Where possible new patients are given appointments to see the doctor of their choice, however, if this is not available, they will be offered an appointment with the other available Doctor.

If necessary a referral will be given.

No patient will be turned away in an emergency situation.

CONTINUITY OF CARE

To provide continuity of care the practice will: -

· where possible encourage patients to consult with the same Doctor

· provide ongoing health programs such as screening or immunisation

· patients are offered the opportunity to register in recall programs

· shared antenatal care with Hornsby Ku-Ring-Gai Hospital

· offer Health assessment, care plans and case conferences

PRIVACY

Every effort is made within the practice to ensure that privacy is a top priority, both within the consulting area and the waiting room.

Privacy considerations apply during:

· contact with practitioners

· telephone conversations

· discussions with other staff

· dealing with patient medical records.

To ensure privacy, staff are not to enter a consultation room without knocking or otherwise communicating with the doctor.

New patients complete the New Patients Details form rather than having to give details verbally.

Consulting rooms all have a screen/curtain to ensure patient’s privacy.

The practice has an area available where persons (patients or family) can go when in obvious distress.

Background music in the waiting room helps to mask conversations.

If conveying sensitive information on the telephone staff will attend to the call in a private location.

Privacy Policy

Royston Clinic is committed to providing quality health care for its patients. As a fundamental part of this commitment principal and staff of the practice, recognise the importance of ensuring that our patients are fully informed and involved in their health care.

The Royston Clinic is, as a health provider in the private sector, bound by the National Privacy Principles. These principles set the standards by which we handle personal information collected from our patients. A copy of these principles is available for inspection at the reception desk.

As a part of our commitment to providing quality health care it is necessary for us to maintain files pertaining to your health. The files contain the following types of information:

Personal details (your name, address, date of birth, Medicare number);
Your medical history;
Notes made during the course of medical consultations;
Referrals to other health service providers;
Results and reports received from other health service providers.

The information held about you is provided by you or arises as a consequence of information provided by you.

Your medical file is handles with the utmost respect for you privacy. The file will be accessed by your medical practitioner, and when necessary, for example in the absence of your usual medical practitioner, by other medical practitioners in the practice. It may also be necessary for our staff to handle your file from time to time to address the administrative requirements of running a medical practice. Our staff are bound by strict confidentiality requirements as a condition of employment and these requirements will be observed if it is necessary for them to view your record.

At times to ensure the function of our practice, it may also be necessary to allow external organisations to access our practice and possibly view the medical records. Any external organisation that provides service or advice to this practice will be aware of the need to preserve the requirement of the Privacy Act and will be bound by a confidentiality agreement.

Ordinarily we will not release the contents of your medical file without your written consent. However we advise that there may be occasions where we will be required to release the details of your file irrespective of whether your consent to the disclosure of the information is given. This will occur where the law requires disclosure, such as pursuant to a subpoena.

We advise that as a patient of this practice you have rights of access to any information we hold concerning you. Should you wish to access this information we refer you to our handout entitled “ACCESSING YOUR MEDICAL RECORD”.

As part of our commitment to preserving the confidentiality of the information contained in your medical records we advise that strict secure storage policies are observed in this practice. Your electronic records are accessible only by staff of this practice and are protected by a security password. Your paper records are kept in secure filing cabinets and accessible only by practice staff. Each member of staff is well versed in the principles and importance of doctor-patient confidentiality.

Should you, at any time, have a query or complaint in relation to the privacy policies in place in this practice please contact Sr Christine Brelsford or Megan Richardson who will be happy to address any concerns you may have. We advise that it is the practice’s policy that any complaint is required to be made in writing and addressed to Dr Richardson and marked private and confidential. We advise that we will make our best endeavour to address complaints within 60 days of receipt of your complaint.

MEDICAL RECORDS

A breach of confidentiality of information, in relation to a patient by an employee, would warrant action under the Grievance and Disciplinary procedure and may warrant dismissal of an offending employee.

Patient records are not left unattended where patients or visitors to the practice can access them.

Computer terminals in consulting rooms are programmed to revert to screen saver if not used for one minute.

IF A PATIENT IS PLACED ALONE IN ANY CONSULTING ROOM, THE STAFF MEMBER WHO TAKES THEM THERE MUST ENSURE THAT NO PATIENT INFORMATION IS VISIBLE IN THE ROOM, EITHER IN COMPUTER OR PAPER FORMAT

All new staff employed at this practice are informed regarding breach of confidentiality at the time of interview for a position.

This practice has the following in place for the destruction of patient information no longer required: -

· Shredding on the premises

· Security processing off site for larger amounts of confidential waste.

ANY ITEM THAT HAS A PATIENT NAME ON IT IS CONFIDENTIAL - this includes drug boxes and telephone message slips.

PATIENT ACCOUNTS

All patient accounts are treated and stored in a confidential manner.

Any accounts released to ‘debt collectors’ or insurance agencies are not to contain any clinical information.

Prepared: April 1999

Reviewed: February 06, 2009