About the Practice

Whetstone Medical Centre was the 1st purpose built health centre on the Wirral in 1971 and was extended in 1993 to have the 1st practice attached pharmacy.

Today the practice is made up of 4 Partners who are supported by a team of clinical and non-clinical support staff. The practice is part of the Brighter Birkenhead Primary Care Network (PCN).

Mission Statement

Whetstone Medical Centre is a long established GP surgery that is committed to providing high quality medical services in a caring environment.

We will:

• Treat you with respect and courtesy at all times
• Provide you with advice and treatment in a timely manner
• Help you make decisions about your health and refer you on to other experts where necessary
• Act as your advocate and guide through health care services
• Maintain confidentiality in what we discuss and the records we keep on your behalf
• Keep up to date with developments in health care by continuing to learn.

In return we ask you to:

• Keep your appointment or let us know as soon as possible if you can’t attend
• Only use out-of-hours and emergency services for urgent conditions which can’t wait
• Treat our staff with respect and courtesy at all times
• Let us know if you have any suggestions for improvement and tell us what we do well.

Practice Policies

Confidentiality & Medical Records

The practice complies with data protection and access to medical records legislation. Identifiable information about you will be shared with others in the following circumstances:

• To provide further medical treatment for you e.g. from district nurses and hospital services
• To help you get other services e.g. from the social work department. This requires your consent
• When we have a duty to others e.g. in child protection cases anonymised patient information will also be used at local and national level to help the Health Board and Government plan services e.g. for diabetic care.

If you do not wish anonymous information about you to be used in such a way, please let us know.

Reception and administration staff require access to your medical records in order to do their jobs. These members of staff are bound by the same rules of confidentiality as the medical staff.

Freedom of Information

Information about the General Practitioners and the practice required for disclosure under this act can be made available to the public. All requests for such information should be made to the practice manager.

Access to Records

In accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998 and Access to Health Records Act, patients may request to see their medical records. Such requests should be made through the practice manager and may be subject to an administration charge. No information will be released without the patient consent unless we are legally obliged to do so.

Violence Policy

The NHS operate a zero tolerance policy with regard to violence and abuse and the practice has the right to remove violent patients from the list with immediate effect in order to safeguard practice staff, patients and other persons. Violence in this context includes actual or threatened physical violence or verbal abuse which leads to fear for a person’s safety. In this situation we will notify the patient in writing of their removal from the list and record in the patient’s medical records the fact of the removal and the circumstances leading to it.