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.

Publication scheme

Your rights to information

The Freedom of Information Act (FOI) 2000 provides members of the public with the right access information held by public authorities.

Public authorities are required to routinely publish certain information to the public as part of its normal business activities. This is known as a publication scheme. 

Parc Canol Group Practice Publication Scheme is designed to signpost individuals to information we proactively release as and when it becomes available. The aim of this is to explain what information the practice makes available to the public and where possible to provide an easy method of accessing it.

The Publication Scheme contains seven classes of information, as follows, and information falling into each of these classes is published on our practice website:

• Who we are and what we do
• What we spend and how we spend it
• What are our priorities and how we are doing
• How we make decisions
• Our policies and procedures
• Register of members’ interests
• Services we offer

All the information we proactively release is available free of charge on our website. Our publication scheme is a useful place to start if you’re looking for information about Parc Canol Group Practice, before making a Freedom of Information request.

Information that is not published under the FOI Publication Scheme can be requested in writing and the release of such information will be considered in accordance with the provisions of the FOI Act 2000.

To make a Freedom of Information request, please:

• Contact the practice
• or write to:
  • Practice Manager
    Parc Canol Group Practice
    Central Park
    Church Village
    Pontypridd
    Rhondda Cynon Taf
    CF38 1RJ

Who we are and what we do

1. Parc Canol Group Practice has 17,000 patients in the Church Village, Tonteg, Beddau and Creigiau Area. We are also a member of the Taff Ely South Cluster, which is made up of 6 separate Practices. The cluster Practices can be found on the Taff Ely Primary Care Cluster website.
2. The practice was formed in 1975.
3. Practice details and our opening times are published on our website, this information be accessed via our contact us page
4. The following people work in the Practice Staff

Other information is available on the practice notice boards and display tables in the waiting areas.

What we spend and how we spend it

1. Parc Canol Group Practice receives money from NHS Wales according to its contract for national General Medical Services in exchange for services provided for patients.
2. The total income received from the NHS before expenses was £2.321 million for the year ending 30th June 2022.
3. 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, has taken the view that it may be prejudicial to the conduct of the Practice’s affairs. If this is the case, we will respond to your FOI request with a formal letter acknowledging the reasons why we are unable to give you this information.
4. We do not wish to publish our annual salaries, but they are available on request.

What our priorities are and how we are doing

Our top priority is to improve access to the practice. We have re-opened our GP online system (econsult) to practice opening hours, this enables improved access to routine appointments. We are constantly trying to improve our services further by acting on feedback and the results of our annual patient survey.

How we make decisions

The Practice is made up of 5 GP Partners and a management team. This Team meets once per week to discuss any Practice Priorities and decisions.

Our policies and procedures

This section provides information about current written protocols for delivering the practice’s functions and responsibilities. All practice policies and procedures are made easily available to Practice staff and members of the public. 

1. Our policies and procedures: General policies and procedures in use within the practice include, but are not limited to:
   • Data Protection
   • Prescribing
   • Zero Tolerance  
2. All policies and procedures are available for viewing, upon request in writing, please contact the Practice Manager
3. If you have a complaint or concerns about the service you have received from the doctors or any of the staff working in this practice, please let us know. We operate a complaints procedure as part of the NHS system. Our complaints system meets national criteria. 
4. A copy of our practice complaints procedure is available online. This will give you all the information and contact details needed to lodge a complaint.

Lists and registers

The Practice operates 8 CCTV cameras covering the perimeter of the building, car park and entrance to the Practice.

The services we offer

In addition to routine and emergency services, we offer the following range of services under contract to the NHS:

• Contraceptive Services 
• Minor Surgery

Charges for our private services (including medical reports and travel vaccinations) are published on our website, this information be accessed via the Non-NHS Services page

Additional - disclosure log

A disclosure log is used to publish any previous FOI requests and the response to these. For example, if someone asked you how often your practice gets a deep clean, the information you give to them can be published in this area. This will be helpful when people are looking to submit an FOI request to your practice, as then can check this log beforehand to see if the information they require has already been requested and published.

The method by which information published under this scheme will be made available

The practice will indicate clearly to the public what information is covered by this scheme and how it can be obtained. 

Where it is within the capability of the practice, information will be provided on the website. Where it is impracticable to make information available on a website or when an individual does not wish to access the information by the website, the practice will assist to provide the information in the format it has been requested or offer an alternative method for it to be obtained. 

Charges which may be made for information published under this scheme

The purpose of this scheme is to make the maximum amount of information readily available at minimum inconvenience and cost to the public. Charges made by the practice for routinely published material will be justified and transparent and kept to a minimum. Material which is published and accessed on a website will be provided free of charge. 

Generally, only the following charges can be made: 

• the costs directly incurred as a result of viewing information, photocopying, postage and packaging 
• fees permitted by other legislation; and
• for information produced commercially, for example, a book, map or similar publication that you intend to sell and would not otherwise have produced.