This letter is shared in response to your request for post-operative support from your GP following bariatric surgery you accessed privately. Aftercare for patients who have self-funded bariatric surgery is not routinely commissioned by South Yorkshire ICB within the NHS locally and is not available from The Rossington Practice.
The post-operative support you have asked for requires specialist input that may be available from the provider that undertook your surgery or via an alternative self-funded route. Specialist NHS services provide this aftercare for patients who have undergone their bariatric surgery within the NHS.
If you had your bariatric surgery abroad: Government advice, NHS advice and some patient support groups’ advice on accessing treatment abroad, all advise that patients must be clear about how aftercare will be coordinated and provided after their surgery, and that patients may be responsible for costs of the aftercare and of possible return trips associated with aftercare. Patients who have paid for bariatric surgery abroad have a responsibility to review and plan for all points in the recommended Treatment Abroad checklist (https://www.nhs.uk/using-the-nhs/healthcare-abroad/going-abroad-for-treatment/treatment-abroad-checklist/) and can choose to buy a standalone package of post-operative care through a UK independent sector provider, or other non-UK provider. It is important to understand how medical treatment abroad works and what risks are involved. If you do not follow correct procedures, you may have to pay the full costs of your treatment. You can find more information online here: https://www.nhs.uk/using-the-nhs/healthcare-abroad/going-abroad-for-treatment/going-abroad-for-medical-treatment/.
Please be reassured that NHS emergency services are available should any emergency treatment be required as a result of any issues arising from your bariatric surgery.
Yours sincerely
THE ROSSINGTON PRACTICE
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 Practioners 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.
Patient Rights and Responsibilities
We aim to treat our patients courteously at all times and expect our patients to treat our staff in a similarly respectful way. It is your responsibility to keep your appointments, inform us of your past illnesses, medication, hospital admissions and any other relevant details.
Staff will treat all patients with complete confidentiality.
We provide a separate area if you need to talk to Practice Staff in private, please inform the receptionist if you would like this.
We do request patients not to ask Practice Staff to divulge confidential information regarding other patients.
Complaints
We make every effort to give the best service possible to everyone who attends our practice.
However, we are aware that things can go wrong resulting in a patient feeling that they have a genuine cause for complaint. If this is so, we would wish for the matter to be settled as quickly, and as amicably, as possible.
To pursue a complaint please contact the practice manager who will deal with your concerns appropriately. Further written information is available regarding the complaints procedure from reception.
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.