Freedom of Information

• Introduction
• Contact Details
• Your rights to information
• How is this information made available? 
• Classes of Information 
• Who we are
• Our Services
• Financial and funding information
• Regular publications, promotional and advisory leaflets
• Complaints
• Our policies and procedures 
• Cost of Information
• Useful Resources
• Copyright

British Medical Association Model Publication Scheme for General Practitioners in Scotland

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

Dr David Crowley and Dr Tanya Ronaldson

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.

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

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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

Copies of the scheme as adopted by a practice/general practitioner should be obtained directly from that practice.

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:

Mary Crowley
Practice Manager
Medical Centre
Rattray's Lane
Tomintoul Moray AB37 9HF 
Tel: 01807 580219
Fax   01807 580419 
Email mary.crowley@tomintoul.grampian.scot.nhs.uk

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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:

Dr David Crowley
Principal Practitioner 
At the above address

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 came into force, there is a formal appeal mechanism to deal with situations where information is withheld.  Further details on this will be available on the Commissioner's website at www.itspublicknowledge.info before this date.

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

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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 is 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 Mary Crowley, Practice Manager, Tomintoul Medical Centre, Tomintoul, Moray AB37 9HA to do this.

How is this information made available

The information within each Class is available in hard copy, from the above address.

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.

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Classes of Information

All information at the Tomintoul Medical Centre 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 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

The NHS is a very large part of the public sector.  A full list of local General Practices can be found on Grampian NHS Board website www.show.scot.nhs.uk/gp. The Tomintoul General Practice provides primary medical services for the geographical area of Tomintoul.
This area is shown on a map in the Practice Leaflet, which can be obtained from the surgery or requested from the Practice Manager at the address above/

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2. Our services

• This practice provides primary medical services to the standard laid down in the NHS (General Medical Services Contracts) (Scotland) Regulations 2004 and the range of services we provide are contained within the Practice Leaflet
  
• 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 practice has met RCGP Scotland Practice Accreditation Standards on the 19TH November 2003. 

3. Financial and funding information

Funding details and charging policies. 

We received £ 260,017.00 from NHS sources during our financial year ended 30th June 2004  We make no charge for NHS services.

4. Regular publications, promotional and advisory leaflets

Guidance and information leaflets produced by the practice and available for patients and/or the general public. Our Patient Information Booklet is available from the Reception Desk at the Surgery.

5. Complaints

Policies, procedures and contacts for complaints We include information on our complaints procedure in our information booklet and also display a notice in the surgery.

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.

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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 in some cases there may be a charge. The charges will vary according to how information is made available. Charges are as follows:

[Via the General Practice website on http://www.nhsgrampian.org/gp  - 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 Mary Crowley, Practice Manager or by personal application at the Tomintoul 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 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) Leaflets and brochures on services we offer to the public will be provided free of charge.

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

e) where information is available subject to a fee, such as the charge per sheet of photocopying the fee will be10 pence per sheet. 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.

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Useful Resources

Web sites

This is the web site of the Scottish Information Commissioner.
www.itspublicknowledge.info

This is the Scottish Executive Freedom of Information web site.
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/?pageID=198

This is the NHS Scotland Confidentiality and Data Protection web site.
http://www.show.scot.nhs.uk/confidentiality/information_commissioner.htm

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

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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