In accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998 and Access to Health Records Act, patients may request to see their medical records. Such requests should be made through the practice manager and may be subject to an administration charge. No information will be released without the patient consent unless we are legally obliged to do so.

We make every effort to give the best service possible to everyone who attends our practice.

However, we are aware that things can go wrong resulting in a patient feeling that they have a genuine cause for complaint. If this is so, we would wish for the matter to be settled as quickly, and as amicably, as possible.

To pursue a complaint please contact the practice manager who will deal with your concerns appropriately. Further written information is available regarding the complaints procedure from reception.

The practice 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.

Information about the General Practioners and the practice required for disclosure under this act can be made available to the public. All requests for such information should be made to the practice manager.

NHS England requires that the net earnings of doctors engaged in the practice is publicised, and the required disclosure is shown below. However it should be noted that the prescribed method for calculating earnings is potentially misleading because it takes no account of how much time doctors spend working in the practice, and should not be used to form any judgement about GP earnings, nor to make any comparison with any other practice.

All GP practices are required to declare the mean earnings (e.g. average pay) for GPs working to deliver NHS services to patients at each practice.

The average earnings for GPs working at St Keverne Health Centre in the last financial year was £55,320 before tax and National Insurance. This is for 2 part-time partners who worked in the practice for more than six months.

ST KEVERNE HEALTH CENTRE

PRIVACY NOTICE 

Your Information, Your Rights

Being transparent and providing accessible information to patients about how we will use your personal information is a key element of the Data Protection Act 2018 and the EU General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR).

The following notice reminds you of your rights in respect of the above legislation and how your GP Practice will use your information for lawful purposes in order to deliver your care and the effective management of the local NHS system.

This notice reflects how we use information for:

• The management of patient records;
• Communication concerning your clinical, social and supported care;
• Ensuring the quality of your care and the best clinical outcomes are achieved through clinical audit and retrospective review;
• Participation in health and social care research; and
• The management and clinical planning of services to ensure that appropriate care is in place for our patients today and in the future.

Data Controller

As your registered GP practice, we are the data controller for any personal data that we hold about you. 

What information do we collect and use?

All personal data must be processed fairly and lawfully, whether is it received directly from you or from a third party in relation to your care.

We will collect the following types of information from you or about you from a third party (provider organisation) engaged in the delivery of your care:

• ‘Personal data’ meaning any information relating to an identifiable person who can be directly or indirectly identified from the data. This includes, but is not limited to name, date of birth, full postcode, address, next of kin and NHS number.

And

• ‘Special category / sensitive data’ such as medical history including details of appointments and contact with you, medication, emergency appointments and admissions, clinical notes, treatments, results of investigations, supportive care arrangements, social care status, race, ethnic origin, genetics and sexual orientation.

Your healthcare records contain information about your health and any treatment or care you have received previously (e.g. from an acute hospital, GP surgery, community care provider, mental health care provider, walk-in centre, social services).  These records may be electronic, a paper record or a mixture of both.  We use a combination of technologies and working practices to ensure that we keep your information secure and confidential.

  Why do we collect this information? 

The NHS Act 2006 and the Health and Social Care Act 2012 invests statutory functions on GP Practices to promote and provide the health service in England, improve quality of services, reduce inequalities, conduct research, review performance of services and deliver education and training.  To do this we will need to process your information in accordance with current data protection legislation to:

• Protect your vital interests;
• Pursue our legitimate interests as a provider of medical care, particularly where the individual is a child or a vulnerable adult;
• Perform tasks in the public’s interest;
• Deliver preventative medicine, medical diagnosis, medical research; and
• Manage the health and social care system and services.  

How is the information collected? 

Your information will be collected either electronically using secure NHS Mail or a secure electronic transferred over an NHS encrypted network connection.  In addition physical information will be sent to your practice.  This information will be retained within your GP’s electronic patient record or within your physical medical records.

  Who will we share your information with?   

In order to deliver and coordinate your health and social care, we may share information with the following organisations:

• Local GP Practices in order to deliver extended primary care services
• NHS, for example Royal Cornwall Hospital, Helston Hospital and other services where you are referred to – this list is not exhaustive
• 111 and Out of Hours Service
• Local Social Services and Community Care services
• Voluntary Support Organisations commissioned to provide services by NHS Cornwall an Isles of Scilly Integrated care board (CIOSICB).

Your information will only be shared if it is appropriate for the provision of your care or required to satisfy our statutory function and legal obligations.

Your information will not be transferred outside of the European Union.

Whilst we might share your information with the above organisations, we may also receive information from them to ensure that your medical records are kept up to date and so that your GP can provide the appropriate care.

How do we maintain the confidentiality of your records?

We are committed to protecting your privacy and will only use information that has been collected lawfully.  Every member of staff who works for an NHS organisation has a legal obligation to keep information about you confidential.  We maintain our duty of confidentiality by conducting annual training and awareness, ensuring access to personal data is limited to the appropriate staff and information is only shared with organisations and individuals that have a legitimate and legal basis for access.

Information is not held for longer than is necessary.   We will hold your information in accordance with the Records Management Code of Practice for Health and Social Care 2016.

Consent and Objections

Do I need to give my consent?

The GDPR sets a high standard for consent.  Consent means offering people genuine choice and control over how their data is used. When consent is used properly, it helps you build trust and enhance your reputation.  However consent is only one potential lawful basis for processing information.  Therefore your GP practice may not need to seek your explicit consent for every instance of processing and sharing your information, on the condition that the processing is carried out in accordance with this notice.  Your GP Practice will contact you if they are required to share your information for any other purpose which is not mentioned within this notice.  Your consent will be documented within your electronic patient record.

What will happen if I withhold my consent or raise an objection?

You have the right to write to withdraw your consent at any time for any particular instance of processing, provided consent is the legal basis for the processing.  Please contact your GP Practice for further information and to raise your objection.

Health Risk Screening / Risk Stratification

Health Risk Screening or Risk Stratification is a process that helps your GP to determine whether you are at risk of an unplanned admission or deterioration in health.  By using selected information such as age, gender, NHS number, diagnosis, existing long term condition(s), medication history, patterns of hospital attendances, admissions and periods of access to community care your GP will be able to judge if you are likely to need more support and care from time to time, or if the right services are in place to support the local population’s needs.  To summarise Risk Stratification is used in the NHS to:

• Help decide if a patient is at a greater risk of suffering from a particular condition;
• Prevent an emergency admission;
• Identify if a patient needs medical help to prevent a health condition from getting worse; and/or
• Review and amend provision of current health and social care services.

Your GP may use computer based algorithms or calculations to identify their registered patients who are at most risk, with support from the local Commissioning Support Unit and/or a third party accredited Risk Stratification provider.  The risk stratification contracts are arranged by your local CCG in accordance with the current Section 251 Agreement. Neither the CSU nor your local CCG will at any time have access to your personal or confidential data.  They will only act on behalf of your GP to organise the risk stratification service with appropriate contractual technical and security measures in place.

Your GP will routinely conduct the risk stratification process outside of your GP appointment.  This process is conducted electronically and without human intervention.  The resulting report is then reviewed by a multidisciplinary team of staff within the Practice.  This may result in contact being made with you if alterations to the provision of your care are identified.

A Section 251 Agreement is where the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care has granted permission for personal data to be used for the purposes of risk stratification, in acknowledgement that it would overburden the NHS to conduct manual reviews of all patient registers held by individual providers.

As mentioned above, you have the right to object to your information being used in this way.  However you should be aware that your objection may have a negative impact on the timely and proactive provision of your direct care.  Please contact the Practice Manager to discuss how disclosure of your personal data can be limited.

Sharing of Electronic Patient Records within the NHS

Electronic patient records are kept in most places where you received healthcare.  Our local electronic systems (such as TPP SystmOne) enables your record to be shared with organisations involved in your direct care, such as:

• GP practices
• Community services such as district nurses, rehabilitation services, telehealth and out of hospital services.
• Child health services that undertake routine treatment or health screening
• Urgent care organisations, minor injury units or out of hours services
• Community hospitals
• Palliative care hospitals
• Care Homes
• Mental Health Trusts
• Hospitals
• Social Care organisations
• Pharmacies

In addition, NHS England have implemented the Summary Care Record which contains information including medication you are taking and any bad reactions to medication that you have had in the past.

In most cases, particularly for patients with complex conditions and care arrangements, the shared electronic health record plays a vital role in delivering the best care and a coordinated response, taking into account all aspects of a person’s physical and mental health.  Many patients are understandably not able to provide a full account of their care, or may not be in a position to do so.  The shared record means patients do not have to repeat their medical history at every care setting.

Your record will be automatically set up to be shared with the organisations listed above, however you have the right to ask your GP to disable this function or restrict access to specific elements of your record.  This will mean that the information recorded by your GP will not be visible at any other care setting.

You can also reinstate your consent at any time by giving your permission to override your previous dissent.

Your Right of Access to Your Records

The Data Protection Act and General Data Protection Regulations allows you to find out what information is held about you including information held within your medical records, either in electronic or physical format.  This is known as the “right of subject access”.  If you would like to have access to all or part of your records, you can make a request in writing to the organisation that you believe holds your information.  This can be your GP, or a provider that is or has delivered your treatment and care.  You should however be aware that some details within your health records may be exempt from disclosure, however this will in the interests of your wellbeing or to protect the identity of a third party.  If you would like access to your GP record please submit your request in writing to:

Subject Access Request, St Keverne Health Centre, Polventon Parc, St Keverne,

Helston, Cornwall TR12 6PB

Use of software powered Clinical Documentation:

As part of our commitment to improving the accuracy and quality of the care we provide, clinicians may use a secure, NHS-approved artificial intelligence ambient Scribe software during consultations. This software transcribes the conversation in real time to assist with clinical documentation.

Before using this tool, your clinician will always ask for your consent

Your response will be recorded in your medical record. If you prefer not to have this tool used during your consultation, please let your clinician know.

Your choice will always be respected, and the clinician will use traditional note taking instead.

The software does not retain any audio recordings, and the transcribed notes are reviewed and approved by your clinician before being saved into your medical record. All data is processed securely in the UK and complies with NHS information governance standards.

Complaints

In the event that your feel your GP Practice has not complied with the current data protection legislation, either in responding to your request or in our general processing of your personal information, you should raise your concerns in the first instance in writing to the Practice Manager at at Keverne health centre address:

Anita Dugmore, St Keverne Health Centre, Polventon Parc, St Keverne, Helston, Cornwall, TR12 6PB

If you remain dissatisfied with our response you can contact the Information Commissioner’s Office at Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wimslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF – Enquiry Line: 01625 545700 or online at www.ico.gov.uk

You and your general practice (YYGP) has been developed to help patients understand what to expect from their general practice and how they can get the best from their GP team. YYGP also enables patient to provide feedback or raise concerns with their GP Practice, Healthwatch or the integrated care board (ICB).

Click here to find information on the NHS Cornwall and Isles of Scilly ICB You and your general practice (YYGP)

Click here to find the national information on You and your general practice (YYGP).

Your Practice Charter

Dear Patient,

GPs and their practice teams provide the vast majority of NHS care outside of hospitals, supporting you and your family throughout your lives. In a perfect world, we want to be able to offer every patient:

Safety – prompt access to a GP or practice nurse you trust, with well-staffed surgeries and enough resource so that no patient feels left behind.

Stability – a family doctor who knows you, your medical history, and your community – without the stress and difficulty of finding it difficult to get an appointment.

Hope for the future – care that focuses on keeping you well, not just treating illness. We want more time for meaningful consultations, joined-up support closer to your home, from modern GP surgery premises with safe and effective technology to make this possible.

The government talks of “bringing back the family doctor” but what politicians promise is often not planned properly or funded fairly to be able to be delivered in reality.

We aim to respond to all appointment and advice requests promptly, prioritising those most in need. Sometimes we may need to offer you an appointment on another day or direct you to another suitable service.

For safety reasons, urgent medical requests cannot be accepted via our online system. For something urgent, pick up the phone or walk in to our reception.

The need to prioritise urgent cases to keep patients safe can result in longer waiting times for routine/non-urgent appointments.

The new requirement to allow patients unlimited online access for non- urgent medical requests, throughout core hours, makes it more likely that we will have no choice but to create hospital-style waiting lists to meet patient need.

We want to guide you through the NHS, co-ordinate your care, and support you to stay healthy. We want every patient to feel safe and confident in their GP practice – now and in the future.

GPs are on your side.

The Challenges Your Practice Faces

Rising demand, fewer GPs – GPs care for 17% more patients than in 2015, but with fewer GPs. Funding has not kept pace, so many patients find it hard to see their GP quickly, leading to the stressful scramble to secure an appointment.

Practice closures – Around 2,000 practices have been lost since 2010, that’s one in four surgeries, leaving fewer local practices and longer waits or travel for patients.

Funding pressures – Practices receive just 31p per patient per day to provide unlimited consultations with our doctors and nurses, making it hard to employ enough staff and sustain services.

Workforce challenges – More GPs are leaving the NHS than joining. While our staff work tirelessly, system pressures and patient frustration can affect everyone’s morale and wellbeing. We have unemployed GPs now – and practices lack funds to hire them.

Unsafe workloads – Many GPs see far more than the accepted safe limit of patients per day, often working over 60 hours a week. Recent government changes risk making this worse.

Ageing buildings – One in five GP surgeries is now over 75 years old – older than the NHS itself which started in 1948. There is very little investment to provide modern facilities fit for today’s needs.

Access versus continuity – Government policy means speed of an appointment comes before choice. This lack of continuity of care, means patients often don’t get to see a familiar face who knows them well.

Demand management – We always aim to respond to all appointment and advice requests promptly, prioritising those most in need. Sometimes we may need to offer you an appointment on another day or direct you to another suitable service.

For safety reasons, urgent medical requests cannot always be accepted via our online system. For something urgent, pick up the telephone or walk in to our surgery.

The need to prioritise urgent cases to keep patients safe can result in longer waiting times for routine/non-urgent appointments.

The new requirement to allow patients unlimited online access for non-urgent requests, throughout core hours, makes it more likely that we will have no choice but to create hospital style waiting lists to meet demand.4

We may unfortunately sometimes face challenges beyond our control:

• difficulties with accessing services at the local hospitals and long waiting lists
• workforce challenges – not enough GPs to look after you
• the need to provide our teams with compulsory NHS training and education
• unforeseen events
• NHS IT challenges with old and slow equipment
• lack of investment in practice buildings and development
• public health emergencies
• Our core contract hours are Monday – Friday, 8am– 630pm.
• Our consulting times are between these hours.
• Please note at certain times, e.g. lunch or the ends of the day, a clinician may not be present in the building (e.g. out on home visits).
• In any emergency, please dial 999 for an ambulance or attend the nearest – Accident & Emergency department.

We believe patients deserve more

• At present, GPs and their teams are under huge pressure – caring for more people with fewer resources.
• Without proper investment, the safety, stability and continuity of care that patients value most are at risk.
• As your GP practice, we will always do what we can to deliver the best service possible for you and your family. With the right resources and support, we could expand our services, employ more staff, and deliver the safe, timely, and personalised care you deserve.
• Please remember that our current GP contract funds patient care on average at 31p per day per patient, which is not enough to meet rising demand and to provide the care you and your family deserve.

So please bear with us – and thank you for your support as we try our best for you and your family.

See NHS England’s You and Your General Practice document here: You and Your

General Practice

20250676

26/09/2025