Freedom of Information - Silverdale Medical Practice

Silverdale Medical Practice has developed a publication scheme, as required by the Freedom of Information Act 2002, which requires every public authority to specify what information they publish (in terms of information ‘classes’), how the information is made available, and whether it is available free of charge or upon payment. It does not cover personal information such as patient records, which are covered by the Data Protection Act.

Your rights to information

The Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) recognises that members of the public have the right to know how public services are organised and run, how much they cost and how decisions are made.

From 1 January 2005 the FOIA obliged general practice to respond to requests about information that it holds, and create a right of access to that information.

These rights are subject to some exemptions which must be taken into consideration before deciding what information the practice can release.

New Environmental Information Regulations have been introduced that will enable similar access to environmental information as that which is available under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

The Secretary of State has set limits to charges, and should the request for information exceed these charges, the practice does not have to action the request.

The practice is not obliged to comply with vexatious requests or repeated or substantially similar requests..

Exemptions

There are a range of exemptions covering information accessible by other means, information intended for future publication, national security and defence, law enforcement and investigations, personal data, information relating to government policy and commercial interests..

Responding to Requests

All requests for information must be responded to within 20 working days. A fee may be charged when dealing with a request if applicable and the deadline to respond can be extended but this extension is specifically for the time it takes for the fee to be paid. The 20-working-day deadline can be paused from the day we issue a fee notice until the day the payment is received. In the event the requester does not pay the fee within three months of the fee notice, we are no longer obligated to comply with the request.

Requests must be in writing including email and must include:

the name and address of the requester for the correspondence
a clear description of the information being requested

Requests for information should be made to: Silverdale Medical Practice at gmicb-sal.silverdalemedicalpractice@nhs.net

The Information Commissioner

The information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) is an independent public body and reports directly to Parliament. The ICO is responsible for UK GDPR, the Data Protection Act 2018, the Freedom of Information Act 2000, the Environmental Information Regulations 2004, and the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003. Further information is available at: http

Other information can be found at: http://www.foi.nhs.uk/

The scheme commits the practice:

To proactively publish or otherwise make available as a matter of routine, information, including environmental information, which is held by the practice and falls within the classifications set out in the table below.
To specify the information which is held by the authority and falls within the classifications set out in the table below.
To proactively publish or otherwise make available as a matter of routine, information in line with the statements contained within this scheme.
To produce and publish the methods by which the specific information is made routinely available so that it can be easily identified and accessed by members of the public.
To review and update on a regular basis the information the practice makes available under this scheme.
To produce a schedule of any fees charged for access to information which is made proactively available.
To make this publication scheme available to the public.
To publish any dataset held by the practice that has been requested, and any updated versions it holds, unless the practice is satisfied that it is not appropriate to do so; to publish the dataset, where reasonably practicable, in an electronic form that is capable of re-use; and, if any information in the dataset is a relevant copyright work and the public authority is the only owner, to make the information available for re-use under the terms of the Re-use of Public Sector Information Regulations 2015, if they apply, and otherwise under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act section 19. The term ‘dataset’ is defined in section 11(5) of the Freedom of Information Act. The term ‘relevant copyright work’ is defined in section 19(8) of that Act.

Classes of Information

All information at Silverdale Medical Practice is held, retained and destroyed in accordance with NHS guidelines found here: – https://transform.england.nhs.uk/information-governance/guidance/records-management-code/.

Our commitment to publish information excludes any information which can be legitimately withheld under the exemptions set out in the NHS Openness Code or Freedom of Information Act 2000.

Information to be published	How the information can be obtained (e.g. hard copy, website)	Cost
Class 1 – Who we are and what we do (Organisational information, structures, locations, and contacts) Description: Details of the practice, organisational structures, key personnel and how we fit into the NHS. This practice operates under a GMS or Services contract. The contract is with NHSE. NHSE Area Team: Greater Manchester The practice aims to follow National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) and National Service Framework guidelines. Copies of these can also be found on the NICE website: www.nice.org.uk or the Department of Health website: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-of-health The NHS is a very large part of the public sector. It is possible to find out information about our practice, NHS England and other NHS services in your area by using NHS Choices at www.nhs.uk. This will be current information only: · Doctors in the practice · Contact details for the practice (named contacts where possible with telephone number and email address (if used) · Opening hours · Other staffing details	How available: Details of GPs and staff at our practice can be found on this website.	Charges: For paper copies only.
Meetings specifically with pharmaceutical companies and other medical suppliers. We would expect as a minimum that this information should include the name of the company, the date and, if appropriate, the name of the member(s) of staff attending (if recorded), together with a general indication of the category of meeting, for example marketing or promotion. The names of staff attending should include any senior managers and any medically qualified staff if this information is recorded.		Charges: For paper copies only.
Class 2 – What we spend and how we spend it (Financial information relating to projected and actual income and expenditure, procurement, contracts, and financial audit) Current and previous financial year as a minimum. Description: The range of services we provide under contract to the NHS We offer a full range of primary healthcare services. This includes (please note the list is not exhaustive): · Access to a doctor or nurse for undiagnosed conditions · Ongoing monitoring of existing (chronic) conditions · Certain immunisations · Certain contraceptive services · National cancer screening programmes	How available: Website For any policies relating to our services, please refer to Class 6. English is the only language spoken by all staff at the practice. If your first language is not English, then we can arrange for an interpreter to be present.	Charges: For paper copies only.
Details on NHS/HSC funding received by the practice. Audit of NHS/HSC income. Details of expenditure items over £10,000 – published at least annually but at a more frequent quarterly or six-monthly interval where practical. List and value of contracts awarded by the practice. Staff allowances and expenses that can be incurred or claimed, with totals paid to senior staff members (for the purpose of this document, senior staff are defined as partners or equivalent level), by references to categories. Pay policy Declaration of GPs’ NHS/HSC income.	We would expect practices to consider publishing as much information as practically possible including as much detail as possible. We would normally only expect the practice to publish details of contracts that are of sufficient size to have gone through a formal tendering process. The information made available as part of GPs’ contractual obligation to publish their net income relating to NHS/HSC contracts, once this obligation is in force. A link may be provided to the information on a third-party website, and /or a description of where this information is available.
Class 3 – What our priorities are and how we are doing (Strategies and plans, performance indicators, audits, inspections, and reviews) Current and previous year as a minimum Description: Funding details and charging policies We receive money from NHS Greater Manchester according to our contract (as per Class 1 above) in exchange for services provided for patients. Income we received from the NHS before expenses is summarised in the table below. Money spent on drugs is paid on behalf of the practice and allocated to us; we do not receive this as income first. Plans for the development and provision of NHS/HSC services Performance data including performance against targets Inspection reports by regulators: the CQC, HIW, RQIA and HSCB and any other regulators.	How available: Website Please apply to the Department of Health for Statement of Fees and Allowances payable for General Medical Practitioners in England and the formats this is available in. There may be circumstances where material cannot be released because it is confidential or commercial information, or the appropriate officer designated for these purposes under the Act has taken the view that it may be prejudicial to the conduct of the Practice’s affairs.	Charges: For paper copies only.
Class 4 – How we make decisions (Decision making processes and records of decisions) Current and previous year as a minimum Records of decisions made in the practice affecting the provision of NHS/HSC services.	Depending on the nature this can be made available on request.	Charges: for paper copies.
Class 5 – Our policies and procedures (Current written protocols, policies, and procedures for delivering our services and responsibilities) Current information only. Description: Guidance and information leaflets As a practice we publish the following documents These are either freely available on the website or on request from the practice. You should enclose a stamped self-addressed envelope if you would like the documents posting to you. Description: General policies and procedures in use within the practice We have policies available on the following. These are either freely available on the website or on request from the practice. You should enclose a stamped self-addressed envelope if you would like the documents posting to you. · Complaints · Confidentiality · Data protection · Health and safety · Information sharing with other agencies · Prescribing · Policies and procedures about customer service · Internal instructions to staff and policies relating to the delivery of services · Policies and procedures about the recruitment and employment of staff · Equality and diversity policy · Health and safety policy · Complaints procedures (including those covering requests for information and operating the publication scheme) · Records management policies (records retention, destruction, and archive) · Data protection policies · Policies and procedures for handling requests for information	How available: Website, paper copy	Charges: For paper copies only.
Class 6 – Lists and Registers Currently maintained lists and registers only We recognise that it is unlikely that GPs are going to have registers available for public inspection and while this remains the case “none held” can be entered in this section. Any publicly available register or list (if any are held this should be publicised; in most circumstances existing access provisions will suffice).	N/A	N/A
Class 7 – The services we offer (Information about the services we offer, including leaflets, guidance and newsletters produced for the public) Current information only The services provided under contract to the NHS/HSC Charges for any of these services Information leaflets Out of hours arrangements	On the practice website.	Charges: For paper copies only.