University Health Service Richard Verney Health Centre, Edinburgh, EH8 9AL

Confidentiality

Information Sharing

The Practice complies with Data Protection and Access to Health 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 the health visitors and hospital services.
  • To help you to 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 case.

Anonymised patient information will also be used at local and national level to help the Health Board and Government plan Services. If you do not wish anonymous information about you to be used in such a way, please let us know.

 

ECS (Emergency Care Summary)

Improving Patient Information to Lothian Out-of-Hours Service (Lothian Unscheduled Care Service)

Advice to Patients – In Scotland we are pioneering a new method of improving patient care out of hours.

When you or someone acting on your behalf contacts the Out of Hours service for health care advice or treatment, and it is helpful, the nurse or doctor will ask if they can look up your emergency care summary from your GP medical record.

The emergency care summary states:

1. Any recorded allergies

2. Current Medication

 

The doctor or nurse is then able to know, for example, which drugs you have been prescribed, even if you are too ill to tell them.

If you do not wish the information to be available to the doctor or nurse looking after you out of hours, then please let your GP Practice know. But this may mean that they are not able to give you the best treatment if they do not know, for example, your current medication.

 

Access to Health Records

Patients have the right to access their health records from both paper and computer sources. All such access applications must be in writing and addressed to the Practice Manager in the first instance. Specific details must be given as to the extent of access required identifying dates of entries within the record. An access fee will be charged by the Practice for the work involved in extracting and checking data. A copy of the information requested will be provided to you and you will be invited to come in and discuss the matter with a GP.

Any confidential reference in the records to third parties will be deleted. In the extremely rare occasion of a record containing information harmful to the patient, this will be deleted.

 

 

Publication Scheme

The Practice operates a publication scheme in compliance with the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002. Details of the scheme or a request for access should be made to the Practice Manager.