Welcome to the Publication Scheme for Practitioners for Health Ltd as required by the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

The publications are free unless otherwise indicated.  Where information is provided at cost, the charges will be

calculated as set out in Class 7.

Our Rights to Information

·               The Freedom of Information Act 2000 is designed to promote openness and accountability amongst all

organisations that receive public money.  ·               From January 1^st 2005 there is an obligation for opticians’ and

optometrists’ practices to respond to requests about the NHS related information that it holds, and it will create a

right of access to that information.  These rights are subject to some exemptions that have to be taken into

consideration before releasing information. ·               In addition to accessing the information identified in the publication

scheme, you are entitled to request information about our NHS services under the NHS Openness Code 1995.  

 New environmental information regulations may be introduced as early as 2003.  These will enable similar

access to environmental information as under the Freedom of Information Act 2000. ·               Under the Data

Protection Act 1998, you are also entitled to access your clinical records or any other personal information held about

you and you can contact any practice where your records are held to do this.

Your 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:

info@eyesight.co.uk

Classes of Information

All NHS information at Practitioners for Health is held, retained and destroyed within NHS guidelines. 

Our commitment to publish information excludes any information that can be legitimately withheld under the

exemptions set out in the NHS Openness Code or Freedom of Information Act 2000.  From 2005, individual Classes are

subject to exemptions, the main reasons being the protection of commercial interests and personal information under

the Data Protection Act 1998.  This Scheme had been written in accordance with those exemptions.  The information

on this Scheme is grouped into the following categories:

1)               Who we are

· Brian Berry BSc FCOptom, is the Optometrist director of Practitioners for Health Ltd T/A Lightwater Opticians.

Company Registration number: 2372855 

Both our practices provide free NHS eye tests for those who are eligible. You may also be entitled to vouchers that can be used against the purchase of glasses or contact lenses if you require them. To find out if you are eligible for assistance go to: http://www.dh.gov.uk/PolicyAndGuidance/MedicinesPharmacyAndIndustry/Prescriptions/NHSCosts/fs/en

Appointments for eye tests can be booked over the phone, or by dropping into one of our practices. The addresses and phone numbers of our practices are above

Opening times can vary between locations, so please call to confirm.

For every eye test performed on behalf of the NHS the opticians practice receives a set fee of £18.39. This includes a contribution towards optometrist and staff salaries, equipment costs and other store overheads. 

If you are not eligible for the NHS eye test, please contact your local practice for details of our current charges.

A complete set of information about optical and ocular conditions, eye tests, glasses, and contact lenses, can be found on a number of websites including http://www.college-optometrists.org/

Some of this information is also available in patient leaflets. These are freely available from all our practices. To request a set of leaflets by post, please contact: info@eyesight.co.uk

If you have a complaint about any of our products or services, we recommended that you first discuss any problems with the dispensing manager at the practice concerned. 

If the matter cannot be resolved in this way or you are unsatisfied with the response you receive please contact me Brian Berry on the practice telephone number above. A full copy of our complaints policy is available on request and can be found in Class 6.

· Practice Complaints Procedure

· Our practices are registered with the data aprotection agency.http://www.dataprotection.gov.uk/

· Health and safety (under constuction)

They are available by clicking on the links.

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 practice. We will also publish any proposed changes or additions to publications already available.

Cost of Information

For the most part, we will only charge for hard copies, or copies onto media. Charges are as follows and will be reviewed regularly.

Accesed from our website - free of charge

· Single hard copies – free of charge

· Multiple hard copies, or archived copies will attract a charge for photocopying, retrieval and postage. We will inform you of the cost of these charges that will have to be paid in advance.

· E-mail will be free of charge. 

Part 3. Useful Resources

Websites:

· Information Commissioner

www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk

· Lord Chancellors Department

www.lcd.gov.uk

· NHS Freedom of Information

http://www.foi.nhs.uk/

Publications:

· NHS Openness Code

· Freedom of Information Act 2000

www.hmso.gov.uk/acts/acts2000/20000036.htm

Copyright:

Material available through this publication scheme is 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 that 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 .