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Introduction

We strive to offer as many face-to-face appointments to our patients.  In order to do this, we need to have strict guidelines in place to fully utilise every available appointment.

Where patients have been declined routine appointments, because consultations are fully booked, it is disappointing when one of these booked appointments does not turn up, or fails to answer the telephone call, and has not contacted the practice to cancel the appointment so that it can be released for others.

The management team monitor DNAs. A number of DNAs are incurred every month, and they are slowly increasing.

In light of this we have introduced this policy; Did Not Attend (DNA) for our patients.

DNA Policy

A DNA occurs when an appointment is not attended and the patient has not contacted the practice in advance to cancel it or where the cancellation is so late as to make it impossible to allocate that time to another patient who needs treatment.

An appointment is not attended when:

• a patient fails to arrive at a face-to-face appointment;

• a patient fails to cancel an appointment 3 hours before the appointment time

• a patient fails to answer their telephone after two attempts at calling by the clinician

A failed appointment will incur a fee equal to the price to be paid by the patient only at the appointment.  Currently the patient will not be liable for the full fee of the appointment i.e. inclusive of ESSH benefits such as HIO rebate.

If a patient fails to cancel the appointment 3 hours before the appointment time the appointment fee will be applied to the account.

What can I do to cancel my appointment?

Please let us know as soon as possible.

We would like at least 24 hours’ notice, but we know this is not always possible, so please try and let us know at least 3 hours ahead of your scheduled appointment time.

Letting us know as soon as possible allows us to rebook another patient into that time slot.

You can inform us by telephoning 01534 833 833 or via email on castlequay@castlequay.gpnet.je

Children who fail to attend

Awareness is to be given to children who fail to attend an appointment.

Whilst all missed appointments have traditionally been classified as a “Did Not Attend”, not attendance of a child is classified as “Was Not Brought” as it is not a child’s responsibility to attend the appointment; it is the responsibility of their parents or carers to take them.  As such, awareness must be given to this and the consideration that this could be termed as medical neglect.

Actions needed for a “Was Not Brought”

Any non-attendance by a child to their medical appointment will trigger a letter that needs to be sent to the parent or carer to ascertain the reasons behind the non- attendance.  Any response from the parent or guardian will also be noted in the patient’s clinical record.

All missed appointments are flagged with the safeguarding lead.

A child who misses a vaccination, is referred to the Childhood Vaccinations and Immunisations team.

The Team at Castle Quay Medical Practice pride ourselves on offering a friendly, welcoming and professional service to all our patients.

However, if you have any concerns about any aspect of our services, please let us know. Your views and opinions are important to us and help us evolve and improve the patient experience.

Please speak to whomever you feel most comfortable – your GP, our Practice Manager or our reception staff will be happy to help.

In the majority of cases, concerns can be resolved quite easily. We have a complaints process which our staff are happy to discuss with you or you can email our practice manager on m.kenny@castlequay.gpnet.je and she will get back to you as soon as possible.

You can also go to our website www.castlequaymp.co.uk and offer us your compliments, concerns and comments by using our patient satisfaction survey.

If you feel we have not listened to you or we have not dealt with the issues you have raised as you would wish, you can contact the Primary Care Governance Team who are based at Maison le Pape, The Parade, St Helier JE2 3PU and can be emailed at pcgt@health.gov.je

• Complaints Policy

Data Protection and Patient Privacy Policy – Patient Information

Who we are?

Castle Quay Medical Practice employs more than 34 staff and operates from Castle Quay.

Our Practice is registered with the Office of the Information Commissioner (OICJ) to process personal and special categories of information under the Data Protection (Jersey) Law 2018 and our registration number is 19736.

Why we collect personal information about you?

Our clinical and administration team caring for you will need to collect and maintain information about your health, treatment and care, so that you can be given the best possible healthcare from us. This personal information may be held in a variety of formats, including paper records, electronically on computer systems, in pictures, video or audio files.

 What is our legal basis for processing your personal information?

Any personal information we hold about you is processed for the purposes of ‘Employment and Social Fields’ (Article 8) ‘Medical Purposes’ (Article 15) and ‘Public Health’ (Article 16) of the Data Protection (Jersey) Law 2018.

For further information on this legislation please visit: oicjersey.org/data-protection-new-law/

What personal information do we need to collect about you and how do we obtain it?

Personal information about you is collected in a number of ways. This can be from registration forms, referral details from our clinical or administration team, other third party healthcare providers or hospitals, directly from you or your authorised representative.

We will likely hold the following basic personal information about you: your name, address (including correspondence), telephone numbers, date of birth, emergency contact and next of kin contacts, etc. We might also hold your email address, marital status, occupation, residency status, place of birth and preferred name or previous name(s).

In addition to the above, we may hold sensitive personal information about you which may include:

• Notes and reports about your health, treatment and care, including:
• your medical conditions
• results of investigations, such as x-rays and laboratory tests
• future care you may need
• personal information from people who care for and know you, such as relatives and health or social care professionals
• other personal information such as smoking status, alcohol intake and any disabilities
• Your religion and ethnic origin
• Your identified gender or sexual orientation
• Whether or not you are subject to any protection orders regarding your health, wellbeing and human rights (Safeguarding status).

It is important for us to have a complete picture of you as this will assist staff to deliver appropriate treatment and care plans in accordance with your needs.

What do we do with your personal information?

Your records are used to directly, manage and deliver healthcare to you to ensure that:

• The staff involved in your care have accurate and up to date information to assess and advise on the most appropriate care for you.
• Staff have the information they need to be able to assess and improve the quality and type of care you receive.
• Appropriate information is available if you see another healthcare professional, or are referred to a specialist or another part of the Jersey Health Service, social care or other health provider in Jersey, UK or elsewhere.
  
  What we may do with your personal information?

The personal information we collect about you may also be used to:

• Remind you about your appointments and send you relevant correspondence.
• Review the care we provide to ensure it is of the highest standard and quality, e.g. through audit or service improvement;
• Support the funding of your care, e.g. with commissioning organisations;
• Prepare statistics on Primary Care performance to meet the needs of the population or for the Health Department and or other regulatory bodies;
• Help to train and educate healthcare professionals;
• Report and investigate complaints, claims and untoward incidents;
• Report events to the appropriate authorities when we are required to do so by law;
• Contact you with regards to patient satisfaction surveys relating to services you have used within our organisation so as to further improve our services to patients

Where possible, we will always look to anonymise/pseudonymise your personal information so as to protect patient confidentiality, unless there is a legal basis that permits us to use it and we will only use/share the minimum information necessary.

Who do we share your personal information with and why?

We may need to share relevant personal information with other healthcare organisations. For example, we may share your information for healthcare purposes with health authorities such as Jersey Health Department, Social Security Department, NHS UK, Out of Hours Service, other general practitioners (GPs), ambulance services, private consultants, primary or secondary care service providers, etc. We will also share information with other parts of the Jersey Health Department and those contracted to provide services to the Health Department in order to support your healthcare needs. We may need to share information from your health records with other non-Health Department organisations from which you elect to or are also receiving care from, such as Social Services, private consultants, secondary care providers or private care homes. However, we will not disclose any health information to third parties without your explicit consent unless there are circumstances, such as when the health or safety of others is at risk or where current legislation permits or requires it. There are occasions where the Practice may be required by law to share information provided to us with other bodies responsible for auditing or administering public funds, in order to prevent and detect fraud. There may also be situations where we are under a duty to share your information, due to a legal requirement. This includes, but is not limited to, disclosure under a court order, sharing with the Jersey Primary Care Governance Team for inspection purposes, the police for the prevention or detection of crime or where there is an overriding public interest to prevent abuse or serious harm to others and other public bodies (e.g. Social Security for the misuse of public funds in order to prevent and detect fraud).

For any request to transfer your data internationally outside Jersey or the UK/EU, we will make sure that an adequate level of protection is satisfied before the transfer.

The Practice is required to protect your personal information, inform you of how your personal information will be used, and allow you to decide if and how your personal information can be shared. Personal information you provide to the Practice in confidence will only be used for the purposes explained to you and to which you have consented. Unless, there are exceptional circumstances, such as when the health or safety of others is at risk, where the law requires it or there is an overriding public interest to do so. Where there is cause to do this, the Practice will always do its best to notify you of this sharing.

How we maintain your records?

Your personal information is held in both paper and electronic forms for specified periods of time as set out in the Information Government Alliance Records Management Code of Practice for Health and Social Care. Whilst this is UK legislation for NHS Providers, it is used in Jersey as a ‘Best Practice Solution’ in the void of our own similar procedures.

We hold and process your information in accordance with the Data Protection (Jersey) Law 2018 and where appropriate the General Data Protection Regulation. In addition, everyone working for our Practice must comply with the Contractual Duty of Confidentiality and various national and professional standards and requirements.

We have a duty to:

• maintain full and accurate records of the care we provide to you;
• keep records about you confidential and secure;
• provide information in a format that is accessible to you.

Use of Email/SMS Text/Other Electronic Communications: Some services in the Practice provide the option to communicate with patients via email, SMS text or other electronic communications. Please be aware that the Practice cannot guarantee the security of this information whilst in transit, and by requesting this service you accepting this risk.

What are your rights?

If we need to use your personal information for any reasons beyond those stated above, we will discuss this with you and ask for your explicit consent. The Data Protection (Jersey) Law 2018 gives you certain rights, including the right to:

• Request access to the personal data we hold about you, e.g. in health records. The way in which you can access your own health records is further explained in our “patient access to medical records policy and request form” which is on our website: castlequaymp.co.uk
• Request the correction of inaccurate or incomplete information recorded in our health records, subject to certain safeguards.
• Refuse/withdraw consent to the sharing of your health records: Under the Data Protection (Jersey) Law 2018, we are authorised for the purposes of ‘Employment and Social Fields’ (Article 8) ‘Medical Purposes’ (Article 15) and ‘Public Health’ (Article 16). Your consent will only be required if we intend to share your health records beyond these purposes, as explained above (e.g. research). Any consent form you will be asked to sign will give you the option to ‘refuse’ consent and will explain how you can ‘withdraw’ any given consent at a later time. The consent form will also warn you about the possible consequences of such refusal/withdrawal.
• Request your personal information to be transferred to other providers on certain occasions.
• Object to the use of your personal information: In certain circumstances you may also have the right to ‘object’ to the processing (i.e. sharing) of your information where the sharing would be for a purpose beyond your care and treatment (e.g. as part of a local data sharing initiative).
• We will always try to keep your information confidential and only share information when absolutely necessary.

If you wish to raise a complaint on how we have handled your personal data, you can contact our Data Protection Officer who will investigate the matter and respond to you accordingly where appropriate.

Who is the Practice Information Governance Lead?
Please Contact:

Dr Nigel Minihane     Senior Partner      Email:Castlequay@gpnet.je
Castle Quay Medical Practice, La Rue De L’Etau
St Helier, JE2 3EH

Who is the Data Protection Officer?
Please Contact:

Michelle Le Verdier, Practice Manager,
Castle Quay Medical Practice,
La Rue De L’Etau,
St Helier,
JE2 3EH

Email: M.leverdier@castlequay.gpnet.je
Telephone: 01534 833 833

 How to contact the Information Commissioners Office

The Office of the Information Commissioner Jersey (OICJ) is the body that regulates the Practice under Data Protection and Freedom of Information legislation. oicjersey.org/. If you are not satisfied with our response or believe we are processing your personal data not in accordance with the law you can complain to the OIC at:

Office of the Information Commissioner
Brunel House, Old Street
St Helier, Jersey
JE2 3RG
Email: Email: Enquiries@oicjersey.org  Telephone: 01534716530

Transferring to another practice

If you decide at any time and for whatever reason to transfer to another practice we will transfer your medical records to your new doctor on receipt of your signed consent from your new doctor.

We hope this information has explained any issues that might arise. If you have any questions please speak to your doctor, any member of the administration team or alternatively ask to speak to the practice manager Michelle Le Verdier.

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Whilst every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of the information contained within this website, nothing contained is intended to constitute advice of any sort, whether legal or otherwise and the basis on which you acquire or make use of any information is that the information is suitable for use by you in conjunction with proper advice as to its application and adaptation for your particular requirements.

We will not have any liability to you at all if you use any information without obtaining appropriate advice. By using the Website you agree that in no circumstance shall Castle Quay Medical be liable for any indirect, incidental, special or consequential damages, including, but not limited to, loss of business or profits or any other financial loss, arising out of or in any way connected with the use of the Website or its information, under any law or on any basis whatsoever whether contractual or otherwise.

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Alteration of Terms and Conditions

We reserve the right to alter the Terms and Conditions from time to time.

Entire Agreement

This Agreement constitutes the entire agreement between us concerning its subject matter.

Severance

If any provision of this Agreement is held to be invalid or unenforceable, such provision shall be struck out and the remaining provisions shall remain in force.

General

Your statutory rights are not affected.

Jurisdiction

This Agreement shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of Jersey, and each of the parties submits to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of Jersey.