Lochgoilhead Medical Centre
Welcome to the Lochgoilhead Medical Centre Publication Scheme. This is a guide to the practice Publication Scheme as required by the Freedom of Information Act (Scotland) .

1  Introduction

This Publication Scheme is a complete guide to the information routinely made available to the public by Lochgoilhead Medical Centre. 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.

1.1  How much does it cost?

The publications are all free unless otherwise indicated within each Class . Where information is provided at a cost the charges will be calculated as set out in Class 7.

1.2  How is the information made available?

The information within each Class is available in hard copy from the practice.

1.2.1  Your rights to information

1.3  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 the Practice Manager.

2  Classes of Information

All information at 'The Surgery' General Practice is held, retained and destroyed in accordance with NHS guidelines. Our commitment to publish information excludes any information which can be legitimately withheld under the exemptions set out in the NHS Openness Code or Freedom of Information Act (Scotland) . Where individual Classes are subject to exemptions, the main reasons are e.g. the protection of commercial interests and personal information under the Data Protection Act (Scotland) . This applies to all Classes within the Publication Scheme. The information on this Scheme is grouped into the following broad categories:

2.1  Who we are

Details of the practice, organisational structures, key personnel and how we fit into the NHS

This practice has a General Medical Services contract. The contract is with: Argyll and Clyde Primary Care Trust.

The practice aims to follow National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) and National Service Framework guidelines. Copies of these can also be found on the NICE website (www.nice.org.uk) or the Department of Health website (www.doh.gov.uk).

The NHS is a very large part of the public sector. It is possible to find out information about our practice, the Argyll and Clyde PCT and other NHS services in your area by using www.show.scot.nhs.uk. A full list of local General Practices can be found there too.

The practice provides General Medical Services for the geographical area of Lochgoilhead and Carrick.

The names of GPs at our practice are

Dr Peter von Kaehne MRCGP DCH (Principal)
The practice also employs: A full list of the services we provide is detailed in Class 2 below.

Some information will be withheld, including personal, confidential information about individuals which is protected by the Data Protection Act (Scotland) .

2.2  Our services

This is the range of services we provide under the NHS: Some of these services are provided in partnership with other agencies, namely: For any policies relating to our services, please refer to Class 6.

See also our practice leaflet which is available free of charge from the practice reception.

2.2.1  Opening and closing times

The practice is open daily from 9:00 onwards until 17:30.

The telephone is manned from 8:00 until 18:00.

Ordinary consulting hours are Monday to Friday from 10:00 until 11:30 and Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 16:00 until 17:00. Other clinics are as advertised.

On Wednesday afternoons the practice also covers for Dr Troup's surgery in Arrochar. On Thursday afternoons Dr Troup's surgery covers for the practice here.

Out of Hours Care is the responsibility of Argyll and Clyde Primary Care Trust (weekdays 18:00-8:00, weekends and bankholidays all day)

2.2.2  Language and translation information:

German, Farsi and Turkish are spoken by our GP's.

2.2.3  Clinical interests at our practice:

Dr von Kaehne is interested in the treatment and care of patients with psychiatric needs.

2.3  Financial and funding information

The 'The Surgery' receives money from Argyll and Clyde Primary Care Trust according to its contract (as per Class 1 above) in exchange for services provided for patients and drugs dispensed.

The total income received from the NHS before expenses in 2004/5 under the current principal was (currently no numbers yet available)

Please see Part III for a link to the document titled <<Statement of Fees and Allowances payable for General Medical Practitioners in Scotland<<. Please apply to the Scottish Secretary of Health for information on costs and the formats this is available in.

There may be circumstances where material cannot be released because it is confidential or commercial information or the appropriate officer designated for these purposes under the Act (Scotland) has taken the view that it may be prejudicial to the conduct of the Practice's affairs.

2.4  Regular publications and information for the public

Information leaflets relating to the clinical services and health services that we provide for patients and the public, and our range of regular publications are freely available at the surgeries, in the reception areas. Alternatively, please contact the Practice Manager

2.5  Complaints Policies, procedures and contacts for complaints

If you wish to make a complaint about any aspect of our service, you should first contact the Practice Manager
The complaints policy for our practice can be obtained free of charge in hardcopy from the practice.

2.6  Our policies and procedures

These include (but are not restricted to) data protection, prescribing and prescription, zero tolerance and health and safety.

We have policies available on the following: Each of the above are available in hardcopy. If you would like a copy, please contact the Practice Manager. Some are also available in the Download section of this website.

2.7  This publication scheme

In this class we will publish any changes we make to this publication scheme, the criteria on which our information management policies are made and a referral point for all enquires regarding information management generally in the practice. We will also publish any proposed changes or additions to publications already available.

This and similar publication schemes are a work in process and will be altered and adapted in accordance with new developments

The Publication scheme was updated on the 8th of November 2005, incorpating changes relating to the retiral of Dr Fettes and making it more accessible for internet publication.

2.7.1  Cost of Information

For the most part, we will charge you only for hard copies or copying onto media (e.g. CD-ROM). Some information is available at no cost, but for others there may be a charge. The charges will vary according to how information is made available. Charges are as follows:
  1. Leaflets and brochures free of charge for leaflets or booklets on, for example, services we offer to the public. A list is available in Class 4.
  2. Glossy or other bound paper copies, or in some cases a CD-ROM, video or other mediums are for charge as in our publication lists available from the Practice Manager.
  3. E-mail will be free of charge unless it says otherwise.
The charges will be reviewed regularly.

3  Useful Resources

3.1  Websites:

3.2  Publications:

Copyright: Material available through this Publication Scheme is subject to the General Practice's copyright unless otherwise indicated. Unless expressly indicated to the contrary, it may be reproduced free of charge in any format or medium provided it is done so accurately in a manner which will not mislead. Where items are re-published or copied to others, you must identify the source and acknowledge copyright status. This permit does not extend to third party material, accessed through the scheme. For HMSO Guidance Notes see www.hmso.gov.uk/guides.htm.
This document was translated from LATEX by HEVEA.