parties unless we have your consent to do so.
Our Privacy Notice describes how we collect, use, and process your personal data, and how, in doing so, we comply with our legal obligations to you. You can view a copy of our Privacy Notice on our website or by visiting the surgery.
Did Not Attend Policy
We aim to provide all our patients with the best possible service and to achieve this we need your help. Patients who fail to attend for their appointments and do not let us know incur significant cost to the practice and to other patients in terms of lost appointments.
If you are unable to keep your appointment, please make every effort to cancel it well in advance so that it may be offered to someone else. This can be done over the phone, or online.
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Modality Partnership will monitor those patients who do not attend their appointments. When a patient regularly fails to attend appointments within a 12 month period, the patient will be written to explaining that should they fail to attend a further appointment without prior notification, they risk being removed from the Practice list.
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If the patient fails to attend a following appointment following receipt of the first letter, the patient will be written to with a warning that any future failure to attend an appointment without prior notification will lead to their removal from the Practice list.
Equality Diversity Statement
Modality Partnership is committed to eliminating individual and institutional discrimination, harassment and victimisation across all protected characteristics set out in the Equality Act 2010 relating to patients and employees which are: Race, Sex, Disability, Sexual Orientation, Religion or Belief, Gender Reassignment, Age, Marriage and Civil Partnership and Pregnancy and Maternity.
All Modality Partnership staff complete equality and diversity training.
Feedback, Complaints and Concerns
We aim to provide our patients with a caring, friendly, and professional service. We welcome all feedback so if you are not happy, please tell us.
We hope that we can sort out most problems easily and quickly. Often this will be at the time they arise and with the person concerned. Please tell them what is worrying you and they will do their best to resolve your concerns quickly and informally.
However, if they can’t or you wish to make a formal complaint, please let us know as soon as possible, and your complaint will be managed in line with our formal complaints process.
You can provide feedback our services or tell us about your concerns:
• In person or by telephone
• In writing to the Practice Manager – by letter or completing a form available from reception
• Online via our website:
- To submit a complaint or compliment, please visit: https://www.modalitypartnership.nhs.uk/modalitypartnership/complaintsandcompliments
- To complete a Friends & Family survey questionnaire about the care you have received, please visit: https://uk.surveymonkey.com/r/MHCH58W
- To submit an online review, please visit: https://www.nhs.uk/services/gp-surgery/modality-mid-sussex/H82040/leave-a-review
Freedom of Information
The Freedom of Information (FOI) Act gives the public the right to request any recorded information from a public authority. The authority will then have 20 working days to provide this information subject to any exemptions.
How do we process freedom of information requests?
We pride ourselves on being an open organisation and will endeavour to respond to requests for information where we are required to under the guidance attributable to primary care. While we will provide as much information as it can, due to the sensitivity of some of this information, the organisation has a duty of confidence to both patients and staff. In line with FOI Act, this means that no information will be released which could lead to the identification of an individual.
Modality Partnership is a legally recognised partnership under the Partnership Act, providing primary care services. The majority of our contracts are with NHS organisations, usually Integrated Care Boards (ICB’s) or Acute/Community Trusts. Please contact the ICB or Acute/Community Trust, with whom we hold a contract, directly to acquire any information related to contractual obligations for the purposes of FOI.
Some activities that Modality Partnership undertake are exempt from FOI legislation.
Where can you make your request?
Any requests relating to Modality Partnership should be made to our Data Protection Officer: modality.dpo@nhs.net
If your request refers to any contracts that we hold with ICB’s or Acute/Community Trusts, please make your FOI request directly to the relevant public body.
Patients’ Charter
Patients have the right to:
• Be seen by a doctor/healthcare professional for diagnosis and treatment of their medical condition. This is obtained by making appointments from the range offered by the practice.
• participate in important public health programmes such as vaccinations.
• Not to be unlawfully discriminated against in the provision of NHS services including on grounds of gender, race, religion or belief, sexual orientation, disability (including learning disability or mental illness or age.
• Be treated with dignity and respect, in accordance with their human rights
• Accept or refuse treatment that is offered, and not to be given any physical examination or treatment unless valid consent has been given.
• Privacy and confidentiality and to expect the Practice to keep their confidential information safe and secure.
• Access to their own health records.
• Choose their GP practice, and to be accepted by that Practice unless there are reasonable grounds to refuse, in which case they will be informed of those reasons.
• Express a preference for consulting with a particular doctor within their GP Practice.
• Have any complaint they make about NHS services dealt with efficiently, to have it properly investigated, know the outcome and escalate the complaint to the independent Health Service Ombudsman.
Patients have the responsibility to:
• inform the surgery if they are unable to keep their appointment, thus making an appointment available for another patient.
• treat staff and other patients or visitors at the practice with respect and that causing a nuisance or disturbance on the premises is not acceptable.
Privacy Policy
Data Protection Privacy Notice for Patients
Introduction:
This privacy notice lets you know what happens to any personal data that you give to us, or any that we may collect from or about you.
This privacy notice applies to personal information processed by or on behalf of the practice.
This Notice explains
- Who we are, how we use your information and our Data Protection Officer
- What kinds of personal information about you do we process?
- What are the legal grounds for our processing of your personal information (including when we share it with others)?
- What should you do if your personal information changes?
- For how long your personal information is retained by us?
- What are your rights under data protection laws?
The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) became law on 24th May 2016. This is a single EU-wide regulation on the protection of confidential and sensitive information. It enters into force in the UK on the 25th May 2018, repealing the Data Protection Act (1998).
For the purpose of applicable data protection legislation (including but not limited to the General Data Protection Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2016/679) (the “GDPR”), and the Data Protection Act 2018 the practice responsible for your personal data is [Practice Name].
This Notice describes how we collect, use and process your personal data, and how, in doing so, we comply with our legal obligations to you. Your privacy is important to us, and we are committed to protecting and safeguarding your data privacy rights.
How we use your information and the law.
Individual Modality Partnership Practices and Modality LLP Services will be what’s known as the ‘Controller’ of the personal data you provide to us.
We collect basic personal data about you which does not include any special types of information or location-based information. This does however include name, address, contact details such as email and mobile number etc.
We will also collect sensitive confidential data known as “special category personal data”, in the form of health information, religious belief (if required in a healthcare setting) ethnicity, and sex during the services we provide to you and or linked to your healthcare through other health providers or third parties.
Why do we need your information?
The health care professionals who provide you with care maintain records about your health and any treatment or care you have received previously (e.g. NHS Trust, GP Surgery, Walk-in clinic, Outpatient Services etc.). These records help to provide you with the best possible healthcare.
NHS health records may be electronic, on paper or a mixture of both, and we use a combination of working practices and technology to ensure that your information is kept confidential and secure. Records which the Practice hold about you may include the following information;
- Details about you, such as your address, home or mobile telephone number (for use of SMS and other text message services), carer, legal representative, emergency contact details
- Any contact the surgery has had with you, such as appointments, clinic visits, emergency appointments, etc.
- Notes and reports about your health
- Details about your treatment and care
- Results of investigations such as laboratory tests, x-rays etc
- Relevant information from other health professionals, relatives or those who care for you
To ensure you receive the best possible care, your records are used to facilitate the care you receive. Information may be used within the GP practice for clinical audit to monitor the quality of the service provided, which also includes the recording of all telephone calls (incoming and outgoing) for the following reasons:
- To assist in any complaints and further investigations
- Providing evidence of any abusive behaviour should it occur
- To assist and help train our staff
- Ongoing monitoring of calls for quality purposes
If you do not want a telephone call made to you recorded, you will need to inform us at the time of your call.
How do we lawfully use your data?
We need to know your personal, sensitive and confidential data in order to provide you with healthcare services as a General Practice, under the General Data Protection Regulation we will be lawfully using your information in accordance with: –
Article 6, e) processing is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in the controller;”
Article 9, (h) processing is necessary for the purposes of preventive or occupational medicine, for the assessment of the working capacity of the employee, medical diagnosis, the provision of health or social care or treatment or the management of health or social care systems
This Privacy Notice applies to the personal data of our patients and the data you have given us about your carers/family members.
Risk Stratification
Risk stratification data tools are increasingly being used in the NHS to help determine a person’s risk of suffering a condition, preventing an unplanned or (re)admission and identifying a need for preventive intervention. Information about you is collected from a number of sources including NHS Trusts and from this GP Practice and LLP Services. A risk score is then arrived at through an analysis of your de-identified information is only provided back to your GP as data controller in an identifiable form. Risk stratification enables your GP to focus on preventing ill health and not just the treatment of sickness. If necessary, your GP may be able to offer you additional services. Please note that you have the right to opt out of your data being used in this way.
Medicines Management
The Practice/Service may conduct Medicines Management Reviews of medications prescribed to its patients. This service performs a review of prescribed medications to ensure patients receive the most appropriate, up to date and cost-effective treatments.
Our local NHS Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) formally known as Clinical Commissioning Group (CCGs) employ specialist pharmacists and they may at times need to access your records for care reasons support and assist us with prescribing. This reason for this is to help us manage your care and treatment.
Extended Access
We provide extended access services to our patients which means you can access medical services outside of our normal working hours. In order to provide you with this service, we have formal arrangements in place with the ICBs and with other practices whereby certain key “hub” practices offer this service on our behalf for you as a patient to access outside of our opening hours. This means, those key “hub” practices will have to have access to your medical record to be able to offer you the service. Please note to ensure that those practices comply with the law and to protect the use of your information, we have very robust data sharing agreements and other clear arrangements in place to ensure your data is always protected and used for those purposes only.
Safeguarding
The Practice/Service is dedicated to ensuring that the principles and duties of safeguarding adults and children are holistically, consistently and conscientiously applied with the wellbeing of all, at the heart of what we do.
Our legal basis for processing For the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) purposes is: –
Article 6(1)(e) ‘…exercise of official authority…’.
For the processing of special categories data, the basis is: –
Article 9(2)(b) – ‘processing is necessary for the purposes of carrying out the obligations and exercising specific rights of the controller or of the data subject in the field of employment and social security and social protection law…’
Categories of personal data
The data collected by Practice/Service staff in the event of a safeguarding situation will be as much personal information as is necessary or possible to obtain in order to handle the situation. In addition to some basic demographic and contact details, we will also process details of what the safeguarding concern is. This is likely to be special category information (such as health information).
Sources of the data
The Practice/Service will either receive or collect information when someone contacts the organisation with safeguarding concerns or we believe there may be safeguarding concerns and make enquiries to relevant providers.
Recipients of personal data
The information is used by the Practice/Service when handling a safeguarding incident or concern. We may share information accordingly to ensure duty of care and investigation as required with other partners such as local authorities, the police or healthcare professionals (i.e. their GP or mental health team).
How do we maintain the confidentiality of your records?
We are committed to protecting your privacy and will only use information collected lawfully in accordance with:
- Data Protection Act 2018
- The General Data Protection Regulations 2016
- Human Rights Act 1998
- Common Law Duty of Confidentiality
- Health and Social Care Act 2012
- NHS Codes of Confidentiality, Information Security and Records Management
- Information: To Share or Not to Share Review
Every member of staff who works for an NHS organisation has a legal obligation to keep information about you confidential.
We will only ever use or pass on information about you if others involved in your care have a genuine need for it. We will not disclose your information to any third party without your permission unless there are exceptional circumstances (i.e. life or death situations), where the law requires information to be passed on and / or in accordance with the information sharing principle following Dame Fiona Caldicott’s information sharing review (Information to share or not to share) where “The duty to share information can be as important as the duty to protect patient confidentiality.” This means that health and social care professionals should have the confidence to share information in the best interests of their patients within the framework set out by the Caldicott principles.
Our practice/service policy is to respect the privacy of our patients, their families and our staff and to maintain compliance with the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) and all UK specific Data Protection Requirements. Our policy is to ensure all personal data related to our patients will be protected.
All employees and sub-contractors engaged by our practice/service are asked to sign a confidentiality agreement. The practice/service will, if required, sign a separate confidentiality agreement if the client deems it necessary. If a sub-contractor acts as a data processor for Practices an appropriate contract known as a Data Processing Agreement (DPA) will be established for the processing of your information.
In Certain circumstances you may have the right to withdraw your consent to the processing of data. Please contact the Data Protection Officer in writing if you wish to withdraw your consent. If some circumstances we may need to store your data after your consent has been withdrawn to comply with a legislative requirement.
Some of this information will be held centrally and used for statistical purposes. Where we do this, we take strict measures to ensure that individual patients cannot be identified. Sometimes your information may be requested to be used for research purposes – the practice/service will always gain your consent before releasing the information for this purpose in an identifiable format. In some circumstances you can Opt-out of the surgery sharing any of your information for research purposes.
With your consent we would also like to use your information to use your name, contact details and email address to inform you of services that may benefit you, with your consent only. There may be occasions were authorised research facilities would like you to take part on innovations, research, improving services or identifying trends.
At any stage where we would like to use your data for anything other than the specified purposes and where there is no lawful requirement for us to share or process your data, we will ensure that you have the ability to consent and opt out prior to any data processing taking place.
This information is not shared with third parties or used for any marketing and you can unsubscribe at any time via phone, email or by informing the practice DPO as below.
Where do we store your information Electronically?
All the personal data we process is processed by our staff in the UK however for the purposes of IT hosting and maintenance this information may be located on servers within the European Union.
The Practice /Service uses a system insert clinical system to manage clinical information your care and health. This system is provided by either EMIS or Systm 1 dependant on location who act as a data processor on behalf of the practice/service.
(EMIS Practices/Services Only) The data processor that the Practice uses is called EMIS Health Ltd. They also use a sub-processor which is Amazon Web Services who act under written instructions from EMIS Health Ltd. Under no circumstances are any of these organisations allowed or able to access your information.
No 3rd parties have access to your personal data unless the law allows them to do so and appropriate safeguards have been put in place. We have a Data Protection regime in place to oversee the effective and secure processing of your personal and or special category (sensitive, confidential) data.
Who are our partner organisations?
We may also have to share your information, subject to strict agreements on how it will be used, with the following organisations;
- NHS Trusts / Foundation Trusts
- GP’s
- NHS Commissioning Support Units
- Independent Contractors such as dentists, opticians, pharmacists
- Private Sector Providers such as Liberate AI and GOQii
- Voluntary Sector Providers
- Ambulance Trusts
- Integrated Care Boards (ICBs)
- Social Care Services
- NHS England (NHSE) and NHS Digital (NHSD)
- Multi Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH)
- Local Authorities
- Education Services
- Fire and Rescue Services
- Police & Judicial Services
- Other ‘data processors’ which you will be informed of i.e secure text message services and secure independent web form services
- WhatsApp Business for health promotion
You will be informed who your data will be shared with and in some cases asked for consent for this to happen when this is required.
Computer System This practice/service operates a Clinical Computer System on which NHS Staff record information securely. This information can then be shared with other clinicians so that everyone caring for you is fully informed about your medical history, including allergies and medication.
To provide around the clock safe care, unless you have asked us not to, we will make information available to trusted organisations. Wherever possible, their staff will ask your consent before your information is viewed.
We consider patient consent as being the key factor in dealing with your health information.
Shared Care Records
To support your care and improve the sharing of relevant information to our partner organisations when they are involved in looking after you, we will share information to other systems. The general principle is that information is passed to these systems unless you request this does not happen, but that system users should ask for your consent before viewing your record.
Sharing your information without consent
We will normally ask you for your consent, but there are times when we may be required by law to share your information without your consent, for example:
- where there is a serious risk of harm or abuse to you or other people;
- where a serious crime, such as assault, is being investigated or where it could be prevented;
- notification of new births;
- where we encounter infectious diseases that may endanger the safety of others, such as meningitis or measles (but not HIV/AIDS);
- where a formal court order has been issued;
- where there is a legal requirement, for example if you had committed a Road Traffic Offence.
How long will we store your information?
We are required under UK law to keep your information and data for the full retention periods as specified by the NHS Records management code of practice for health and social care and national archives requirements.
More information on records retention can be found online at (https://digital.nhs.uk/article/1202/Records-Management-Code-of-Practice-for-Health-and-Social-Care-2016)
How can you access, amend move the personal data that you have given to us?
Even if we already hold your personal data, you still have various rights in relation to it. To get in touch about these, please contact us. We will seek to deal with your request without undue delay, and in any event in accordance with the requirements of any applicable laws. Please note that we may keep a record of your communications to help us resolve any issues which you raise.
Right to object: If we are using your data because we deem it necessary for our legitimate interests to do so, and you do not agree, you have the right to object. We will respond to your request within 30 days (although we may be allowed to extend this period in certain cases). Generally, we will only disagree with you if certain limited conditions apply.
Right to withdraw consent: Where we have obtained your consent to process your personal data for certain activities (for example for a research project), or consent to market to you, you may withdraw your consent at any time.
Right to erasure: In certain situations (for example, where we have processed your data unlawfully), you have the right to request us to “erase” your personal data. We will respond to your request within 30 days (although we may be allowed to extend this period in certain cases) and will only disagree with you if certain limited conditions apply. If we do agree to your request, we will Delete your data but will generally assume that you would prefer us to keep a note of your name on our register of individuals who would prefer not to be contacted. That way, we will minimise the chances of you being contacted in the future where your data are collected in unconnected circumstances. If you would prefer us not to do this, you are free to say so.
Right of data portability: If you wish, you have the right to transfer your data from us to another data controller. We will help with this with a GP to GP data transfer and transfer of your hard copy notes.
Access to your personal information
Data Subject Access Requests (DSAR): You have a right under the Data Protection legislation to request access to view or to obtain copies of what information the surgery holds about you and to have it amended should it be inaccurate. To request this, you need to do the following:
- Your request should be made to the Practice/Service – for information from the hospital you should write direct to them
- There is no charge to have a copy of the information held about you
- We are required to respond to you within one month
- You will need to give adequate information (for example full name, address, date of birth, NHS number and details of your request) so that your identity can be verified, and your records located information we hold about you at any time.
We use a processor, iGPR Technologies Limited (“iGPR”), to assist us with responding to report requests relating to your patient data, such as data subject access requests that you submit to us (or that someone acting on your behalf submits to us) and report requests that insurers submit to us under the Access to Medical Records Act 1988 in relation to a life insurance policy that you hold or that you are applying for.
iGPR manages the reporting process for us by reviewing and responding to requests in accordance with our instructions and all applicable laws, including UK data protection laws. The instructions we issue to iGPR include general instructions on responding to requests and specific instructions on issues that will require further consultation with the GP responsible for your care.
Personal Data that will be processed:
- Name
- Date of Birth
- Address
- NHS Number
- Patients contact telephone number, home or mobile
- Patient email address
Special Category data processed as part of the iGPR Managed Service solution and utilising the iGPR product (Basic/SARs Pro/Premium) may include (as appropriate to the nature of the request being serviced):
- Physical/mental health condition diagnoses and conditions (current and previous)
- Symptoms
- Operations and medical procedures
- Medications and prescriptions issued
- Allergies and reactions to medication
- Results of investigations such as blood tests and X-rays
- Letters and discharge summaries
- Test results
- Clinical reports and letters
- Recorded patient consultations and some coded diagnostic information
- Details of services received
- Details of lifestyle and social circumstances
- Details of nationality, race and/or ethnicity
- Details of religion. • Details of genetic data or biometric data
- Data concerning sex life and/or sexual orientation
What should you do if your personal information changes?
You should tell us so that we can update our records please contact the Practice/Service Manager as soon as any of your details change, this is especially important for changes of address or contact details (such as your mobile phone number or email address), the practice/service will from time to time ask you to confirm that the information we currently hold is accurate and up-to-date.
Objections / Complaints
Should you have any concerns about how your information is managed at the GP, please contact the GP Practice/Service Manager or the Data Protection Officer as above. If you are still unhappy following a review by the GP practice/service, you have a right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority: You have a right to complain to the UK supervisory Authority as below.
Information Commissioner:
Wycliffe house
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
Tel: 01625 545745
If you are happy for your data to be extracted and used for the purposes described in this privacy notice, then you do not need to do anything. If you have any concerns about how your data is shared, then please contact the Practice Data Protection Officer.
If you would like to know more about your rights in respect of the personal data we hold about you, please contact the Data Protection Officer as below.
Data Protection Officer:
The Practice Data Protection Officer is Umar Sabat. Any queries regarding Data Protection issues should be addressed to him at: –
Email: modality.dpo@nhs.net
Changes:
It is important to point out that we may amend this Privacy Notice from time to time. If you are dissatisfied with any aspect of our Privacy Notice, please contact the Practice Data Protection Officer.
Summary Care Record
Summary Care Record
There is a new Central NHS Computer System called the Summary Care Record (SCR). It is an electronic record which contains information about the medicines you take, allergies you suffer from and any bad reactions to medicines you have had.
Why do I need a Summary Care Record?
Storing information in one place makes it easier for healthcare staff to treat you in an emergency, or when your GP practice is closed.
This information could make a difference to how a doctor decides to care for you, for example which medicines they choose to prescribe for you.
Who can see it?
Only healthcare staff involved in your care can see your Summary Care Record.
How do I know if I have one?
Over half of the population of England now have a Summary Care Record. You can find out whether Summary Care Records have come to your area by asking your GP.
Do I have to have one?
No, it is not compulsory. If you choose to opt out of the scheme, then you will need to complete a form and bring it along to the surgery. You can use the form at the foot of this page.
More Information
For further information visit the NHS Care records website
Zero Tolerance Policy
We are committed to taking all reasonable precautions necessary to ensure the health, safety, welfare and well-being of our employees, patients and visitors. We endeavour to ensure that all employees are protected from physical and verbal abuse while they are working and strongly support NHS guidelines regarding zero tolerance. We operate a Zero Tolerance Policy for patients.
Anyone attending the surgery who is abusive, violent, aggressive be it verbally, physically or in any threatening manner whatsoever to members of staff or other persons present on the practice premises, will risk removal from the practice list. In extreme cases we may summon the police to remove offenders from the practice premises.