Accessible information –

The Accessible Information Standard is a requirement that all NHS organisations, including GP practices must follow to make sure that people who have a disability, impairment or sensory loss or their carers are given information in a format they can easily read or understand.

So, we can help and support you we want to know;

• If you need information in a specific format e.g. braille, large print or easy read
• If you need to receive information in a particular way
• if you need someone to support you at appointments e.g. a sign language interpreter or an advocate
• We want to know if you lip read or use a hearing aid or communication tool

Please let us know if you require any type of support so we can record this information and add it to your record.  You can do this by telling our reception team, doctor or nurse the support you need. It is best you do this prior to needing an appointment, so the practice can make the necessary adjustments in advance.

NHS England has more information on the standard which is available in a range of formats including easy read, audio and BSL video with subtitles.  You can see these by clicking the link below:

NHS England » Patients

Healthwatch Sunderland have created a leaflet to explain this

Do you have communication needs? | Healthwatch Sunderland

Reasonable Adjustments

All disabled people have the right to reasonable adjustments. This includes when using healthcare, including GP practices.

We need to make it as easy for disabled people to use health services. This is called making reasonable adjustments.

Reasonable adjustments are changes which mean people with a disability can access the healthcare they need.

Reasonable adjustments are dependent on the person. Everyone has different needs.  Some examples might include:

• making sure there is good access for people who use a wheelchair in the surgery
• providing plain English or easy read appointment letters.
• giving someone a priority appointment if they find it difficult waiting in their GP surgery or hospital.
• offering a longer appointment if someone needs more time with a doctor or nurse to make sure they understand the information they are given.
• having a quiet space available for people waiting for their appointment.
• making sure there is a hearing loop system in consultation rooms
• using a communication chart to support a person with dementia during an appointment.

Please let us know if you require any type adjustment to access your appointments so we can record this information and add it to your record.  You can do this by telling our reception team, doctor or nurse the adjustments you need. It is best you do this prior to needing an appointment, so the practice can make the necessary adjustments in advance.

Accessing someone else’s information

As a parent, family member or carer, you may be able to access services for someone else. We call this having proxy access. We can set this up for you if you are both registered with us.

To requests proxy access:

• collect a proxy access form from reception from 10am to 6pm

Linked profiles in your NHS account

Once proxy access is set up, you can access the other person’s profile in your NHS account, using the NHS App or website.

The NHS website has information about using linked profiles to access services for someone else.

We are a baby-friendly Practice. You are welcome to breastfeed your baby; please ask a Receptionist if you would like to sit somewhere private.

NHS England is currently involved in developing a modern information system, to help improve health services.

To discover how information about you helps us to provide better care you can visit the NHS England website or download the leaflets shown below.

Health and Social Care Act 2012

Collection of your personal data under the Health and Social Care Act 2012.

Our Practice is committed to providing a safe, comfortable environment where patients and staff can be confident that best practice is being followed at all times; the safety of everyone is of paramount importance.

All medical consultations, examinations and investigations are potentially distressing. Patients can find examinations, investigations or photography involving the breasts, genitalia or rectum particularly intrusive (these examinations are collectively referred to as ‘intimate examinations’). Consultations involving dimmed lights, the need for patients to undress or intensive periods of being touched may also make a patient feel vulnerable.

Chaperoning is the process of having a third person present during such consultations to provide support, both emotional and sometimes physical, to the patient, to provide practical support to the Doctor as required, and also to protect the Doctor against allegations of improper behaviour during such consultations.

Please refer to our Chaperone Policy shown below for further information.

Introduction

This Policy is designed to protect both patients and staff from abuse or allegations of abuse, and to assist patients in making an informed choice about their examinations and consultations.

Guidelines

Clinicians (male and female) will consider whether an intimate or personal examination of the patient (either male or female) is justified, or whether the nature of the consultation poses a risk of misunderstanding.

• The Clinician will give the patient a clear explanation of what the examination will involve
• They will always adopt a professional and considerate manner and be careful with humour as a way of relaxing a nervous situation, as it can easily be misinterpreted
• The patient will always be provided with adequate privacy to undress and dress
• A suitable sign will be clearly on display in each Consulting or Treatment Room offering the Chaperone Service.

The above guidelines are to remove the potential for misunderstanding. However, there will still be times when either the Clinician, or the patient, feels uncomfortable, and it would then be appropriate to consider using a Chaperone.

Patients who request a Chaperone will never be examined without a Chaperone being present. If necessary, where a Chaperone is not available, the consultation/examination will be rearranged for a mutually convenient time when a Chaperone can be present.

Complaints and claims have not been limited to Doctors treating/examining patients of the opposite gender – there are many examples of alleged assault by female and male doctors on people of the same gender.

Consideration will always be given by staff to the possibility of a malicious accusation by a patient, and a Chaperone organised if there is any potential for this.

There may be occasions when a Chaperone is needed for a home visit in which case the following procedure will be followed.

Who can act as a Chaperone?

A variety of people can act as a Chaperone in the practice, but staff undertaking a formal Chaperone role will have been trained in the competencies required. Where possible, Chaperones will be clinical staff familiar with procedural aspects of personal examination.

Where the Practice determines that non-clinical staff will act in this capacity, the patient will be asked to agree to the presence of a non-Clinician in the examination, and for confirmation that they are at ease with this. The staff member will be trained in the procedural aspects of personal examinations, be comfortable acting in the role of Chaperone, and be confident in the scope and extent of their role. They will also have received instruction on where to sit/stand and what to watch and listen for.

A Chaperone will document in the patient notes that they were present, and detail any issues arising.

Confidentiality

• The Chaperone will only be present for the examination itself, with most of the discussion with the patient taking place while the Chaperone is not present.
• Patients are reassured that all Practice staff understand their responsibility not to divulge confidential information.

Procedure

• The Clinician will contact reception to request a Chaperone
• Where no Chaperone is available, a Clinician may offer to delay the examination to a date when one will be available, as long as the delay would not have an adverse effect on the patient’s health
• If a Clinician wishes to conduct an examination with a Chaperone present but the patient does not agree to this, the Clinician will explain clearly why they want a Chaperone to be present. The Clinician may choose to consider referring the patient to a colleague who would be willing to examine them without a Chaperone, as long as the delay would not have an adverse effect on the patient’s health
• The Clinician will record in the notes that the Chaperone is present, and identify the Chaperone
• The Chaperone will enter the room discreetly and remain in the room until the Clinician has finished the examination
• A Chaperone will attend inside the curtain/screened-off area at the head of the examination couch and observe the procedure
• To prevent embarrassment, the Chaperone will not enter into conversation with the patient or GP unless requested to do so, or make any mention of the consultation afterwards
• The Chaperone will make a record in the patient’s notes after examination. The record will either state that there were no problems, or give details of any concerns or incidents that occurred. The Chaperone must be aware of the procedure to follow if any concerns require to be raised
• The patient can refuse a Chaperone, and if so this must be recorded in the patient’s medical record.

Clinical governance is the system through which NHS organisations are accountable for continuously improving the quality of their services and safeguarding high standards of care, by creating an environment in which clinical excellence will flourish.

Clinical governance encompasses quality assurance, quality improvement and risk & incident management.

Complaints process/procedures

We make every effort to give the best service possible to everyone who attends our Practice.

However, we are aware that things can go wrong, resulting in a patient feeling that they have a genuine cause for complaint. If this is so, we would like the matter to be settled as quickly, and as amicably, as possible.

To have your complaint investigated, you need to complain within 12 months of the event happening, or as soon as you first become aware of the issue you want to complain about.

The time limit can be extended in special circumstances.

How to make a compliment or complaint

Whether you are happy or unhappy with the care and treatment that you have received, please get in touch and let us know your views.

Receiving compliments and complaints is important to ensuring good quality local healthcare in our Practice – helping us to find out more about what we’re getting right and what we can improve.

We hope this will help you to make your feelings and experiences known to the appropriate people. Should you have a complaint we hope this page will give you more information about what to do, who to contact and what happens next.

How do I raise a concern / informal complaint?

You can speak to any member of staff initially with your complaint. This gives you the opportunity to resolve any concern you may have without it going through a formal process.

Most complaints are best resolved within the practice and these should be made via the Management team.

If you’re considering making a complaint but need help

If you require support to make a complaint Voice Ability can offer both offer both information and support.  They have advocates to support people to make a complaint about the treatment or care that they or a friend or family member have received from an NHS service. This support is available at every stage of the complaints process.

VoiceAbility | Sunderland

Formal Complaint

What we will do

We will contact you about your complaint within three working days and offer to discuss with you the best way to investigate it, including the time scales for a reply. We will aim to offer you an explanation within that time frame. Or a meeting with the people involved.

• Find out what happened and what went wrong
• Invite you to discuss the problem with those involved, if you would like this
• Apologise where this is appropriate
• Identify what we can do to make sure that the problem does not happen again.

If you feel you do not want to contact the surgery directly, then you can contact the NHS integrated care board complaints team on:

Website address: NHS North East and North Cumbria ICB contact us

Email: necsu.pccomplaints@nhs.net

Telephone: 0191 512 8484

In General

If you have a complaint to make, you can either contact the Practice Manager or ask the Receptionist for a copy of our Complaints Procedure. We will endeavour to:

1. acknowledge any letter or Complaints Form within 3 working days of receiving it.
2. deal with the matter as promptly as possible – usually within 20 working days – dependent on the nature of the complaint.

Who can complain

• Complainants may be current or former patients, or their nominated or elected representatives (who have been given consent to act on the patients behalf).
• Patients over the age of 16 whose mental capacity is unimpaired should normally complain themselves or authorise someone to bring a complaint on their behalf.
• Children under the age of 16 can also make their own complaint, if they’re able to do so.

If a patient lacks capacity to make decisions, their representative must be able to demonstrate sufficient interest in the patient’s welfare and be an appropriate person to act on their behalf. This could be a partner, relative or someone appointed under the Mental Capacity Act 2005 with lasting power of attorney.

Appropriate person

In certain circumstances, we need to check that a representative is the appropriate person to make a complaint.

• For example, if the complaint involves a child, we must satisfy ourselves that there are reasonable grounds for the representative to complain, rather than the child concerned.
• If the patient is a child or a patient who lacks capacity, we must also be satisfied that the representative is acting in the patient’s best interests.

If we are not satisfied that the representative is an appropriate person we will not consider the complaint, and will give the representative the reasons for our decision in writing.

Procedure

We have a two stage complaints procedure. We will always try to deal with your complaint quickly however if it is clear that the matter will need a detailed investigation, we will notify you and then keep you updated on our progress.

Stage one – Early, local resolution

• We will try to resolve your complaint within five working days if possible.
• If you are dissatisfied with our response, you can ask us to escalate your complaint to Stage Two.

Stage Two – Investigation

• We will look at your complaint at this stage if you are dissatisfied with our response at Stage One.
• We also escalate some complaints straight to this stage, if it is clear that they are complex or need detailed investigation.
• We will acknowledge your complaint within 3 working days and we will give you our decision as soon as possible. This will be no more that 20 working days unless there is clearly a good reason for needing more time to respond.

Complain to the Ombudsman

If, after receiving our final decision, you remain dissatisfied you may take your complaint to the Ombudsman.

The Ombudsman is independent of the NHS and free to use. It can help resolve your complaint, and tell the NHS how to put things right if it has got them wrong.

The Ombudsman only has legal powers to investigate certain complaints. You must have received a final response from the Practice before the Ombudsman can look at your complaint and it will generally not look into your complaint if it happened more than 12 months ago, unless there are exceptional circumstances.

Phone: 0345 015 4033

• E: email the Ombudsman 

Confidentiality

All complaints will be treated in the strictest confidence.

Where the investigation of the complaint requires consideration of the patient’s medical records, we will inform the patient or person acting on his/her behalf if the investigation will involve disclosure of information contained in those records to a person other than the Practice or an employee of the Practice.

We keep a record of all complaints and copies of all correspondence relating to complaints, but such records will be kept separate from patients’ medical records.

Complaints Form

To make a complaint please use our Contact Form

Consent to treatment is the principle that a person must give permission before they receive any type of medical treatment, test or examination and is generally requested on the basis that an explanation of the required treatment, test or procedure has been received from a Clinician.

Consent from a patient is needed regardless of the procedure, whether it’s a physical examination, organ donation or something else.

The principle of consent is an important part of medical ethics and international human rights law.

Defining Consent

For consent to be valid, it must be voluntary and informed, and the person consenting must have the capacity to make the decision.

These terms are explained below:

• voluntary– the decision to either consent or not to consent to treatment must be made by the person themselves, and must not be influenced by pressure from medical staff, friends or family
• informed– the person must be given all of the information in terms of what the treatment involves, including the benefits and risks, whether there are reasonable alternative treatments, and what will happen if treatment doesn’t go ahead
• capacity– the person must be capable of giving consent, which means they understand the information given to them and they can use it to make an informed decision

If an adult has the capacity to make a voluntary and informed decision to consent to or refuse a particular treatment, their decision must be respected.This is still the case even if refusing treatment would result in their death, or the death of their unborn child.

If a person doesn’t have the capacity to make a decision about their treatment, the Healthcare Professionals treating them can go ahead and give treatment if they believe it’s in the person’s best interests.

Clinicians must however take reasonable steps to seek advice from the patient’s friends or relatives before making these decisions.

Read more about assessing the capacity to consent.

How consent is given

Consent can be given:

• verbally– for example, by saying you are happy to have an X-ray
• in writing– for example, by signing a Consent Form for surgery to be performed

Someone could also give non-verbal consent, as long as they understand the treatment or examination about to take place – for example, holding out an arm for a blood test.

Consent should be given to the Healthcare Professional directly responsible for the person’s current treatment, such as:

• a Nurse arranging a blood test
• a GP prescribing new medication
• a Surgeon planning an operation

If someone is going to have a major medical procedure such as an operation, their consent should ideally be secured plenty of time in advance, so that they have time to obtain information about the procedure and ask questions.

If a patient changes their mind at any point before the procedure, they are entitled to withdraw their previous consent.

Consent from children and young people

If they’re able to, consent is usually given by patients themselves. However, someone with parental responsibility may need to give consent for a child up to the age of 16 to have treatment.

Read more about the rules of consent applying to children and young people.

When consent isn’t needed

There are a few exceptions when treatment may be able to go ahead without the person’s consent, even if they’re capable of giving their permission.

It may not be necessary to obtain consent if a person:

• requires emergency treatment to save their life, but they’re incapacitated (for example, they’re unconscious) – the reasons why treatment was necessary should be fully explained once they’ve recovered
• immediately requires an additional emergency procedure during an operation – there has to be a clear medical reason why it would be unsafe to wait to obtain consent, and it can’t be simply for convenience
• with a severe mental health condition such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder or dementia, lacks the capacity to consent to the treatment of their mental health (under the Mental Health Act 1983) – in these cases, treatment for unrelated physical conditions still requires consent, which the patient may be able to provide, despite their mental illness
• requires Hospital treatment for a severe mental health condition, but self-harmed or attempted suicide while competent and is refusing treatment (under the Mental Health Act 1983) – the person’s nearest relative or an approved Social Worker must make an application for the person to be forcibly kept in Hospital, and two Doctors must assess the person’s condition
• is a risk to public health as a result of rabies, cholera or tuberculosis (TB)
• is severely ill and living in unhygienic conditions (under the National Assistance Act 1948) – a person who is severely ill or infirm and is living in unsanitary conditions can be taken to a place of care without their consent

You can always talk to the clinician providing you with care if you have any concerns in relation to consent.

Consent and life-sustaining treatments

A person may be being kept alive with supportive treatments – such as lung ventilation – without having made an advance decision based on information which outlined the care that they may have refused to receive.

In these cases, a decision about continuing or stopping treatment needs to be made based on what that person’s best interests are believed to be.

To help reach a decision, the Healthcare Professionals responsible for the person’s care should discuss the issue with the relatives and friends of the person receiving the treatment.

They should consider, among other things:

• what the person’s quality of life will be if treatment is continued
• how long the person may live if treatment is continued
• whether there’s any chance of the person recovering

Treatment can be withdrawn if there’s an agreement that continuing treatment isn’t in the person’s best interests.

The case will be referred to the Courts before further action is taken if:

• an agreement can’t be reached
• a decision has to be made on whether to withdraw treatment from someone who has been in a state of impaired consciousness for a long time (usually at least 12 months)

It’s important to note the difference between withdrawing a person’s life support and taking a deliberate action to make them die. For example, injecting a lethal drug would illegal.

We share a common purpose with our partners in health and social care – and that is to provide high quality care and ensure the best possible outcomes for the people who use our services. Promoting improvement is at the heart of what we do.

We endeavour to provide a first class service at all times but sometimes things go wrong and our service may fall below our expected levels.

In order to comply with Regulation 20 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulations 2014) we pledge to:

• Have a culture of openness and honesty at all levels
• Inform patients in a timely manner when safety incidents have occurred which may affect them
• Provide a written and truthful account of the incident, explaining any investigations and enquiries made
• Provide a written apology
• Provide support if you are affected directly by an incident.

Our Policy is designed to ensure and promote equality and inclusion, supporting the ethos and requirements of the Equality Act 2010 for all visitors to our Practice.

We are committed to:

• ensuring that all visitors are treated with dignity and respect
• promoting equality of opportunity between men and women
• not tolerating any discrimination or perceived discrimination against, or harassment of, any visitor for reason of age, sex, gender, marital status, pregnancy, race, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, religion or belief
• providing the same treatment and services (including the ability to register with the Practice) to any visitor irrespective of age, sex, marital status, pregnancy, race, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, medical condition, religion or belief
• This Policy applies to the general public, including all patients and their families, visitors and contractors

Procedure

Discrimination by the Practice or Visitors / patients against you

If you feel discriminated against:

• You should bring the matter to the attention of the Practice Manager
• The Practice Manager will investigate the matter thoroughly and confidentiality within 14 working days
• The Practice Manager will establish the facts and decide whether or not discrimination has taken place, and advise you of the outcome of the investigation within 14 working days
• If you are not satisfied with the outcome, you should raise a formal complaint through our Complaints Procedure

Discrimination against our Practice staff

The Practice will not tolerate any form of discrimination or harassment of our staff by any visitor. Any visitor who expresses any form of discrimination against or harassment of any member of our staff will be required to leave the Practice premises immediately. If the visitor is a patient they may also, at the discretion of the Practice Management, be removed from the Practice list if any such behaviour occurs.

The Freedom of Information Act creates a right of access to recorded information and obliges a public authority to:

• Have a publication scheme in place
• Allow public access to information held by public authorities.

The Act covers any recorded organisational information such as reports, policies or strategies, that is held by a public authority in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and by UK-wide public authorities based in Scotland, however it does not cover personal information such as patient records which are covered by the Data Protection Act.

Public authorities include government departments, local authorities, the NHS, state schools and police forces.

The Act is enforced by the Information Commissioner who regulates both the Freedom of Information Act and the Data Protection Act.

The Surgery publication scheme

A publication scheme requires an authority to make information available to the public as part of its normal business activities. The scheme lists information under seven broad classes, which are:

• who we are and what we do
• what we spend and how we spend it
• what our priorities are and how we are doing it
• how we make decisions
• our policies and procedures
• lists and registers
• the services we offer

You can request our publication scheme leaflet at the surgery.

Who can request information?

Under the Act, any individual, anywhere in the world, is able to make a request to a practice for information. An applicant is entitled to be informed in writing, by the practice, whether the practice holds information of the description specified in the request and if that is the case, have the information communicated to him. An individual can request information, regardless of whether he/she is the subject of the information or affected by its use.

How should requests be made?

Requests must:

• be made in writing (this can be electronically e.g. email/fax)
• state the name of the applicant and an address for correspondence
• describe the information requested.

What cannot be requested?

Personal data about staff and patients covered under Data Protection Act.

For more information see these websites:

• Legislation GOV.UK
• Information Commissioners 

Data Protection Legislation is Changing from 25th May, the current UK Data Protection Act 1998 is being replaced by the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and Data Protection Act 2018.

The new legislation is very similar to the 1998 Act but provides some enhanced rights for individuals around how the Practice uses your information.

Why do we Need Your Information?

The NHS Act 2006 and Health and Social Care Act 2012 invests statutory functions on GP Practices to promote and provide the health service to improve quality of services, reduce inequalities, conduct research, review performance of services and deliver education and training.

To do this we will need to process your information in accordance with the current data protection legislation to:

• Protect your vital interests
• Pursue our legitimate interests as a provider of medical care, particularly where the individual is a child or vulnerable adult
• Perform tasks in the public’s interests
• Deliver preventative medicine, medical diagnosis, medical research, and manage the health and social system and services

Should you require any further information on GDPR or the Data Protection Act, this can be found on the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) website:

• https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/guide-to-the-general-data-protection-regulation-gdpr/

You can also contact the Practice’s Data Protection Officer. When contacting the Data Protection Officer please ensure you include the details of the Practice:

Data Protection Officer: Mr James Carroll

Tel No: 0191 404 1000 (Ext 3436)

E-mail address: stsft.dposunderlandpractices@nhs.net

For Subject Access Requests, the practice needs to be contacted directly and not the DPO: stsft.dposunderlandpractices@nhs.net

General Practice Extraction Service (GPES) is a centrally managed, primary care, data extraction service being introduced across England, and is managed by the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC).

The purpose of GPES is to extract and compare data from across the NHS, allowing data to be turned into accurate and usable management information; this in turn leads to improvements in patient care and greater efficiency across the service as a whole. The data extracted is also used to support QOF, although GPES does not calculate or make these payments, that task is carried out by the Calculating Quality Reporting Service (CQRS).

Click on the link below to be redirected to a more in depth review of how ‘Care Data’ is being managed.

For further information please access this LINK.

As part of the NHS commitment to providing more personalised care, from June 2015 all practices are required to provide all their Patients with a named GP who will have overall responsibility for the care and support that our surgery provides.

•  This will not impact your experience at the practice, the provision of appointments, your treatment, or which GP you can see
•  You may wonder why your allocated GP is not necessarily the one you see most regularly.  Please be assured that you can still access all of our medical team in exactly the same way as before
•  Having a named GP does not guarantee you will always be seen by that GP
•  Please note that the GP responsible for your care may be subject to change and reallocation in the future

You do not need to take any further action, but if you have any questions or wish to know your named GP, please speak to a member of the reception team.

What does ‘accountable’ mean?

This is largely a role of oversight, with the requirements being introduced to reassure patients that they have one GP within the practice who is responsible for ensuring that this work is carried out on their behalf.

What are the named GP’s responsibilities to 75s and over?

This is unchanged from 2014-2015; for patients aged 75 and over the named accountable GP is responsible for:  

•  working with relevant associated health and social care professionals to deliver a multi-disciplinary care package that meets the needs of the patient
•  ensuring that these patients have access to a health check as set out in section 7.9 of the GMS Contract Regulations.

Does the requirement mean 24-hour responsibility for patients? No. The named GP will not:  

•  take on vicarious responsibility for the work of other doctors or health professional
•  take on 24-hour responsibility for the patient, or have to change their working hours. The requirement does not imply personal availability for GPs throughout the working week
•  be the only GP or clinician who will provide care to that patient

Can patients choose their own named GP

In the first instance, patients should simply be allocated a named GP. However, if a patient requests a particular GP, reasonable efforts should be made to accommodate their preference, recognising that there are occasions when the practice may not feel the patient’s preference is suitable.

Do patients have to see the named GP when they book an appointment with the practice?

No. Patients can and should feel free to choose to see any GP or nurse in the practice in line with current arrangements. However, some practices may see this change as a way to encourage and promote a greater degree of continuity of care for patients.

April 2024 Newsletter

https://practice365.co.uk/a89034/wp-content/uploads/sites/659/2024/04/Newsletter-April-2024.pdf

This GP Practice, as the data controller may collect personal information from visitors to this site. This will not include any information that can be used to identify any individual.

This information is used only to respond to enquiries, monitor site usage and to enhance the use of certain technologies – such as activity based information. Cookies and logging of IP addresses are used to enable the GP Practice to monitor site traffic and repeat visitor statistics.

The GP Practice will at all times comply with the requirements of the Data Protection Act 1998.

• Privacy Information Leaflet 1.1

Our Practice aims to provide quality, consistent primary care for all patients. We strive to meet the high standards expected in any clinical setting and we expect all members of our Team to work to these standards to help us achieve our aim.

The policies, systems and processes in place in our Practice reflect our professional and legal responsibilities and follow recognised standards of good practice. We evaluate our Practice on a regular basis, through audit, peer review and patient feedback and monitor the effectiveness of our quality assurance procedures.

Quality Standards and Procedures

To assist our Team in providing our patients with care of a consistent quality we will:

• Provide a safe and welcoming environment
• Ensure all members of our Team are appropriately trained
• Provide patients with information about the Practice and the care available, and ensure the patient understands the terms under which care is offered
• Explain all treatment options and agree clinical decisions with the patient(s), explaining the possible risks involved with each option
• Obtain valid consent for all treatment
• Refer to Specialists for investigation or treatment as appropriate and without undue delay
• Maintain contemporaneous clinical records with an up-to-date medical history for all patients
• Provide secure storage of patients records to maintain confidentiality
• Explain the procedure to follow for raising a complaint about the service, identifying the Practice contact

To provide our patients with a Team that provides care of a consistent quality we will:

• Provide a safe working environment through hazard identification and risk assessment
• Provide relevant training for all new Team members
• Provide Job Descriptions and Contracts of Employment
• Agree terms for all non-employed contractors working at the Practice
• Maintain staff records, ensuring they are kept as up-to-date as possible
• Ensure staff are notified where all Practice policies and procedures are stored and accessed

It is our policy not to remove patients without serious consideration. If a patient has a serious continuing medical condition, removal will be postponed until the patient’s condition stabilises.

Possible grounds for consideration of removal include:

1. Physical violence to staff, Doctors or other patients
2. Threat of violence to staff, Doctors or other patients
3. Abusive or disruptive behaviour including when under the influence of alcohol or drugs
4. Theft from the Surgery, staff, Doctors or other patients
5. Criminal damage to the Surgery
6. Dangerous dogs posing a real or potential hazard on home visits
7. Altering documents e.g. prescriptions, insurance certificates
8. Defamation of Doctors or staff
9. Misuse of appointments
10. Misuse of home visits
11. Moving outwith the area
12. Any other breakdown of the bond of trust between Doctor and patient

It should be noted that if a patient does not attend for their appointment they will not be given another one for 48 hours. In the event of a patient not attending on three occasions they will receive a letter advising them that if they miss another appointment, they will be removed from our Practice list.

In some cases we reserve the right to remove other members of the household. We will continue to be responsible for the patient’s medical care for a period of up to 8 days from the date of notification to our local health authority or until the patient registers with another Doctor, whichever is the sooner.

Our Primary Care Team is committed to safeguarding children. The safety and welfare of children who come into contact with our services either directly or indirectly is paramount, and all staff have a responsibility to ensure that Best Practice is followed, including compliance with statutory requirements.

We are committed to a Best Practice which safeguards children and young people irrespective of their background, and which recognises that a child may be abused regardless of their age, gender, religious beliefs, racial origin or ethnic identity, culture, class, disability or sexual orientation.

The Primary Care Team are committed to working within agreed policies and procedures and in partnership with other agencies, to ensure that the risks of harm to a child or young person are minimised. This work may include direct and indirect contact with children, access to patient’s details and communication via email or text message/telephone.

Our Surgery is supported by the CCG who have designated Nurses and Doctors in post who offer professional expertise and advice regarding safeguarding children.

Making decisions about your care with your doctor or nurse (shared decision making)

When you visit your doctor’s surgery you will often find that there are decisions to be made about your health and the treatments that might be available to you. This includes when you are choosing between different types of treatment or different ways of managing any condition(s) you have. When these decisions are made it is important that you are part of that process, so that you are able to come to the best decisions based on what is important to you.

Shared Decision Making

Your doctor/nurse is an expert about health and health care. You are an expert in knowing about yourself, the impact that any conditions have on you, and what is important to you in treating your condition and in your wider life. When you and your doctor/nurse work together to share what you both know, and then use all of that information to come to a decision together, this is called ‘Shared Decision Making’.

How to get involved

In order for you to be involved in decisions about your care there are three key things you need to know;

1. What are my options?
2. What are the possible risks, benefits and consequences of each option?
3. How can we make a decision together that is right for me?

With shared decision making your doctor/nurse is there to support you by providing good quality information, helping you understand this information, and giving you support and guidance as you think about what is most important to you.  This will help you to understand what choices are available to you, the pros and cons of each option, and then use that information to come to a decision together about the best option for you.

If you would like to know more about Shared Decision Making the following video provides further information.

Where to find more information

Here are some links to information which may help you make any decisions about your healthcare

Patient Decision Aids

Patient Decision Aids (PDAs) are designed to help you decide which treatments and care options are best for you.

PDAs are useful because they allow you to pick out the things that are most important to you (your values) and make comparisons about how different treatments might affect these values. Patient decision aids have been developed for a number of common health care decisions and your doctor/nurse may use one or refer you on to one when you talk with them, or you might find it useful to look at one by yourself. If you would like to know more about patient decision aids and look at some of the patient decision aids that are publicly available, the following websites :

• Decision aids developed in the UK

An international inventory of decision aids 

If you are looking for information about the risk of cardiovascular disease or Type 2 diabetes and ways in which those risks can be reduced these sites contains some useful information:

• The Absolute CVD Risk/Benefit Calculator
• Q Intervention

As of 1st October 2021 your data will be shared with NHS Digital to help improve health, care and services

Patient data from GP medical records kept by GP practices in England is used every day to improve health, care and services through planning and research, helping to find better treatments and improve patient care. The NHS is introducing an improved way to share this information – called the General Practice Data for Planning and Research data collection.

NHS Digital will collect, analyse, publish and share this patient data to improve health and care services for everyone.

This includes:

• Informing and developing health and social care policy
• Planning and commissioning health and care services
• Taking steps to protect public health (including managing and monitoring the coronavirus pandemic)
• In exceptional circumstances, providing you with individual care
• Enabling healthcare and scientific research
• Any data that NHS Digital collects will only be used for health and care purposes. It is never shared with marketing or insurance companies.

If you have already registered a Type 1 Opt-out with your GP practice your data will not be shared with NHS Digital.

If you wish to register a Type 1 Opt-out with your GP practice before data sharing starts with NHS Digital, this should be done by downloading a Type 1 Opt-out form and returning this to your GP practice to allow time for processing it. If you have previously registered a Type 1 Opt-out and you would like to withdraw this, you can also use the form to do this. You can send the form by post or email to your GP practice or call 0300 3035678 for a form to be sent out to you.

If you register a Type 1 Opt-out after your patient data has already been shared with NHS Digital, no more of your data will be shared with NHS Digital. NHS Digital will however still hold the patient data which was shared with us before you registered the Type 1 Opt-out.

If you do not want NHS Digital to share your identifiable patient data (personally identifiable data in the diagram above) with anyone else for purposes beyond your own care, then you can also register a National Data Opt-out.

You can register to book appointments, get repeat medication and view items such as allergies or immunisations through our online facility just click the link below and follow the instructions

EMIS ACCESS service just click on the link Patient Access and follow the instructions.

Summary Care Records (SCR) are an electronic record of important patient information, created from GP medical records. They can be seen and used by authorised staff involved in a patient’s direct care, both within the Practice as well as in other areas of the healthcare system.

Your Summary Care Record

Care professionals in England use an electronic record called the Summary Care Record (SCR). This can provide those involved in your care with faster secure access to key information from your GP record.

The NHS have produced an information leaflet about SCR; this is available using the link below, to either view or download as you wish.

The NHS operate a Zero Tolerance Policy with regard to violence and abuse and the Practice has the right to remove violent patients from their list with immediate effect, in order to safeguard practice staff, patients and other persons. Violence in this context includes actual or threatened physical violence or verbal abuse which leads to fear for a person’s safety.

In this situation we will notify the patient in writing of their removal from the list and record in the patient’s medical records the fact of the removal and the circumstances leading to it.

Where patients are disruptive and display aggressive and/or intimidating behaviour and refuse to leave the premises, staff are instructed to dial 999 for Police assistance, and charges may then be brought against these individuals.

It is our policy to be helpful and polite to all our patients regardless of age, ethnic origin, disability, gender or sexual orientation. We expect the same courtesy from our patients. Discriminatory, unsocial, threatening, violent or abusive behaviour towards staff, other patients or the premises will not be tolerated. The Practice will take action in these circumstances, which may involve the Police and result in the removal of the patient from our Practice list.

In England, please refer to NHS Constitution your rights and responsibilities for further information.