How long does GP surgery have to resp... - Pernicious Anaemi...

Pernicious Anaemia Society

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How long does GP surgery have to respond to a SAR

Polo22 profile image
20 Replies

I handed in a subject access request to GP surgery on 29th August. Heard nothing, think maybe they are being deliberately obstructive .

Went in on Saturday for flue jab, the techy man, supposedly deals with all computer queries was there. He asked if I have had success adding daughter to MY GP app as dependant, I said your joking. Then I told him I had requested any and all records via a SAR on 29th August and haven't received the requested information, he said I'll chase that up Monday (9th) have heard nothing. Are they now beyond the suggested timescale.

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Polo22 profile image
Polo22
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20 Replies
Sallyfr profile image
Sallyfr

Hi, I work in this area and have taken the below from the ICO website who govern this area:

You must comply with a SAR without undue delay and at the latest within one month of receiving the request. You can extend the time to respond by a further two months if the request is complex or you have received a number of requests from the individual, eg other types of requests relating to individuals’ rights.

So if it’s a complex one, it can be up to 3 months.

I hope that helps

Narwhal10 profile image
Narwhal10 in reply toSallyfr

This is good to know Sallyfr,

You work in this area and have PA/B12D. I do hope you are a member of the PA Society. Your knowledge in this area is needed both on here and possibly the Society too.

🐳

Sallyfr profile image
Sallyfr in reply toNarwhal10

Hi, yes I am a member and although I don’t deal with NHS requests, the rules are very similar.

Narwhal10 profile image
Narwhal10 in reply toSallyfr

Data is data.

For me, numbers are numbers. This is the Fibonacci sequence. I find it beautiful.

Numbers in nature, a storm, space, a sea shell, a flower,
Polo22 profile image
Polo22 in reply toNarwhal10

Love this, everything is numbers and patterns your right it is so beautiful. Sad that people don't realise just how amazing nature and life is, husband is a bit of an astro physics freak, he would have loved to have continued and got his PHD. He first introduced me to this fascinating , hurricanes , galaxies, flowers even DNA all follow the same sequence the Golden ratio, we are all fabulously beautifully complex and made of stardust

Narwhal10 profile image
Narwhal10 in reply toPolo22

Exactly,

Your hubbie sounds like a dude. My boss once asked had I put sugar in their tea.

Yes, I stirred it 20 times anti-clockwise.

A person once complained that I was late meeting them. I apologised then said, I’ll always be late. They commented on how impolite it was.

I explained, ‘The light from the sun takes 8 minutes to travel and hit your retinas for you to see me standing in front of you.’

Some people are receptive whilst others think I am being obtuse. Meh, shrug. My biggest challenge is convincing Darth Vader and Chewbacca to do housework. Useless the pair of them. 😂🤣

MorningMist profile image
MorningMist in reply toNarwhal10

I wish in my younger days I’d had the courage to say ‘I’ll always be late’. Might not have been the expected response but it would have saved me so much stress. 😂

Narwhal10 profile image
Narwhal10 in reply toMorningMist

😂🤣

Yes, we can put so much pressure on ourselves. Must do this by this time. Must wear this, it has to be clean and ironed. Must have hair cut and styled. I have always thought outside the box.

My female friends thought it hysterical that I would target a single young man in smart clothing with a bag. I would throw a teaspoon on the ground. Then say, ‘Oh excuse me, that had just fallen out of your bag.’

The unsuspecting man would be embarrassed, pick it up quickly, stuff it into their pocket. Then say, THANK YOU.

EyesWideNow profile image
EyesWideNow in reply toMorningMist

My favourite is when I get unexpected visitors-I just say sorry about the mess but it’s usually worse than this ha ha 😂👍

Cherylclaire profile image
CherylclaireForum Support in reply toNarwhal10

Fibonacci sequence, everywhere in nature, is also present in building: in particular found in mediaeval cathedrals. The golden ratio - with Mother Nature as architect.

Polo22 profile image
Polo22 in reply toCherylclaire

Yes Gaia certainly knows her stuff, The Gaia Hypothesis very interesting ❤️

EyesWideNow profile image
EyesWideNow in reply toNarwhal10

Truly beautiful and miraculous-nature only appears random when we don’t see the pattern or the rule 🥰

Gambit62 profile image
Gambit62Administrator

Sallyfr is there any requirement to acknowledge receipt of the request and explain to the subject that it is a complex enquiry that will need longer to fulfil?

Sallyfr profile image
Sallyfr in reply toGambit62

Hi, in my organisation we acknowledge requests because we also check people’s identity at this stage. I have just checked the ICO guidance on the website and it doesn’t explicitly say you must. It will be good practice though. If it is identified that you can’t respond within the month, you should update the requester on the progress and let them know what is happening with it.

Nackapan profile image
Nackapan

I received my request 5 weeks after. Had to take ID to collect it .34 -36 yrsrs were missing.

Only online records printed off.

So only a few pages .

They sumerise too.

Now chasing the missed years.

I didn't want to do this .

However having had to deal with a new surgery and 5 letters later they did not allow me to access clinical letters on my NHS app .??

Previously saw what I needed.

Knew needed for last round of keeping my b12 prescription.

Theve given themselves more work by not simply sharing more on the app .

Summaries should've been made from the paper copies online .

I had one early entry

Measles!

Then nothing until the late 90s .

Sallyfr profile image
Sallyfr in reply toNackapan

You can request to the GP surgery what they hold about about.

They can limit what they supply if they have reasons that fit within the data protection act. These are varied and the surgery will need to explain why they have withheld data. Summaries are fine to give.

Nackapan profile image
Nackapan in reply toSallyfr

Thanks

ClareP5 profile image
ClareP5 in reply toNackapan

At some point the whole of the NHS will be digital. Where I work not all departments are yet. Old paper files are sent to an archive facility off site, but they can be retrieved very quickly as long as they were correctly stored and the box correctly labelled!

Narwhal10 profile image
Narwhal10

Hi Polo22,

I smiled at the ‘techy man’. Techy people covers a multitude of sins from data entry, to records management, to updating software, to fixing hardware, to data analysis, to software engineering, to systems analysis.

Erm, we use geek speak, ‘Yes, just some organic grounding’.

It means we have electrocuted ourselves. We are trying to get the machines to do what we ask and forgot about Health and Safety for a minute. Oops, that’s got a live current.

🐒

Aurora12 profile image
Aurora12

Hi Polo22, your surgery should've contacted you at the latest by the last day of a month after receiving your request - either to fully address it by then OR to advise you that they needed up to a further 2 months. i.e. under the Data Protection Act 2018, they are obliged to contact you a within a month. BUT, the ICO is likely to do ZILCH regarding it; talk about NO TEETH as regards smaller organisations - the ICO admits it's non-judgemental - and will always give them the benefit of the doubt - to encourage change!

The ICO goes so lightly on NHS bodies if you do end up making a complaint - and, in my case, talk about lack of integrity! - the organisation's (lazy) Data Protection Officer (DPO) fobbed the ICO off with false info - which the ICO believed and closed my 2 cases! I'm so disgusted with both the organisation AND the ICO! And - to add salt to the wound, I NEVER received the data, despite the DPO confirming there were no exemptions from disclosing! And the ICO's response (when my 2nd complaint reinforced the fact that the organisation hadn't changed their practices and still hadn't got the fundamentals right re: Data Protection) was - 1) "we're only obliged to investigate to a reasonable degree" - and for the 2nd complaint, the ICO didn't even address it correctly! So, the organisation continues to breach DP law, unabated!

Whilst there shouldn't be a charge for it currently, IF you've asked for ALL of your personal data held by the surgery, they may deem it excessive? - and could query/ask you to specify EXACTLY what you were seeking, in order to reduce the time/resource involved? Or apply a charge? [Years ago (2012), when I moved address/surgery, I requested all of mine and, at the time, (pre GDPR/DPA'18) they charged 35p per sheet of paper - they applied the full £50 charge then (despite the no. of sheets not equalling that amount)].

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