Access To Patient Information & Confidentiality

All patient information is totally confidential to that patient and information can only be released to other persons with a signed agreement of consent for the release of information. This also applied to young persons where appropriate.

All doctors and staff employed at the surgery are bound by confidentiality undertakings not to divulge any information whatsoever about patients. Similarly staff employed by the Central Manchester PCT and other Health Agencies in Manchester have signed similar undertakings.

Confidentiality also includes us not divulging that someone is a patient at the surgery or has an appointment or has attended the surgery and reception staff will not confirm whether a patient has or has not attended an appointment at this surgery.

From time to time it is necessary for audits to be conducted and in these circumstances individual personal details are removed from the audit summary before the results are released.

Paper medical records are kept securely in locked stores or cabinets outside surgery opening hours. Computerised medical records are currently only accessed via the surgery computer network by approved staff who have individual access rights both to the network and the clinical information system via their own individual passwords.

Patient information which has to be faxed is sent and received via a Safe Haven Fax Machine which is a fax machine kept in a secure locked area, where only approved staff have access.