FREEDOM OF INFORMATION

The Freedom of Information (FOI) Act was passed on 30 November 2000. It gives a general right of access to all types of recorded information held by public authorities, with full access granted in January 2005.

All NHS organisations need to produce a publication scheme:

Holbrook Surgery Publication Scheme

Welcome to the Dr Jonathan Heatley; Dr Paul Woods; Dr Ann Williams; Dr Nadia Ziyada; Dr Hwa-Lon Liu; Dr Chris Heath; Dr Preet Singh General Practitioner Publication Scheme. This is a guide to the General Practitioners (who practice together) within the partnership practice Publication Scheme as required by the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

Part I: Introduction

This Publication Scheme is a complete guide to the information routinely made available to the public by
Dr Jonathan Heatley; Dr Paul Woods; Dr Ann Williams; Dr Nadia Ziyada; Dr Hwa-Lon Liu; Dr Chris Heath; Dr Preet Singh General Practitioners. 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.

How much does it cost?
The publications are all free unless otherwise indicated within each Class (with £).

How is the information made available?
The information within each Class is available in hard copy from:

Heather Heatley
Holbrook Surgery
Bartholomew Way
Horsham
W Sussex
RH12 5JL
Tel: 08448 15 10 72
Email: enquiries@holbrooksurgery.com

Some information may be found from his website.

Your rights to information

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:

Practice Manager
Holbrook Surgery

Part II: Classes of Information

All information at the Holbrook Surgery General Practice is held, retained and destroyed in accordance with NHS guidelines. 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. Where individual Classes are subject to exemptions, the main reasons are e.g. the protection of commercial interests and personal information under the Data Protection Act 1998. This applies to all Classes within the Publication Scheme. The information on this Scheme is grouped into the following broad categories:

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

This practice adheres to the national General Medical Services contract. The contract is with: West Sussex Primary Care Trust, 1 The Causeway, Durrington, Worthing, W Sussex, BN12 6BT.

The practice aims to follow National Institute for 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.doh.gov.uk).

The NHS is a very large part of the public sector. It is possible to find out information about our practice, the West Sussex Primary Care Trust and other NHS services in your area by using www.nhs.uk. A full list of local General Practices can be found there too. The Holbrook Surgery provides general medical services for the geographical area of Horsham and and surrounding area north of the town (approx 1/2 mile radius).

The full names of GPs at our practice are listed in the introduction to this publication scheme. The practice also employs:

There is a national NHS Plan that explains how the NHS is changing and sets out how all the different parts function and work together. A copy is available on the Department of Health website (www.doh.gov.uk/nhsplan).

Some information will be withheld, including personal, confidential information about individuals which is protected by the Data Protection Act 1998.

2. Our services
The range of services we provide under contract to the NHS

This is the range of services we provide:

See also our practice leaflet which is available free of charge from:

Reception
Holbrook Surgery

Included in our practice leaflet is information on the following:

Language and translation information: The surgery has access to a translating service 'Language Line'

3. Financial and funding information
Funding details and charging policies

The Holbrook Surgery receives money from West Sussex according to its contract (as per Class 1 above) in exchange for services provided for patients.

The total income received from the NHS before expenses in 2001/2002 was £627235. The sum spent on drugs prescribed by the Holbrook Surgery in 2001/2002 was £322339.

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.

4. Regular publications and information for the public
Guidance and information leaflets

Information leaflets relating to the clinical services and health services that we provide for patients and the public, and our range of regular publications are freely available at the surgeries, in the reception areas. Alternatively, please contact:

Heather Heatley
Holbrook Surgery

5. Complaints
Policies, procedures and contacts for complaints

If you wish to make a complaint about any aspect of our service, you should first contact:

Heather Heatley
Practice Manager
Holbrook Surgery

The complaints policy for our practice can be obtained at a cost of £ no charge from our website or in hardcopy from:

Heather Heatley
Holbrook Surgery

6. Our policies and procedures
General policies and procedures in use within the practice. These include (but are not restricted to) data protection, prescribing and prescription, zero tolerance and health and safety

We have policies available on the following:

Each of the above are available in hardcopy and some are available on our website. If you would like a copy, please contact:

Heather Heatley
Holbrook Surgery

7. This publication scheme
In this class we will publish any changes we make to this publication scheme, the criteria on which our information management policies are made and a referral point for all enquires regarding information management generally in the practice. We will also publish any proposed changes or additions to publications already available

Cost of Information
For the most part, we will charge you only for hard copies or copying onto media (e.g. CD-ROM). Some information is available free, but for others 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 – 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 Practice Manager, Holbrook Surgery, Bartholomew Way, Horsham, W Sussex, RH12 5JL or by personal application at the Holbrook Surgery General Practice.

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 the retrieval, photocopy, postage etc. 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) Leaflets and brochures – free of charge for leaflets or booklets on, for example, services we offer to the public. A list is available in Class 4.

c) “Glossy” or other bound paper copies, or in some cases a CD-ROM, video or other mediums are for charge as in our publication lists available from Heather Heatley, , Bartholomew Way, Horsham, W Sussex, RH12 5JL, 08448 15 10 72 , enquiries@holbrooksurgery.com

d) E-mail will be free of charge unless it says otherwise.

The charges will be reviewed regularly.

Part III: Useful Resources

Websites:

Publications:

 

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. For HMSO Guidance Notes see www.hmso.gov.uk/guides.htm.