Penrhyn Surgery Email Policy 

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Email is an attractive and versatile way for patients and doctors to communicate, however, certain safeguards are required in order to maintain confidentiality and patient safety.

Emails that we send out

We send out 2 types of emails – generic and specific.

• Generic – These are emails that contain no specific clinical information about you. For example, information about flu campaigns, opening times, or events that the practice is running. If we have your email address on file, then we will use it when we send out this sort of information.
• Specific – These are emails that contain information about the person to whom the email is addressed. For example, invitations to asthma clinics or recommendations about medications. In order for us to send you information like this, we need you to consent to this. You can withdraw your consent at a later date just by letting us know.

Emails received by Penrhyn Surgery

We welcome emails from our patients , however we would like you to be mindful of the following:

• Content of the email:  We accept emails for administrative queries/matters, updating your personal information e.g., contact details or for prescription queries.

Unfortunately, we do not accept emails about clinical requests or matters about health which would require a clinical consultation with a clinician (e.g., Doctor, nurse, or physiotherapist).

This is because the email box is not monitored by clinicians, it is monitored by administrative staff and emails are usually responded to within 5 working days.  In view of this, it would not be appropriate for clinical requests to be sent by email as clinical requests need to be dealt with in timely fashion for some cases in  a matter of hours, and any delays could compromise the clinical safety of the patient. Therefore, if you do have a clinical request either contact the surgery by telephone or walk into surgery reception to request an appointment.

We would like to remind you to include your full name and date of birth in any email you send so that we can confirm your identity.

The practice is concerned about being overwhelmed with emails coming in from patients and would always ask you to think carefully about whether your email is necessary before sending it.

Response times

We aim to respond to administrative emails within 5 working days.

Please can we remind you therefore that Email is not to be used for Clinical Matters.

Confidentiality

As with all data on our clinical systems, email addresses will be kept confidential and not shared with third parties unless you give us specific consent. Generic emails sent to a number email addresses will be sent as Blind Copies so that you cannot see anyone else’s email address.

We would like to remind you, however, that email traffic could theoretically be intercepted and read by people without your permission.

Also, any email we send can be accessed by anyone who has access to your email account.

Unsubscribing

You can withdraw your consent for specific emails at any time. If you want to withdraw from generic emails, then let us know and we will delete your email address from our clinical system.

Abuse of our email system

The practice is concerned about being overwhelmed with emails coming in from patients and would always ask you to think carefully about whether your email is necessary before sending it.

If we receive emails that are inappropriate (such as continual requests for medical help) or that are taking us excessive resources to deal with (such as number or length of emails) then we will respond back to you, reminding you of our email policy. However, if you continue to use the email system inappropriately, we will block your email address and kindly advice you to contact the surgery by telephone or coming in to the Surgery reception.

Changing your email address

Please can you inform us if you change your email address so that we can update our records accordingly.

Non-receipt of emails

If you have consented to receive emails from us, we cannot be responsible if for any reason you do not receive emails that we send. For example, you may have changed your email address without informing us, or our email could be blocked by your personal spam filter. If you are expecting an email from us and you do not receive one within 5 working days then please contact us by telephone or coming in to the Surgery reception.

Last updated: 1st February 2023