Freedom Of Information

BIDEFORD MEDICAL CENTRE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 2000 PUBLICATION SCHEME

Abbotsham Road

Bideford

Devon EX39 3AF

Tel: 01237 476363

Fax: 01237 423351

Doctor’s Appointment: 01237 426300

Treatment Room Appointment: 01237 426320

Web site: www.bidefordmc.com

Welcome to the Bideford Medical Centre’s publication scheme. This scheme is produced in accordance with the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.  

 INTRODUCTION

This Publication Scheme is a complete guide to the information routinely made available to the public by doctors Ford, Brown, Pritchard, Knight, Clayton, Loka, Spencer, Bardner, Stapley, Chan and Lidder at Bideford Medical Centre. 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?

The publications are free unless otherwise indicated within each class. Where information is provided at a cost the charges will be calculated as set out in Class 7 of this publication.

How is the information made available?

The information within each class is available by downloading from our practice website at www.bideford-medical-centre.co.uk or available in paper form from the leaflet racks in reception or by writing to the Practice Manager at the surgery.  Written requests for our publications will be responded to within 20 working days, please include a stamped self addressed envelope with written requests.

YOUR RIGHTS TO INFORMATION

• In addition to accessing the information identified in the Publication Scheme, you are entitled to request information about our Practice under the NHS Openness Code 1995.
• The Freedom of Information Act 2000 recognizes that members of the public have the right to know how public services are organized and run, how much they cost and how decisions are made.
• From 1st January 2005 the Freedom of Information Act will oblige all General Practice to respond to requests about information that they hold and record in any format.  The Act will create a right to access to that information. These rights are subject to some exemptions which have to be taken into consideration before deciding what information can be released.
• 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 by our practice. You can request to see your own medical record by discussing it with your own GP or by writing to the Practice Manager at the surgery.

Feedback:

We welcome suggestions about how this publication scheme and the presentation of the information itself might be improved.  If you have any comments, or if you have any difficulty accessing any information please contact or write to the Practice Manager.

CLASSES OF INFORMATION

All information at Bideford Medical Centre is held, retained and destroyed in accordance with NHS guidelines.

Our commitment to publish or supply 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 or any formation which has been destroyed or updated in accordance with NHS guidelines.

Where individual classes are subject to exemptions, the main reasons are for example 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 available under this scheme is grouped into the following broad categories:

Class 1        Who we are

This NHS practice is part of North Devon Primary Care Trust and provides medical services for patients living within the boundaries of 9 miles radius from our Practice address. A map of our practice area is available from our reception on request.

A full list of the General Practices in this area and further details about how the Primary Care Trust fits into the NHS, a major part of the public sector, can be found on the Primary Care Trust website  www.northdevonhealth.nhs.uk or by writing to them at 12 Boutport Street, Barnstaple, Devon EX31 1RW (as from 3 March 2005 North Devon PCT will move to Crown Yealm House, Pathfield Business Park, South Molton EX36 3LH - telephone 01769 575100).

Our practice is contracted to provide General Medical Services for our registered patients under contract to the North Devon Primary Care Trust in accordance with the National Statement of Financial Entitlement.

Some information about our practice will be withheld, including personal, confidential information about individuals which is protected by the Data Protection Act 1998.

The current Partners are:

Name	Qualifications	Hours	Date Registered
Dr Dick Ford	MB BS MRCS LRCP	Full Time	1970
Dr Kevin Brown	MB ChB DRCOG FRCGP ILTM	Full Time	1975
Dr Kathy Pritchard	MB BS DGM MRCGP	Part Time	1983
Dr Glenys Knight	MB ChB MRCGP	Part Time	1985
Dr Mark Clayton	MB BS DRCOG MRCGP	Full Time	1984
Dr Ragaii Loka	MB ChB FRCS	Full Time	1978
Dr Geoff Spencer	MB BS DRCOG MRCGP	Full Time	1986
Dr Duncan Bardner	MB ChB DCH MRCGP	Full Time	1992
Dr Alison Stapley	MB BS DGM DRCOG MRCGP	Part Time	1996
Dr Yuk-Lung Chan	MB ChB MRCGP	Part Time	2000
Dr Antonia Lidder	BSc(Hons) MB ChB MRCGP	Part Time	2001

The following key personnel work within the practice and are employed by the practice, a full up to date list as per our organisation chart is available free of charge on request from reception and on our Practice website.

Job Title	Name	Hours
Practice Manager	Olivia Bassett	Full Time
Reception Manager	Elaine Barden	Full Time
Practice Nurse Manager	Carol Bertie	Full Time

The following key personnel provide services to our patients but are employed by The North Devon Primary Care Trust,  a full up to date list as per our organisation chart is available free of charge on request from reception and on our Practice website.

Job Title	Name	Hours
Health Visitor	Ann Gill	Full Time
District Nurse	Elaine Clement	Full Time

The following key personnel provide services to our patients but are employed by other NHS Agencies. a full up to date list as per our organisation chart is available free of charge on request from reception and on our Practice website.

Job Title	Name	Hours
Midwife	Karen Butcher	Full Time
Community Psychiatric Nurse	Tricia Horgan	Part Time
Counsellor	Frances Gillies	Part Time

 

Class 2 Our Services.

A full list of the services we provide can be found in our practice leaflet in which we include:

• our opening hours
• our contact telephone numbers
• how to access the out of hours service

Our Patients’ Charter can be obtained free of charge through our website. It is also stated as below:

Our Mission Statement:

To Deliver Consistent Quality Health Care To Our Patients Within Available Resources.

In order to achieve this the Practice will work through its Staff, the Community Nurses, Health Visitors, Midwives and Community Psychiatric Nurses and other agencies to :

• provide a friendly and welcoming environment
• ensure the delivery of efficient and effective assessment, treatment, advice and care
• assess the health care needs of our community and develop plans to meet those ends
• make the best use of our resources for better patient care  

We will not offer medical care to patients who use threatening behaviour, are verbally or physically abusive towards our Doctors and Staff.

Patients’ Responsibilities:

We treat our patients courteously and with respect. Our Doctors and Staff expect to be treated the same by our patients.

We expect our patients to cancel their booked appointments when they do not need them.

Our Doctors’ clinical interests are as follows:

Doctor	Clinical Interests
Dr Dick Ford	Heart Diseases and Clinical Governance
Dr Kevin Brown	Ophthalmology and Medical Education
Dr Kathy Pritchard	Women Health and Osteoporosis
Dr Glenys Knight	Asthma
Dr Mark Clayton	Ophthalmology and Medical Education
Dr Ragaii Loka	General Surgery and Cancer
Dr Geoff Spencer	Family Medicine
Dr Duncan Bardner	Diabetes and Minor Injury
Dr Alison Stapley	Dermatology and Women Health
Dr Yuk-Lung Chan & Dr Antonia Lidder	Geriatric Medicine and Mental Health

The main surgery with the administration staff is at:

Bideford Medical Centre, Abbotsham Road , Bideford, Devon EX39 3AF.

Details of our opening hours and services are detailed in our Practice leaflet available in reception:

Day	Morning	Afternoon
Monday to Friday	8.30am to 1pm	2pm to 6pm

The Out of Hours service through Devon Doctors on Call.  Further information about this service can be obtained from Devon Doctors on Call, Unit 10, Manaton Court, Manaton Close, Matford Business Park, Exeter EX2 8PF.  There is also a leaflet about this service available in reception.

We share information with other service providers in accordance with the policies agreed with the North Devon Primary Care Trust and by reference to the Data Protection Act.

We offer translation in Mandarin and Cantonese for medical treatment and consultation.

 

Class 3  Financial and funding information.

We receive fees for providing medical services to our registered patients from the North Devon Primary Care Trust through the mechanism of the National Statement of Financial Entitlement.

Total Income received from the NHS before expenses in last financial year to 31 March 2005 was £1,750,467.

From these fees the practice has to meet the costs of running the Practice this includes the following main expenses:

• Running costs and maintenance of the premises and equipment
• Administrative costs including pay
• IT support and maintenance
• Communications support, maintenance and running costs
• Infrastructure investment such as clinical equipment
• Dispensing drug costs

We receive a drug budget that is set by the  North Devon Primary Care Trust on a yearly basis to provide prescriptions for our registered patients.  Total sum spent on drugs prescribed by our Practice in last financial year 2004/5 was £2,025,299.  The budgets received vary from year to year and in 2005/06 the budget was set at £1,919,693 which was actually less than previous year.

We have a scale of fees for work that comes outside of the Statement of Financial Entitlement for the General Medical Services. Details are displayed on notices in reception.

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 or
• no longer available under NHS guidelines.

Class 4  Regular Publications and information for the public

We keep a range of leaflets on medical problems that can be accessed by:  

1. Asking our practice nurses, the doctors, health visitors and midwives
2. Looking on the leaflet racks in the waiting room

We keep you informed of temporary alterations in our opening hours by:

1. Prominent notices on the waiting room notice board
2. Notices on the entrance doors
3. Handouts available at Reception
4. Accessing our website

We publish a practice leaflet which is updated regularly from time to time. It is available from reception.  Once an update is produced, previous copies are destroyed and are no longer available for publication. We keep some leaflets and information produced by other organizations. These can be accessed from:

1. Leaflet racks
2. At Reception Counters
3. In Health Education Room, they can be obtained from the Health Visitors.

The leaflets available under Class 4 are free of charge.

Leaflets may from time to time become unavailable due to replacement by an alternative or because they have been updated.

 

Class 5  Complaints.

We have a practice complaints procedure which has been agreed with Devon Local Medical Committees for Devon Practices and North Devon Primary Care Trust for all local practices. A copy may be obtained from reception. If you wish to make a complaint please write or ask to speak to the Practice Manager.

There may be circumstances where material cannot be released because it is confidential to a third party as regulated by the Data Protection Act 1998 or is no longer available under NHS guidelines.

 

Class 6  Our Policies and Procedures.

We keep policies in the following areas:

1. Patient Privacy and Confidentiality
2. Clinical Procedures
3. Administrative Procedures
4. Complaints
5. Records Management, Information Sharing and Data Protection
6. Drugs, Dispensing, Prescribing and Prescriptions
7. Health and Safety
8. Employment
9. Risk Management
10. Audit and Controls Assurance

These policies are subject to regular review.  They are available by writing to the Practice Manager.  There may be circumstances where material cannot be released because it is:

• confidential or
• security based 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 or
• no longer available under NHS guidelines or
• no longer current and has been replaced

There is a charge for producing a hard copy of this information as detailed in class 7 below.

Class 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 enquiries regarding information management generally in our Practice.  We will also publish any proposed changes or additions to publications already available.

Some information is available free, but there may be a nominal charge to cover costs if you require a hard copy of information.

These charges will vary according to how the information is available.

Although individual copies of single items covering a single page will be provided free, a charge will be made to cover the costs of supplying information.

Charges.

1. Website 
   
   Free of charge - You may download any publication that we post on the web site using your own computer.  Charges for the  Internet Service provider and personal printing costs would have to be met by you.
   
   If you do not have access to the  Internet:
1. The Public Libraries have a service you can use.
2. Printouts are available from the practice by writing to the Practice Manager and enclosing a stamped addressed envelope.
1. A single print out from the website will attract a charge of 35p per sheet.
2. Requests for multiple printouts or for archived copies of documents that are no longer accessible or available on the website will attract a charge for retrieval, photocopy and postage etc.  We will let you know the cost and charges that will have to be paid in advance.
3. We are not able to provide printouts of other organisations’ websites.
3. Copying onto electronic media from our own website only will incur a minimum charge of £10 depending on the type of electronic media requested.
2. Leaflets and brochures about our practice are available at the reception desk free of charge for single copies. 
3. Glossy, laminated or other bound paper copies or in some cases a CD ROM, video or other media will be charged for.  We will let you know the cost and charges that will have to be paid in advance.
4. E mail will be free of charge unless otherwise specified in advance.

Any cost incurred for postage will be charged for and you are requested to submit a stamped self addressed envelope with any request for hardcopies to be sent by post.

The charges will be reviewed regularly.

Any enquiries regarding information management in this practice should be referred to the Practice Manager.

USEFUL RESOURCES

Websites :

National Health Service	www.nhs.uk
Department of Health	www.doh.gov.uk
Information Commissionner	www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk
Lord Chancellor’s Department	www.lcd.gov.uk
NHS Freedom of Information	www.foi.nhs.uk
North Devon Primary Care Trust	www.northdevonhealth.nhs.uk
Devon Local Medical Committee	www.devonlmc.org

Publications :

NHS Openness Code	www.doh.gov.uk/nhsexec/codemain.htm
FOI Act 2000	www.legislation.hmso.gov.uk/acts2000/2000036.htm
Code of Practice under Section 45 FOI Act 2000	www.lcd.gov.uk
Code of Practice under Section 46 FOI Act 2000	www.lcd.gov.uk

Statement of Fees & Allowances payable for General Medical Practitioners in England                         http://www.redbook.i12.com/rb/Docs/rb0.htm

NICE best practice guidelines. Available from www.nhs.uk  or www.doh.gov.uk searches

National Service Frameworks. Available from www.nhs.uk  or www.doh.gov.uk searches

COPYRIGHT

Material available through the publications scheme is subject to this Practices copy right 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 that will not mislead. Where items are republished 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

 

 

This template has been produced drawing extensively upon the work of Julia Ellis of Shiphay Manor, Mark Thomas of Walnut Lodge and Trudie Blackburn of Cherrybrook for Torbay Practice Managers Group. We wish to express our thanks to them and to Helen Thorn of Torbay PCT and Mel Pearson of East Devon PCT for their advice and co-operation and to Wendy Eggleton of Blackdown Practice for test driving and suggesting improvements.

Contact Point for Queries : Nicola Heywood, Devon LMC, 01392 834020 or Nicola@devonlmc.org

 

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