Policies

Practices are required to allocate all patients a named GP who is nominally responsible for your overall care in the Practice.  If you wish to know who is your named GP, please ask at Reception.  If you wish your named GP to be changed, please let us know and we will do our best to accommodate this. 

Please note  - patients are not restricted to seeing  their named GP and can see any of the GPs in the Practice.

Chaperone Policy.docx

Click here to view information relating to the National Data Opt-Out

In order to provide the right level of care, we are required to hold personal information about you on our computer systems and in paper records to help us to look after your health needs, and your doctor is responsible for their accuracy and safe-keeping. Please help to keep your record up to date by informing us of any changes to your circumstances.

Confidentiality and Personal Information

Doctors and staff in the practice have access to your medical records to enable them to do their jobs. From time to time information may be shared with others involved in your care if it is necessary. Anyone with access to your record is properly trained in confidentiality issues and is governed by both legal and contractual duty to keep your details private.

All information about you is held securely and appropriate safeguards are in place to prevent accidental loss.

In some circumstances we may be required by law to release your details to statutory or other official bodies, for example if a court order is presented, or in the case of public health issues. In other circumstance you may be required to give written consent before information is released – such as for medical reports for insurance, solicitors etc.

To ensure your privacy, we will not disclose information over the telephone or fax unless we are sure that we are talking to you. Information will not be disclosed to family, friends or spouses unless we have prior written consent, and we do not, leave messages with others.

You have a right to see your records if you wish. Please ask at reception if you would like further details about our patient information leaflet. An appointment may be required. In some circumstances a fee may be payable.

The following IT systems are in use at the Practice:

• Referral Management (using NHS numbers in referrals)
• Electronic Appointment Booking (the facility to book routine appointments online and, similarly, to cancel appointments
• Online booking of repeat prescriptions
• Summary Care Record (uploading details of your current medication and allergies to the national “spine” so that these are available for doctors involved in your care elsewhere)
• GP to GP transfers (the electronic transfer of records from practice to practice when you re-register)
• Patient Access to records (the facility to view your medical records online).

If you are not already registered for online access and would like to be please complete our online form.

If you would like access to your medical records enabled or would like to opt out of the local or national summary care record, please contact Reception.

Our surgery is accessible to patients with different access needs as follows:

• Wheelchair accessible, all patient facilities on ground floor
• Auto opening doors to waiting area
• Step free access from car park
• Translation services available including British Sign Language
• Accessible toilet facilities

Please let us know if you require any other adjustments to assist with your visit.

We continually strive to provide an exemplary health care service for all patients registered with us. Good health involves us working together. We will do our best to provide you with the best possible health care, and offer education and support so that you can maintain your own health and wellbeing. We will treat you as an individual and make every effort to respect your privacy and personal beliefs. We also try to ensure that whatever your condition you have easy access to the services we provide and that you fully understand your care and treatment. Together, we will agree what is best for you, and encourage you to make any changes that may be necessary to ensure good health.

We aim to treat our patients courteously at all times and expect our patients to treat our staff in a similarly respectful way. We take seriously any threatening, abusive or violent behaviour against any member of staff or patient. If a patient is violent or abusive, they will be warned to stop their behaviour. If they persist, we may exercise our right to action their removal, immediately if necessary, from our list of patients.

The care of our patients is fundamental to the service we provide and it should be recognised that the patient has responsibility in part for his or her own well-being. We may prescribe treatments to aid a particular complaint or condition and may recommend changes and/or modifications in lifestyle to promote the patients’ well-being. You can help us by:

• Complying with any treatment recommended or prescribed
• Trying to live as healthy a lifestyle as possible and asking for help and advice if necessary.

The NHS operate a zero tolerance policy with regard to violence and abuse and the practice has the right to remove violent patients from the 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.