BRITISH MEDICAL ASSOCIATION MODEL PUBLICATION SCHEME FOR GENERAL PRACTITIONERS IN SCOTLAND
Welcome to The Windmill Practice General Practitioner’s Publication Scheme. This is a guide to the General Practitioners’ (who practice together) within the partnership practice Publication Scheme as required under section 23 of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002.
The Windmill Medical Practice
Dr Jacqueline Keenan
Dr. Gwen .B. Fisher
Introduction
Under Section 23 of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (The Act), a ‘public authority’, which is defined as including General Practitioners, must prepare a publication scheme setting out the information it routinely makes publicly available. The Scottish Information Commissioner who is responsible for promoting and enforcing the Act has approved the British Medical Association Model Publication Scheme for General Practitioners in Scotland. In addition we have to review the scheme from time to time.
This Publication Scheme is a complete guide to the information routinely made available to the public by The Windmill Practice. It is a description of the information about our General Practitioners and Practice, which we make publicly available. It will be reviewed at regular intervals and we will monitor its effectiveness. In adopting (or reviewing) our publication scheme, we are required to have regard to the public interest in:
Allowing public access to information we hold; and
The publication of reasons for the decisions we make.
Freedom Of Information Contact Details
The Model Publication Scheme
Overall responsibility for the Model Publication Scheme developed by the British Medical Association for adoption by General Practitioners in Scotland rests with the British Medical Association. This Model Publication Scheme will be subject to review by the British Medical Association and we welcome comments. Electronic copies of this Model Publication Scheme may be downloaded from the Scottish General Practitioners pages of the British Medical Association website at www.bma.org.uk or paper copies will be available on written request to the Secretary of the Scottish General Practitioners Committee of the British Medical Association. The point of contact for further information or comments relating to the Model Publication Scheme is:
Ms Carrie Young
Secretary
Scottish General Practitioners Committee
British Medical Association
14 Queen Street
Edinburgh
EH2 1LL
Tel: 0131 247 3000
Fax: 0131 247 3001
Copies of the scheme as adopted by a practice/general practitioner should be obtained directly from that practice.
Practice information under the scheme
Our General Practice has formally adopted the British Medical Association Model Publication Scheme for General Practitioners in Scotland and for all enquiries relating to practice information, which is contained in this scheme please contact:
Dr. J. Keenan
The Windmill Practice,
Motherwell Health Centre,
138-144 Windmillhill Street,
Motherwell,
ML1 1NT
[Tel:] 01698 264164
[Email] admin@windmillpractice .co.uk
Feedback
If you have any comments about the operation of the Publication Scheme, or how we have dealt with your request for information from the Scheme, please write to:
If we are unable to resolve any complaint, you can complain to the Scottish Information Commissioner who oversees the Act and whose contact details are below. From 1 January 2005, when the general right of access comes into force, there will be a formal appeal mechanism to deal with situations where information is withheld. Further details on this will be available on the Commissioner’s website at www.itspublicknowledge.info before this date.
Freedom of Information enquiries should be addressed to:
Kevin Union OBE
Scottish Information Commissioner
Kinburn Castle
Doubledykes Road
St Andrews
Fife
KY16 9DS
Tel: 01334 464610
enquiries@itspublicknowledge.info. www.itspublicknowledge.info
Your rights to information
The Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 recognises that members of the public have the right to know how public services are organised and run, how much they cost and how the decisions are made.
From January 1st 2005 the General Practice will be obliged to respond to requests about recorded information that it holds. The Act creates a right of access to that information, subject to certain exemptions listed in the Act.
CLASSES OF INFORMATION
Section 23(2) a of The Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 states that a publication scheme must specify the classes of information which authorities publish or intend to publish under the scheme. The Scottish Information Commissioner has clarified in guidance on publication schemes (under paragraph 6) that ‘class’ can be defined as ‘a group of information having one or more common characteristics, such as the subject or source of origin.’ The Scottish Information Commissioner’s guidance also notes that ‘a class of information is not the same as the actual documents which will appear in the class, although in certain cases it is possible that a class will only contain one document.’
All information at the The Windmill Practice is held, retained and destroyed in accordance with NHS guidelines. Our commitment to publish information excludes any information, which can legitimately be withheld under the exemptions set out in the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002. Where individual classes of information are subject to exemptions, the main reasons for this relate to the protection of commercial interests and personal information under the Data Protection Act 1998. Consequently, we may withhold information if its disclosure would breach confidentiality or seriously prejudice the commercial interests of any person or organisation. We may also withhold information, which is personal information under the Data Protection Act 1998. In these cases, we will indicate why the information is being withheld. If you wish to complain about information which is being withheld from you, please read the Complaints section below and also refer to the previous ‘Feedback’ paragraph in this Model Publication Scheme, as this gives the contact details of a senior person in the practice who has overall responsibility for the operation of the scheme. This applies to all Classes within the Publication Scheme.