Beecroft Family & Skin Cancer Clinic ensures the confidentiality of all patients’ personal health information according to the RACGP Code of Practice and National Privacy Principles; and the Code for the management of Health Information in General Practice.

Introduction:

This privacy policy is to provide information to our patients, on how your personal information (which includes your health information) is collected and used within the Practice, and the circumstances in which we may share it with third parties. We are committed to protecting the privacy of patient information and to handling your personal information in a responsible manner in accordance with the Privacy Act 1988, the Privacy Amendment ( Enhancing Privacy Protection) Act 2012, the Australian Privacy Principles and relevant State and Territory privacy legislation.

Consent:

When you register as a patient of our Practice, you provide consent for our GPs and practice staff to access and use your personal information so that they can provide you with the best possible healthcare.  Only staff that needs to see your personal information will have access to it.  If we need to use your information for anything else, we will seek additional consent from you to do this. Our Practice will need to collect your personal information to provide healthcare services to you.  Our main purpose for collecting, using, holding and sharing your personal information is to manage health. We also use it for directly related business activities, such as financial claims and payments, practice audits accreditation, and business processes (eg staff training).

Personal Information we collect:

The information we will collect about you includes your: ·      

  1. Names, date of birth, addresses, contact details
  2. Medical information including medical history, medications, allergies, adverse events, immunisations, social history, family history and risk factors ·      
  3. Medicare number (where available) for identification and claiming purposes ·      
  4. Healthcare identifiers ·      
  5. Health fund details

 

Dealing with us anonymously:

You have the right to deal with us anonymously or under a pseudonym unless it is impracticable for us to do so, or unless we are required or authorised by law to only deal with identified individuals.

How we collect your personal information:

Our Practice may collect your personal information in several different ways.

  1. When you make your first appointment, our practice staff will collect your personal and demographic information via your registration.     
  2. During the course of providing medical services, we may collect further personal information.   Information can also be collected through electronic transfer of prescriptions (eTP), My Health Record, eg via Shared Health Summary.    
  3. In some circumstances, personal information may also be collected from other sources.  Often this is because it is not practical or reasonable to collect it from you directly.  This may include information from: ·      
  4. Your guardian or responsible person ·      
  5. Other involved healthcare providers, such as specialists, allied health professionals; hospitals, community health services and pathology and diagnostic imaging services. ·      
  6. Your health fund, Medicare, or the Department of Veterans’ Affairs (as necessary).

When, why and with whom we share your personal information:

We sometimes share your personal information:

  1. With third parties who work with our practice for business purposes, such as accreditation agencies or information technology providers – these third parties are required to comply with AAPs and this policy
  2. With other healthcare providers ·      
  3. When it is required or authorised by law (eg court subpoenas) ·       When it is necessary to lessen or prevent a serious threat to a patient’s life, health or safety or public health or safety, or it is impractical to obtain the patient’s consent ·      
  4. To establish, exercise or defend an equitable claim ·      
  5. For the purpose of confidential dispute resolution process ·      
  6. When there is a statutory requirement to share certain personal information (eg some diseases require mandatory notification) ·      
  7. During the course of providing medical service through eTP and My Health Record.

Only people who need to access your information will be able to do so.  Other than in the course of providing medical services or as otherwise described in this policy, our Practice will not share personal information with any third party without your consent. Our Practice may use your personal information to improve the quality of the services we offer to our patients through research and analysis of our patient data. We may provide de-identified data to other organisations to improve population health outcomes.  The information is secure, patients cannot be identified and the information is stored within Australia.  You can let our reception staff now if you do not want your information included.

Storing and protecting your personal information

Your personal information may be stored at our Practice in various forms:

  • Electronic records and sometimes as paper records ·      
  • Visual records (X-rays, CT scans, videos and photos)

Our Practice stores all personal information securely.

How you can access and correct your personal information at our Practice

You have the right to request access to, and correction of, your personal information. Our Practice acknowledges patients may request access to their medical records.  We require you to put this request in writing and our Practice will respond within 30 days. If patients require full records, to cost of providing and electronic copy is $50 for adults and $20 for children.  The records will be sent to the Practice of their choice as registered post. Our Practice will take responsible steps to correct your personal information where the information is not accurate or up to date.  From time to time, we will ask you to verify that your personal information held by our Practice is correct and current.  You may also request that we correct or update your information, and you should make such requests in writing to the attention of the Practice/Practice Manager:  beecroftfp@gmail,com.

 

How you can lodge a privacy related complaint, and how the complaint will be handled at our Practice

We take complaints and concerns regarding privacy seriously.  You should express any privacy concerns you may have in writing.  We will then attempt to resolve it in accordance with our resolution procedure.  Our email address is: beecroftfp@gmail.com and our postal address is: Shop 5/202, 18 Hannah Street, Beecroft NSW 2119.  The contact number for the Practice Manager is (02) 9484-4788.  Your complaint will be dealt within 15 working days having ascertained all the information. If you are dissatisfied with our handling of a complaint or the outcome you may make an application to the Australian Information Commissioner or the Privacy Commissioner.

NSW Health Complaints Commission
Locked bag 18
Strawberry Hills 2012
Ph: 92814585
Email: hccc@hccc.nsw.gov.au 

Policy Review Statement

Privacy policy will be reviewed regularly to ensure it is in accordance with any changes that may occur.  The policy is also available to patients on request in writing.