Practice Information Leaflets
RWT PCN and our practices complies with data protection and access to medical 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 district nurses and hospital services. To help you 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 cases anonymised patient information will also be used at local and national level to help the Health Board and Government plan services e.g. for diabetic care.
If you do not wish anonymous information about you to be used in such a way, please let us know.
Reception and administration staff require access to your medical records in order to do their jobs. These members of staff are bound by the same rules of confidentiality as the medical staff.
For more information, you can view RWT’s Privacy Notice here.
The Freedom of Information Act gives you the legal power to request any information that the PCN holds. This may be minutes of meetings, access to services requirements or how the PCN has spent money. The purpose of the Act is to promote greater openness by public authorities, of which The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust is one. If you are looking for a specific piece of information about the Trust, PCN or about yourself, this section will also provide you with the contact details and explain how you can gain access to certain types of information.
The Freedom of Information Act does not change the right of patients to protection of their information in accordance with Article 8 of the Human Rights Act 1998, the General Data Protection Regulations 2016, Data Protection Act 2018 and in common law. Maintaining the legal right to patient confidentiality continues to be an important commitment on our part.
What is a Publication Scheme?
Under Section 19 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, the RWT has a legal duty to adopt and maintain a Publication Scheme. The Information Commissioners Office (ICO) are responsible for monitoring and enforcing the Freedom of Information Act 2000. The ICO has drawn up what is called a Model Publication Scheme as guidance for all public sector organisations which has 7 classes of information.
This Publication Scheme is a complete guide to the information routinely published by The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust. It is a description of information about our Trust which we make publicly available. We shall review the Scheme at regular intervals and monitor how it is operating. Please note, whilst we are trying to ensure as much information is available, we are still required to consider any of the exemptions for release under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
We have ensured most of the information is routinely available. However, should you not locate what you are looking for, please contact the Trust’s Freedom of Information Officer;
Freedom of Information Officer
The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust
Governance and Legal Department
The New Cross Hospital
Wolverhampton
WV10 0QP
Email: rwh-tr.foi@nhs.net
You have a right to see or have copies of any information held by the Trust that relates to you free of charge. We have the right to charge an administration fee in situations where repeated requests are received for the same information or the request is excessive. You will be required to prove your identity when making requests. No information will be released without the patient consent unless we are legally obliged to do so.
Subject Access Requests under GDPR rules (post 25 May 18) will be processed within 30 days. However, once our teams have established the volume of records requested there may be a requirement to extended this up to a further 2 months. We will contact you within 30 days should this be the case.
To request access to health records please complete a Subject Access Request form, link provided below, and forward on to:
Health Records Access Team
Health Records Library
Location B19
New Cross Hospital
Wednesfield Road
Wolverhampton
WV10 0QP
Email: rwh-tr.healthrecordsaccess@nhs.net
Telephone: 01902 307999 Extension 85544/85545/88093
Subject Access Request form (PDF, 171Kb)
Subject Access Request form (Word, 54Kb)
The Health Records Access Team also deal with the Health Records of deceased persons.
Access to the health records of a deceased person is governed by the Access to Health Records Act (1990). Under this legislation when a patient has died, only their personal representative, executor or administrator of their will, or anyone having a claim resulting from the death (this could be a relative or another person), has the right to apply for access to the deceased’s health records.
Access to Health Records Request form (PDF, 111Kb)
All UK residents are entitled to the services of an NHS GP. You can register with any local surgery provided you are within the catchment area, and the surgery has vacancies for new patients. You have a right to change your surgery anytime, with no need to provide any explanation. If we have to remove you from our list, for instance if you move out of the practice area, then we have to notify the local CCG and let you know why – this does not take effect immediately, so you have time to find a new GP (the only exception is that we remove violent or abusive patients with immediate effect).
We are expected to check whether new patients registering are eligible for NHS treatment, so please don’t be offended if we have to ask questions related to this.
The NHS operate a zero tolerance policy with regard to violence and abuse and the practice has the right to remove violent patients from the list with immediate effect in order to safeguard practice staff, patients and other persons. Violence in this context includes actual or threatened physical violence or verbal abuse which leads to fear for a person’s safety. In this situation we will notify the patient in writing of their removal from the list and record in the patient’s medical records the fact of the removal and the circumstances leading to it.
All patients have a named allocated GP – please contact the practice if you are unsure who this is and would like to find out, and/or request a specific GP.
RWT PCN is committed to providing high standards of care and service. However, we know that, as in any other organisation, things can go wrong. If there is something that you are not happy with, please let us know so that we can try to put matters right. You can write to us, call us, email us or complete the online form.
Patient Experience Team
Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust
New Cross Hospital
Zone C, location C2
Wolverhampton Road
Wolverhampton
WV10 0QP
Telephone
Please keep us informed every time you change address or telephone number. It would be helpful if you provide both a mobile and landline number in the event we need to contact you more urgently. If you are a student, please let us know your home address so we are able to contact you during holidays.
It is very helpful if you are a student to also let us know your home address during holidays.
If you are registered with a GP practice in England, you will have a Summary Care Record (SCR) unless you have chosen not to have one. Your SCR contains the following basic information:
It also includes your name, address, date of birth and unique NHS Number which helps to identify you correctly.
An SCR is used in a number of healthcare settings and will provide healthcare professionals with any information they wouldn’t otherwise have. For example, when you’re visiting an urgent care centre or being admitted to a hospital, staff could view your SCR and discover you are on a particular medication or have allergies.
Can I add more information to my Summary Care Record?
You can choose to add any information to your SCR that you think will help improve your care. This can be of particular benefit to patients with detailed and complex health problems. You and/or your carer should discuss anything you wish to add with your GP.
If you are a parent or guardian of a child under 16 and feel that your child is able to understand this information you should show it to them. You can then support them in the decision to maintain an SCR and whether to include additional information.
Who can access or view my SCR?
Only authorised healthcare professionals directly involved in your care can access your SCR. Your SCR will not be used for any other purposes. The person viewing your SCR needs to have an NHS Smartcard with a chip and passcode will only see the information they need to do their job will have their details recorded every time they look at your record.
In addition, the healthcare professional must seek your permission if they need to look at your SCR. If they cannot ask you because you are unconscious or otherwise unable to communicate, they may decide to look at your record because doing so is in your best interest. This access is recorded and checked RWT to ensure it is appropriate.
