SEASONAL FLU VACCINATION DURING COVID19

Due to the current Coronavirus Pandemic, flu clinics will run very differently this year. All patients will need to be aware of and adhere to the following rules in order to receive their flu vaccination:

Please call your surgery once you have received your letter and book an appointment.

It is essential that you arrive ON TIME, NOT EARLY or LATE.

We will be offering the flu vaccination only on the clinic dates, there will be no other services available to ensure all patients are in and out of the building as quickly and efficiently as possible.

Patients MUST be wearing a face mask or covering.

All patients will have their temperature checked before entering the building.

Staff will be on hand to direct patients and ensure social distancing is observed.

Patients are required to wear short sleeves and as few layers as possible.

Any garment you do have to remove, you will need to carry yourself and put back on once outside the surgery building to avoid causing delays for the patients behind you.

Due to the large numbers of patients, you will need to vacate immediately using the back door.

If you have limited mobility or are likely to require assistance please notify reception at the time of making your appointment.

Patients must abide by the above points for the safety of themselves, other patients and our staff. Anyone who is not observing Surgery guidance will not be seen.

Thank you for your cooperation in these challenging times, we will do our best to continue to provide you with the friendly and efficient service you are used to from Collington and Ninfield Surgery. 

Yours sincerely

Dr D Warden, Dr G Singh, Dr Gooderick & Dr Mangiri

COVID-19 and your information – Updated on 8^th April 2020

Supplementary privacy notice on Covid-19 for Patients

This notice describes how we may use your information to protect you and others during the Covid-19 outbreak.  It supplements our main Privacy Notice which is listed below.

The health and social care system is facing significant pressures due to the COvid-19 outbreak.  Health and care information is essential to deliver care to individuals, to support health and social care services and to protect public health.  Information will also be vital in researching, monitoring, tracking and managing the outbreak.  In the current emergency it has become even more important to share health and care information across relevant organisations.

Existing law which allows confidential patient information to be used and shared appropriately and lawfully I a public health emergency is being used during this outbreak. Using this law the Secretary of State has required NHS Digital; NHS England and Improvement; Arms Length Bodies (such as Public Health England); local authorities; health organisations and GPs to share confidential patient information to respond to the Covid-19 outbreak.  Any information used or shared during the Covid-19 outbreak will be limited to the period of the outbreak unless there is another legal basis to use the data.  Further information is available on gov.uk here and some FAQs on this law are available here.

During this period of emergency, opt-outs will not generally apply to the data used to support the Covid-19 outbreak, due to the public interest in sharing information.  This includes National Data Opt-Outs. However in relation to the Summary Care Record, existing choices will be respected.  Where data is used and shared under these laws your right to have personal data erased will also not apply.  It may also take us longer to respond to Subject Access Requests (SARs), Freedom of Information requests (FOIs) and new opt out requests whilst we focus our efforts on responding to the outbreak.

In order to look after your health and care needs we may share your confidential patient information included health and care records with clinical and non-clinical staff in other health and care providers, for example neighbouring GP practices, hospitals and NHS 111. We may also use the details we have to send public health messages to you, either by phone, text message or email.

During this period of emergency we may offer you a consultation via telephone or video conferencing. By accepting the invitation and entering the consultation you are consenting to this.  Your personal/confidential patient information will be safeguarded in the same way it would with any other consultation.

We will also be required to share personal confidential patient information with health and care organisations and other bodies engaged in disease surveillance for the purposes of protecting public health, providing healthcare services to the public and monitoring and managing the outbreak.  Further information about how health and care data is being used and shared by other NHS and social care organisations in a variety of ways to support the Covid-19 response is here.

NHS England and Improvement and the NHSX have developed a single, secure store to gather data from across the health and care system to information the Covid-19 response.  This includes data already collected by NHS England, NHS Improvement, Public Health England and NHS Digital.  New data will include 999 call data, data about hospital occupancy and A&E capacity data as well as data provided by patient themselves. All the data held in the platform is subject to strict controls that meet the requirements of data protection legislation.

In such circumstances where you tell us you’re experiencing Covid-19 symptoms we may need to collect specific health data about you.  Where we need to do so, we will not collect more information than we require and we will ensure that any information collected is treated with the appropriate safeguards.

We may amend this Privacy Policy at any time so please review it frequently. The date at the top of this page will be amended each time this notice is updated.