Web site maintenance

Our web site will be  taken offline at 22:00 on Friday 4^th April and will be online again by 08:00 on Saturday 5^th April.  During this time you will be unable to access the website.  If you wish to order a prescription or book an on line appointment please to  https://systmonline.tpp-uk.com/Login  We are sorry for any convenience during this down time.

Registration letters from NHS England - please respond if you get one

Message from NHS England

The NHS is carrying out work in Devon, Cornwall and Isles of Scilly to make sure the patient details on GP lists are accurate.  Letters are being sent to some patients, but not all.

If you do receive a letter, please either confirm your details or submit any changes. Changes can be made by returning the form in the prepaid envelope. If the details are correct, you can confirm by freepost, by freephone, via text message or online.

It is important to respond to the letter, as GP lists do get out of date over time. If we don’t have an accurate record of your name and address, then we or a hospital may not be able to contact you with important information.

We may also need to contact you:

·         with test results

·         to invite you for bowel, breast or cervical screening to protect against cancer, for example

·         to offer vaccination against infectious diseases such as flu or measles, mumps and rubella

·         to give you an appointment as part of your plan to stay healthy if you have a long-term illness

Please respond to the letter within four weeks, so the NHS can be certain about your details. Otherwise, the NHS will assume that you have moved away, and begin the process to remove you from the practice list.

Hoax Email from NICE - message from NHS England.

A hoax email, claiming to be from NICE, has been sent to people around the country to make them believe they may have cancer.
Some of these emails have been sent to people in Devon and Cornwall, causing inevitable distress and triggering calls to their GP or to hospitals.

NICE is advising people who have received the email - the subject line of which is important blood analysis result - to delete it without opening and not to click on any links. It is currently investigating the origins of the message.

Sir Andrew Dillon, NICE Chief Executive, said: “A spam email purporting to come from NICE is being sent to members of the public regarding cancer test results. This email is likely to cause distress to recipients since it advises that ‘test results' indicate they may have cancer. This malicious email is not from NICE and we are currently investigating its origin. We take this matter very seriously and have reported it to the police.”

The story is running in the media, but I hope this message will help you provide reassurance to any patient who contacts you about the email.
See: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-26565144

What to do when we are closed

From today if you need medical assistance outside our usual opening hours

you must ring 111

The 111 service will help you to find the right care to meet your needs including the Devon Doctors service.

The number is free of charge to ring from landlines and mobiles although you will need 1p credit on your mobile phone.

The automatic transfer from our main switchboard number to Devon Doctors will no longer be available.  

Coleridge Medical Centre closed 12:30pm - 4:00pm Wednesday 5th March

Please note on

Wednesday 5^th March 2014

The surgery will be closed

between 12:30pm and 4:00pm

 For important staff training

In an EMERGENCY please dial 999

If you have an URGENT problem please

ring:

01404-814447

and your call will be transferred to Devon Doctors on Call

For Medical advice please ring:

NHS 111 service by dialling 111

The surgery will be open again from 4:00pm

Important Information About Out of Hours

From 10th March 2014 if you need medical assistance outside our usual opening hours

you must ring 111

The 111 service will help you to find the right care to meet your needs including the Devon Doctors service.

The number is free of charge to ring from landlines and mobiles although you will need 1p credit on your mobile phone.

The automatic transfer from our main switchboard number to Devon Doctors will no longer be available.  

Staff training

The surgery will be closed between 1pm and 2pm today, Wednesday 26th February 2014 for staff training.  We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause

Care Data

The Care Data sharing programme has been suspended for six months.  Information and links about care data sharing, including an opt out form can be found on our web site under Health and Social Care Information Centre.

Staff training

The surgery will be closed between 1pm and 2pm on Thursday 20th February 2014 for staff training.  We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause

Health and Social Care Information Centre - more information and links

Patient Information Line

The national patient information line went live on 6th January.  The five most common questions have been:

1. Can I change my mind?  (FAQ 12)
2. I can’t get to my practice to object, what should I do? (FAQ 10)
3. How long have I got to decide if I want to object? (FAQ 11)
4. What is the secure environment mentioned in the leaflet? (FAQ 3)
5. Do I have to do anything if I want my information to be used?  (FAQ 17)

If you have any questions, please contact the national patient information line (0300 456 3531) or to the patient FAQs.  Accessible formats including Braille, audio and large print are available from the patient information line.  In addition, large print and audio formats are available from the patient website.

Animation

It is important that we communicate with patients in a range of formats.  So today, NHS England is launching an animation to support awareness-raising.   The main aims of the animation are (a) to explain the care.data programme and (b) to remind patients that they have a choice.  Subtitles are available.  

Misconceptions

There are a number of public misconceptions about how data will be used.  These are mostly due to a confusion around the different types of data that will be released by the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC). To make it easier for the public to understand,NHS England is referring to the different types as: red (personal confidential data), amber (pseudonymised) and green (aggregated or anonymised) data.  Each “colour" of data is protected by a different suite of privacy safeguards.  For an explanation, see this blog by the Chief Data Officer.  

For the avoidance of doubt:

• Data will not be made available for the purposes of selling or administering any kind of insurance
• Data will not be shared or used for marketing purposes (FAQ 23)

• NHS England and the HSCIC will not profit from providing data to outside organisations

Privacy Impact Assessment

For patients who wish to understand more about how their data is protected, NHS England has published a privacy impact assessment for the care.data programme.  This document provides details about the privacy implications of the programme (both negative and positive) and explains how they are mitigating each risk. In addition, the HSCIC has published a privacy impact assessment for all the personal data it processes, which includes the data extracted for care.data.

Summary Care Record

NHS England are that there continues to be some confusion about the differences between the Summary Care Record and the use of data for purposes beyond direct care.  For details, see FAQ 14