General Medical Services (2018) Contract
We hold a contract with the Scottish Government and the NHS to provide services as a General Practice. We utilise this and the National Health Service (Primary Medical Services Section 17C Agreements) (Scotland) Regulations 2018 to provide services and produce Practice policies and procedures.
Role of GPs in Scotland
The Scottish Government define GPs in Scotland as 'Expert Medical Generalists' who:
- focus on undifferentiated presentations, complex care, quality and leadership; and
- lead and be part of an extended team of Primary Care professionals.
The Government's aim is 'to make practice workload more manageable, with patients consulting with the most appropriate professional in the team'.
GPs are a limited resource and their capacity to see patients is finite.
You can find more information about our team by going to the Practice Staff section of our website.
Safe Working
The NHS is struggling with increasing demand across all aspects of their service, including GP Practices. The British Medical Association (BMA) has produced information surrounding safe working for GPs: https://www.bma.org.uk/advice-and-support/gp-practices/managing-workload/safe-workload-guidance-for-gps-in-scotland.
The Scottish Government has also passed the Health and Care Staffing (Scotland) Act 2019, which will be implemented by NHS Lanarkshire on 01 April 2024. More information can be found at https://www.gov.scot/publications/health-and-care-staffing-scotland-act-2019-overview/pages/health-and-care-staffingscotland-act-2019-testing/.
General Practice Access Principles
The Scottish Government have published the General Practice Access Principles. The aim is to set out a framework of core principles of how GP services should be delivered. Information can be found here: https://www.sehd.scot.nhs.uk/publications/general_practice_principles.pdf.
Confidentiality & Medical Records
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.
Your medical information will only be passed to other parties for health reasons (Emergency Care Summary (ECS), Key Information Summary (KIS), SCI Diabetes shared care record, hospital referrals or referrals to other Health Care Professionals). If you wish to withdraw your consent to share information with other aspects of the National Health Service please submit a request in writing to the Business Manager. We only provide information to third parties such as Insurance Companies, Solicitors or Employers if we have a signed mandate from you.
Computers
The practice is paperlite and mainly operates with computerised records. All medical records are strictly confidential. Under the General Data Protection Regulation you are entitled to access your records and to confirm that the information we hold is correct.
Violence Policy
The NHS operate a zero tolerance policy with regard to violence and abuse and the practice has the right to remove violent patients from the list with immediate effect in order to safeguard practice staff, patients and other persons. Violence in this context includes actual or threatened physical violence or verbal abuse which leads to fear for a person’s safety. In this situation we will notify the patient in writing of their removal from the list and record in the patient’s medical records the fact of the removal and the circumstances leading to it.