Practice Policies

The Information Commissioner recognises the unprecedented challenges the NHS and other health professionals are facing during COVID-19.

The ICO (Information Commissioners Office) also recognise that ‘Public bodies may require additional collection and sharing of personal data to protect against serious threats to public health.’

On 20th March 2020 the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care issued a Notice under Regulation 3(4) of The Health Service (Control of Patient Information) Regulations 2002 requiring organisations such as GP Practices to use your information to help GP Practices and other healthcare organisations to respond to and deal with the COVID-19 pandemic.

In order to look after your healthcare needs during this difficult time, we may urgently need to share your personal information, including medical records, with clinical and non-clinical staff who belong to organisations that are permitted to use your information and need to use it to help deal with the COVID-19 pandemic.  This could (amongst other measures) consist of treating you; and enable us and other healthcare organisations to monitor the disease, assess risk and manage the spread of the disease.

Please be assured that we will only share information and health data that is necessary to meet yours and public healthcare needs.

The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care has also stated that these measures are temporary and will expire on 30th September 2020 unless a further extension is required.

Please also note that the data protection and electronic communication laws do not stop us from sending public health messages to you, either by phone, text or email as these messages are not direct marketing.

It may also be necessary to use your information and health data to facilitate digital consultations and diagnoses and we will always do this with your security in mind.

If you are concerned about how your information is being used, please contact our DPO using mhcc.ig@nhs.net.

Staff and patients

The practice is committed to ensuring that, as far as is reasonably practicable, the way in which we provide services to the public and the way in which we treat our staff reflects their individual needs and does not discriminate against individuals or groups on any grounds.

Equality and Diversity

The practice aims to promote equality and diversity and value the benefits this brings. It is our aim to ensure that all staff feel valued and have a fair and equitable quality of working life.

Human rights

The Practice is committed to the principles contained in the Human Rights Act. We aim to ensure that our employment policies protect the rights and interests of our staff and ensure that they are treated in a fair, dignified and equitable way when employed at the Practice.

Information governance

Any practice policy which impacts on or involves the use and disclosure of personal information (patient or employee) must make reference to and ensure that the content of the policy is comparable with the relevant statutory or legal requirement and ethical standards.

Data Protection Act 1998 and the NHS Confidentiality Code of Practice

The Data Protection Act (DPA) provides a framework which governs the processing of information that identifies living individuals. Processing includes holding, obtaining, recording, using and disclosing of information and the Act applies to all forms of media, including paper and images. It applies to confidential patient information but is far wider in its scope, e.g. it also covers personnel records.

The DPA provides a legal gateway and timetable for the disclosure of personal information to the data subject (e.g. Health Record to a patient, personal file to an employee). Whilst the DPA applies to both patient and employee information, the Confidentiality Code of Practice (COP) applies only to patient information. The COP incorporates the requirements of the DPA and other relevant legislation together with the recommendations of the Caldicott report and medical ethical considerations, in some cases extending statutory requirements and provides detailed specific guidance. This Equal Opportunities and Diversity Policy contains the following sections:

1. Introduction
2. Practice Statement
3. Recruitment and Selection
4. Employee relations
5. Zero Tolerance

Introduction

The practice is committed to equal opportunities and to building a valued workforce whose diversity reflects our community. Our Equality and Diversity Policy takes into account all current UK and EU legislation and guidelines, including codes of practice from the Equality and Human Rights Commission.

This Equality and Diversity Policy has been written in accordance with current best practice and has been updated in line with the Equality Act 2010.

Practice statement

Under the Equality Act 2010, it is against the law for a company to discriminate against anyone on the grounds of colour, age, sex, race/nationality – including citizenship – ethnic or national origins, marital status, civil partnership, disability, sexual orientation, gender reassignment, any religion, or religious or philosophical belief.

It is also possible for employees to claim discrimination on a combination of two of these grounds. Similarly, if employees discriminate against a colleague or patient, the Practice could be held vicariously liable for their acts and be responsible for paying the compensation or damages to the victim of the discrimination.

If the Practice can prove that it has done all that was reasonable to prevent the discriminatory acts from occurring, then its liability can be reduced or eliminated. Having an equal opportunity policy and apprising all staff of its existence is one of the things that a reasonable employer should do. The Practice has the following policies in place which need to be read along with this Equality and Diversity policy:

• Equality Act: Operational Procedures & Policy
• Culture & Religious policy
• Grievance Procedures
• Bullying and Harassment
• Age Discrimination
• Equal Opportunities policy
• Recruitment and Selection Policy
• Training and Development Policy
• Dignity at work
• Being Open Policy
• Information Governance Policy i.e. confidentiality/consent

Recruitment and selection

The practice has implemented a recruitment & selection policy. The objective of this policy is to recruit the best person for a role and outlines the responsibilities of the recruiting managers in complying with legal and locally agreed requirements.

At every stage of the recruitment process, Managers will treat all applicants equally, showing no discrimination on the grounds of their ethnic origin or nationality, disability, gender, gender reassignment, marital status, age, sexual orientation, race, trade union activity or political or religious beliefs. Applicants will be selected against criteria based solely on objective, job-related criteria and their ability to do the job applied for. The Practice will consider providing appropriate assistance to ensure equality for all.

Relevant educational, training and development opportunities are open to all staff and all staff have a personal development plan in place, which must be reviewed annually. Information on education, training and development opportunities is widely publicised, and attendance is monitored for.

Monitoring information is gathered periodically to ensure there are no inequalities in opportunities for promotion.

Employee relations

The Practice has developed several ‘Employee Friendly’ Policies and also has in place Disciplinary, Dignity at Work and Grievance Policies to process employee relations issues. As with any Practice Policy, these are fair and consistent in their manner. Practice policies do not discriminate against anyone on the grounds of colour, age, sex, race/nationality – including citizenship – ethnic or national origins, marital status, civil partnership, disability, sexual orientation, gender reassignment, any religion, or religious or philosophical belief. Instances of harassment under any of the above are treated very seriously and are addressed under the Dignity at Work and Disciplinary Policies.

The ICO has published a new Model Publication Scheme that all public authorities are required to adopt. For more information please visit the ICO website.

This privacy notice tells you what to expect us to do with your personal information.

• Contact details
• What information we collect, use, and why
• Lawful bases and data protection rights
• Where we get personal information from
• How long we keep information
• Who we share information with
• How to complain

Contact details

Phone: 01614342753

What information we collect, use, and why

We collect or use the following personal information for recruitment purposes:

• Contact details (eg name, address, telephone number or personal email address)
• Date of birth
• National Insurance number
• Copies of passports or other photo ID
• Employment history (eg job application, employment references or secondary employment)
• Education history (eg qualifications)
• Right to work information
• Details of any criminal convictions (eg Disclosure Barring Service (DBS), Access NI or Disclosure Scotland checks )
• Security clearance details (eg basic checks and higher security clearance)

Lawful bases and data protection rights

Under UK data protection law, we must have a “lawful basis” for collecting and using your personal information. There is a list of possible lawful bases in the UK GDPR. You can find out more about lawful bases on the ICO’s website.

Which lawful basis we rely on may affect your data protection rights which are set out in brief below. You can find out more about your data protection rights and the exemptions which may apply on the ICO’s website:

• Your right of access – You have the right to ask us for copies of your personal information. You can request other information such as details about where we get personal information from and who we share personal information with. There are some exemptions which means you may not receive all the information you ask for. Read more about the right of access.
• Your right to rectification – You have the right to ask us to correct or delete personal information you think is inaccurate or incomplete. Read more about the right to rectification.
• Your right to erasure – You have the right to ask us to delete your personal information. Read more about the right to erasure.
• Your right to restriction of processing – You have the right to ask us to limit how we can use your personal information. Read more about the right to restriction of processing.
• Your right to object to processing – You have the right to object to the processing of your personal data. Read more about the right to object to processing.
• Your right to data portability – You have the right to ask that we transfer the personal information you gave us to another organisation, or to you. Read more about the right to data portability.
• Your right to withdraw consent – When we use consent as our lawful basis you have the right to withdraw your consent at any time. Read more about the right to withdraw consent.

If you make a request, we must respond to you without undue delay and in any event within one month.

To make a data protection rights request, please contact us using the contact details at the top of this privacy notice.

Our lawful bases for the collection and use of your data

Our lawful bases for collecting or using personal information for recruitment purposes are:

• Consent – we have permission from you after we gave you all the relevant information. All of your data protection rights may apply, except the right to object. To be clear, you do have the right to withdraw your consent at any time.
• Contract – we have to collect or use the information so we can enter into or carry out a contract with you. All of your data protection rights may apply except the right to object.
• Legal obligation – we have to collect or use your information so we can comply with the law. All of your data protection rights may apply, except the right to erasure, the right to object and the right to data portability.

Where we get personal information from

• Directly from you
• Regulatory authorities
• Relevant regulatory authorities
• Previous employers

How long we keep information

We keep personal information in line with the NHS Records Management Code of Practice. Retention periods depend on the type of record and the purpose for which it is held.

Recruitment records for unsuccessful applicants are kept for up to 6 months after the recruitment process ends.

Recruitment records for successful applicants are transferred to the staff personnel file.

Staff personnel records are kept for 6 years after employment ends.

Right to work checks are kept for the duration of employment and for 2 years after employment ends.

Disclosure and Barring Service certificates are not retained for longer than 6 months. We keep a record of the check outcome and reference number for safeguarding and audit purposes.

Payroll and pension records are kept in accordance with HMRC and NHS pension requirements.

Where records are no longer required, they are securely destroyed.

For more information on how long we store your personal information or the criteria we use to determine this please contact us using the details provided above.

Who we share information with

Others we share personal information with

• Organisations we’re legally obliged to share personal information with

Duty of confidentiality

We are subject to a common law duty of confidentiality. However, there are circumstances where we will share relevant health and care information. These are where:

• you’ve provided us with your consent (we have taken it as implied to provide you with care, or you have given it explicitly for other uses);
• we have a legal requirement (including court orders) to collect, share or use the data;
• on a case-by-case basis, the public interest to collect, share and use the data overrides the public interest served by protecting the duty of confidentiality (for example sharing information with the police to support the detection or prevention of serious crime);
• If in England or Wales – the requirements of The Health Service (Control of Patient Information) Regulations 2002 are satisfied; or
• If in Scotland – we have the authority to share provided by the Chief Medical Officer for Scotland, the Chief Executive of NHS Scotland, the Public Benefit and Privacy Panel for Health and Social Care or other similar governance and scrutiny process.

National data opt-out

We comply with England’s national data opt-out because we’re using confidential patient information for purposes beyond individual care. To find out more or to register your choice to opt out, please visit www.nhs.uk/your-nhs-data-matters.

How to complain

If you have any concerns about our use of your personal data, you can make a complaint to us using the contact details at the top of this privacy notice.

If you remain unhappy with how we’ve used your data after raising a complaint with us, you can also complain to the ICO.

The ICO’s address:

Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF

Helpline number: 0303 123 1113

Website: www.ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint

The practice fully supports the NHS Zero Tolerance Policy. The aim of this policy is to tackle the increasing problem of violence against staff working in the NHS and ensures that doctors and all other staff have a right to care for others without fear of being attacked or abused. We understand that ill patients do not always act in a reasonable manner and will take this into consideration when trying to deal with a misunderstanding or complaint.

We ask you to treat your doctors, other patients, and all other staff courteously and act reasonably. All incidents will be followed up and you will be sent a formal warning after a second incident or removed from the practice list after a third incident if your behaviour has been unreasonable.

However, aggressive behaviour, be it violent or verbally abusive, will not be tolerated and may result in you being removed from The practice list and, in extreme cases, the Police will be contacted if an incident is taking place and the patient is posing a threat to staff or other patients.

Al Shifa Medical Centre has a strict Zero Tolerance Policy. Our policy extends to but is not limited to homophobia, racism, transphobia, biphobia, misogyny, harassment, classism and xenophobia.

In order for the practice to maintain good relations with its patients the practice would like to ask all its patients to read and take note of the occasional types of behaviour that would be found unacceptable:

• Using bad language or swearing at practice staff
• Any physical violence towards any member of the Primary Health Care Team or
  other patients, such as pushing or shoving
• Verbal abuse towards the staff in any form including verbally insulting the staff
• Racial abuse and sexual harassment will not be tolerated within this practice
• Persistent or unrealistic demands that cause stress to staff will not be accepted.
  Requests will be met wherever possible and explanations are given when they
  cannot
• Causing damage/stealing from the Practice’s premises, staff or patients
• Obtaining drugs and/or medical services fraudulently
• We ask you to treat your GPs and their staff courteously at all times.
• It also extends further to include but is not limited to:
• Ableism – Prejudice in favour of able-bodied people
• Transphobia – Hostility to, prejudice, or discrimination against transgender or gender nonconforming people.
• Queerphobia – Hostility to, prejudice, or discrimination against anyone identifying as queer and
  any and all coinciding discrimination.
• Biphobia – Hostility to, prejudice, or discrimination against bisexual people.
• Ace/Aro phobia – Hostility to, prejudice, or discrimination against asexual or aromantic people.
• Racism – Hostility to, prejudice, or discrimination against someone based on their race.
• Islamophobia – Hostility to, prejudice, or discrimination against Islam or Muslims, especially as a political force.
• Xenophobia – Dislike of or prejudice against people from other countries and/or of different nationalities
• Misogyny – Dislike of, contempt for, or ingrained prejudice against women
• Sexism – Hostility to, prejudice, or discrimination typically against women, on the basis of sex.
• Classism – Hostility to, prejudice, or discrimination against people belonging to a particular social class, typically of a low socioeconomic class.
• Transmisogyny – The intersection of transphobia and misogyny. Misogyny is specifically targeted toward trans women and trans feminine people on the basis of their gender identity.
• Misogynoir – This is defined as misogyny directed towards black women where race and
  gender both play roles in bias. It was coined by queer black feminist Moya Bailey,
  who created the term to address misogyny directed toward black women in
  American visual and popular culture.
• Anti-semitism – Hostility to, prejudice, or discrimination against Jewish people
• Homophobia – Hostility to, prejudice, or discrimination against homosexual people.

A good patient-doctor relationship, based on mutual respect and trust, is the cornerstone of good patient care. The removal of patients from our list is an exceptional and rare event and is a last resort in an impaired patient-practice relationship. When trust has irretrievably broken down, it is in the patient’s interest, just as much as that of The Practice, that they should find a new practice. An exception to this is on immediate removal on the grounds of violence e.g. when the Police are involved.

In rare cases, however, because of the possible need to visit patients at home, it may be necessary to terminate responsibility for other members of the family or the entire
household. The prospect of visiting patients where a relative who is no longer a patient of the practice by virtue of their unacceptable behaviour resides, or being regularly confronted by the removed patient, may make it too difficult for the practice to continue to look after the whole family. This is particularly likely where the patient has been removed because of violence or threatening behaviour and keeping the other family members could put doctorsor other staff at risk.