Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002

Welcome to the Howden Medical Group General Practitioner’s Publication Scheme. This is a guide to the General Practitioners’ (who practice together) within the partnership/single practice Publication Scheme as required under section 23 of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002.

Howden Medical Group, Howden Health Centre, Howden Road West , Livingston, EH54 6TP.

• Tim Barnes  MB ChB, MRCGP, DRCOG, DFFP

• Christina Hennessey  MB ChB, MRCGP, DRCOG              

• David Maxwell  MB ChB, FPcert

• Alison Middleton  MB ChB, MRCGP, DFFP

• Assif Ali  MB ChB, MRCGP, DRCOG

• Zaw-Htet  MB ChB, MRCGP, DRCOG

Introduction

Under Section 23 of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (The Act), a ‘public authority’, which is defined as including General Practitioners, must prepare a publication scheme setting out the information it routinely makes publicly available.  The British Medical Association Model Publication Scheme for General Practitioners in Scotland has been approved by the Scottish Information Commissioner who is responsible for promoting and enforcing the Act.  In addition we have to review the scheme from time to time.

This Publication Scheme is a complete guide to the information routinely made available to the public by Howden Medical Group.  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. In adopting (or reviewing) our publication scheme, we are required to have regard to the public interest in:

1. Allowing public access to information we hold; and
2. The publication of reasons for the decisions we make.

Freedom Of Information Contact Details

The Model Publication Scheme

Overall responsibility for the Model Publication Scheme developed by the British Medical Association for adoption by General Practitioners in Scotland rests with the British Medical Association.  This Model Publication Scheme will be subject to review by the British Medical Association and we welcome comments.  Electronic copies of this Model Publication Scheme may be downloaded from the Scottish General Practitioners pages of the British Medical Association website at www.bma.org.uk or paper copies will be available on written request to the Secretary of the Scottish General Practitioners Committee of the British Medical Association.  The point of contact for further information or comments relating to the Model Publication Scheme is:

Ms Carrie Young
Secretary
Scottish General Practitioners Committee
British Medical Association
14 Queen Street
Edinburgh
EH2 1LL 

Tel: 0131 247 3000
Fax: 0131 247 3001            

Practice information under the scheme

Our General Practice has formally adopted the British Medical Association Model Publication Scheme for General Practitioners in Scotland and for all enquiries relating to practice information which is contained in this scheme please contact:

Jacqui Crosbie, Practice Manager
Howden Medical Group
Howden Health Centre
Howden Road West
Livingston
West Lothian EH54 6TP

Tel: 01506 423 800
Fax: 01506 460 757

Feedback

If you have any comments about the operation of the Publication Scheme, or how we have dealt with your request for information from the Scheme, please write to:

Jacqui Crosbie, Practice Manager
Howden Medical Group
Howden Health Centre
Howden Road West
Livingston
West Lothian EH54 6TP

Tel: 01506 423 800
Fax: 01506 460 757

If we are unable to resolve any complaint, you can complain to the Scottish Information Commissioner who oversees the Act and whose contact details are below.  From 1 January 2005, when the general right of access comes into force, there will be a formal appeal mechanism to deal with situations where information is withheld. 

FOI enquiries should be addressed to:

Kevin Dunion OBE
Scottish Information Commissioner
Kinburn Castle
Doubledykes Road
St Andrews
Fife
KY16 9DS

Tel: 01334 464610

enquiries@itspublicknowledge.info       www.itspublicknowledge.info

Your rights to information

• The Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 recognises that members of the public have the right to know how public services are organised and run, how much they cost and how the decisions are made.

• From January 1st 2005 the General Practice will be obliged to respond to requests about recorded information that it holds.  The Act creates a right of access to that information, subject to certain exemptions listed in the Act.

• New environmental information regulations will be introduced in January 2005. These will enable similar access to environmental information as under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002.

• Under the Data Protection Act 1998, you are also entitled to access your clinical records or any other personal information held about you and you can contact Jacqui Crosbie, Practice Manager, Howden Medical Group, Howden Health Centre, Howden Road West, Livingston, EH54 6TP to do this.

How is the information made available?

The information within each Class is available in hard copy.

Other formats/accessibility of information

 Where possible the practice will take all reasonable steps to endeavour to meet requests to provide information in accessible formats.

CLASSES OF INFORMATION

Section 23(2)a of The Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 states that a publication scheme must specify the classes of information which authorities publish or intend to publish under the scheme. The Scottish Information Commissioner has clarified in guidance on publication schemes (under paragraph 6) that ‘class’ can be defined as ‘a group of information having one or more common characteristics, such as the subject or source of origin.’ The Scottish Information Commissioner’s guidance also notes that ‘a class of information is not the same as the actual documents which will appear in the class, although in certain cases it is possible that a class will only contain one document.’

 All information at the Howden Medical Group is held, retained and destroyed in accordance with NHS guidelines. Our commitment to publish information excludes any information which can legitimately be withheld under the exemptions set out in the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002. Where individual classes of information are subject to exemptions, the main reasons for this relate to the protection of commercial interests and personal information under the Data Protection Act 1998.  Consequently, we may withhold information if its disclosure would breach confidentiality or seriously prejudice the commercial interests of any person or organisation.  We may also withhold information which is personal information under the Data Protection Act 1998. In these cases, we will indicate why the information is being withheld.  If you wish to complain about information which is being withheld from you, please read the Complaints section below and also refer to the previous ‘Feedback’ paragraph in this Model Publication Scheme, as this gives the contact details of a senior person in the practice who has overall responsibility for the operation of the scheme. This applies to all Classes within the Publication Scheme.

The information in this Scheme is grouped into the following classes:         

1. Who we are

• Details of the practice, organisational structures, key personnel and how we fit into the NHS.

• The NHS is a very large part of the public sector.  A full list of local General Practices can be found on Lothian NHS Board website @ Lothian.health.scot.nhs.uk.

• The Howden Medical Group General Practice provides primary medical services for the geographical area of Howden, Ladywell, Eliburn and Livingston Village.

Further  information and a map can be found in the Practice Information Booklet or Practice website.

2. Our services

The range of services we provide under contract to the NHS  and the standards we follow in delivering services to patients.

• A list of services provided by the Practice can be found in the Practice Information Booklet. 

• Some of the services involve sharing information with other agencies.  The practice policy on sharing this information can be found in the Practice Information Booklet or Practice website under the heading “Use And Disclosure Of Health Information”. 

• The practice opening hours can be found in the Practice Information Booklet or Practice website. 

• Details of the practice out of hours cover can be found in the Practice Information Booklet or Practice website. 

• The doctors in the practice speak English. In addition Dr Barnes speaks French, and Dr Ali speaks Urdu.  Interpreters can be requested if required. 

• Dr Ali has a special interest in dermatology and minor surgery. 

• This practice provides primary medical services to the standard laid down in the NHS (Primary Medical Services Section 17C Agreements) (Scotland) Regulations 2004 and the range of services we provide are contained within the Practice Leaflet or Practice website. 

• This Practice participates in the Quality and Outcomes Framework established under the new GMS contract which was introduced on 1 April 2004, and which includes target payments for immunisation and cervical screening. 

• This practice aims to take into account NHS Quality Improvement Scotland standards and guidance, SIGN guidelines relevant to general practice and Scottish Executive Health Department service strategies and frameworks.  

• Practitioners are registered with the General Medical Council and follow the standards and good medical practice guidelines laid down by the GMC, including the requirements set out in the GMC guidance ‘Duties of a Doctor’. 

• This is an approved training practice. 

• This practice has met RCGP Scotland Quality Practice Award.

3. Financial and funding information

• Funding details and charging policies. 

• We received £984,611 from NHS sources during our financial year ended 31st March 2004.

• We make no charge for NHS services.

4. Regular publications, promotional and advisory leaflets

The practice produces a Practice Information Leaflet which is updated regularly and is available from the patient waiting areas or on request from reception.

5. Complaints

 The practice has a complaints procedure in line with national guidelines. A copy can be obtained from reception.

6. Our policies and procedures

General policies and procedures in use within the practice and appropriate policies which inform decision making processes within the practice which are of importance to the public. These include, but are not restricted to, data protection, prescribing and prescription, health and safety.  We make changes to our services on the basis of instructions received from the NHS Board. A copy of any policy or procedure can be obtained on request from Jacqui Crosbie, Practice Manager.

Cost of Information

For the most part, we will charge you only for hard copies. Some information is available free, but in some cases there may be a charge. The charges will vary according to how information is made available. Charges are as follows:

a)  Via the General Practice website www.howdenmedical.co.uk free of charge, although any charges for Internet Service provider and personal printing costs would have to be met by the individual.

For those without Internet access, a single print-out as on the website would be available by post from Jacqui Crosbie, Practice Manager or by personal application to Howden Medical Group, Howden Health Centre, Howden Road West, Livingston, West Lothian EH54 6TP.  However, requests for multiple printouts, or for archived copies of documents  which are no longer accessible or available on the web, may attract a charge for photocopying and postage.  We will let you know the cost and charges that will have to be paid in advance. We will not provide printouts of other organisation’s websites.

b) Information provided via e-mail will be free of charge.

c) Where information is available subject to a fee, such as the charge per sheet of photocopying the fee will be 33p per copy. The practice will, wherever possible, let people making the request for such information know in advance how much a document would cost, taking into account any total copying charges for the document. The charges will be reviewed regularly and this scheme updated.

Useful Resources

Web sites:

www.itspublicknowledge.info

This is the web site of the Scottish Information Commissioner.

www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk

This is the web site of the Information Commissioner.

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/?pageID=198

This is the Scottish Executive Freedom of Information web site.

http://www.show.scot.nhs.uk/confidentiality/information_commissioner.htm

This is the NHS Scotland Confidentiality and Data Protection web site.

Publications

FOI  (Scotland) Act 2002  http://www.hmso.gov.uk/legislation/scotland/acts2002/20020013.htm

FOI (Scotland) Act 2002 - Section 23: Publication Scheme and Section 24: Model Publication Scheme http://www.hmso.gov.uk/legislation/scotland/acts2002/20013--b.htm#23

Code of Practice to FOI (Scotland) Act 2002 http://www.hmso.gov.uk/legislation/scotland/acts2002/20013--g.htm#60

Scottish Health on the Web  www.show.scot.nhs.uk

Comprehensive information on the General Medical Services contract, including contract documentation can be found at the Scottish Executive Health Department Pay Modernisation website http://www.show.scot.nhs.uk/sehd/paymodernisation/pages/GMservicesContract.htm

Comprehensive information on the General Medical Services contract, including contract documentation can be found on the following BMA web pages:

http://www.bma.org.uk/ap.nsf/Content/__Hub+GPC+contract

or

http://www.bma.org.uk/ap.nsf/Content/__Hub+gpc+SC

Copyright

Material available through this Publication Scheme is subject to the General Practice’s copyright 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 which will not mislead. Where items are re-published 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. Some material we include in our scheme may be the copyright of a third party.  Our rights to hold and use such material do not extend to others.  You must obtain authorisation from the copyright holder(s) concerned if you wish to copy or reproduce such material.

The Queen’s Printer for Scotland has prepared guidance for public authorities on copyright.  The guidance is aimed at Crown bodies but also covers other types of authorities. It is available at: www.oqps.gov.uk/foi/guidance.htm

For HMSO Guidance Notes see www.hmso.gov.uk/guides.htm or alternatively these may be accessed via www.tso.co.uk