Practice Policies

During your care, a clinician may need to examine you. Occasionally this may involve an examination of intimate areas. We understand that this can be stressful and embarrassing.

If this sort of examination is necessary:

• We will explain to you why the examination is necessary and give you the
  opportunity to ask questions.
• We will explain what the examination will involve.
• We will obtain your permission before we carry out the examination.
• You will be offered a chaperone to be present during the examination.
• At all times we will respect your privacy during the examination and while dressing and undressing.

What is a chaperone?

A chaperone is a person whose role is to witness both a patient and a medical practitioner and to be a safeguard for both parties during a medical examination or procedure. The exact role of a chaperone will vary according to the clinical situation.

When booking an appointment that may involve an examination of intimate areas, please request a chaperone. The receptionist will then make the necessary arrangements for a chaperone to be available.

If you have any questions or concerns about intimate examinations or chaperoning, please do not hesitate to ask.

The practice complies with data protection and access to medical records legislation. Identifiable information about you will be shared with others in the following circumstances:

• To provide further medical treatment for you e.g. from district nurses and hospital services.
• To help you get other services e.g. from the social work department. This requires your consent.
• When we have a duty to others e.g. in child protection cases anonymised patient information will also be used at local and national level to help the Health Board and Government plan services e.g. for diabetic care.

If you do not wish anonymous information about you to be used in such a way, please let us know.

Reception and administration staff require access to your medical records in order to do their jobs. These members of staff are bound by the same rules of confidentiality as the medical staff.

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 in writing to the practice manager.

This practice is supporting vital coronavirus (COVID-19) planning and research by sharing your data with NHS Digital. This transparency notice supplements our main practice privacy notice.

The health and social care system is facing significant pressures due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. Health and care information is essential to deliver care to individuals, to support health, social care and other public services and to protect public health. Information will also be vital in researching, monitoring, tracking and managing the coronavirus outbreak. In the current emergency it has become even more important to share health and care information across relevant organisations. This practice is supporting vital coronavirus planning and research by sharing your data with NHS Digital, the national safe haven for health and social care data in England.

For more information, please visit www.digital.nhs.uk.

We aim to keep our surgery clean and tidy and offer a safe environment to our patients and staff. We are proud of our practice and endeavour to keep it clean and well maintained at all times.

If you have any concerns about cleanliness or infection control, please report these to our reception staff.

Our GPs and nursing staff follow our infection control policy to ensure the care we deliver and the equipment we use is safe.

We take additional measures to ensure we maintain the highest standards:

• Encourage staff and patients to raise any issues or report any incidents relating to cleanliness and infection control. We can discuss these and identify improvements we can make to avoid any future problems.
• Carry out an annual infection control audit to make sure our infection control procedures are working.
• Provide annual staff updates and training on cleanliness and infection control.
• Review our policies and procedures to make sure they are adequate and meet national guidance.
• Maintain the premises and equipment to a high standard within the available financial resources and ensure that all reasonable steps are taken to reduce or remove all infection risk.
• Use washable or disposable materials for items such as couch rolls, modesty curtains, floor coverings, towels etc., and ensure that these are laundered, cleaned or changed frequently to minimise risk of infection.
• Make alcohol hand rub gel available throughout the building.

Privacy Notice

GP Practices should make available a statement of intent in relation to the following IT developments:

• GP to GP Record Transfers
• Patient Online Access to Their GP Record
• Data for commissioning and other secondary care purposes

The same contractual obligations require that we have a statement of intent regarding these developments in place.

Please find below details of the practices stance with regards to these points.

GP to GP record transfers

NHS England require practices to utilise the GP2GP facility for the transfer of patient records between practices, when a patient registers or de-registers (not for temporary registration).
It is very important that you are registered with a doctor at all times. If you leave your GP and register with a new GP, your medical records will be removed from your previous doctor and forwarded on to your new GP via NHS England. It can take your paper records up to two weeks to reach your new surgery.

With GP to GP record transfers your electronic record is transferred to your new practice much sooner.

The practice confirms that GP to GP transfers are already active and we send and receive patient records via this system.

Patient online access to their GP record

We currently offer the facility for cancelling appointments and also for ordering your repeat prescriptions and viewing a summary of your medical records online. If you do not already have a user name and password for this system please ask the receptionist to provide you with one. If you require access to your records online please request this option when you log in to your account.

Data for commissioning and other secondary care purposes

It is already a requirement of the Health and Social Care Act that practices must meet the reasonable data requirements of commissioners and other health and social care organisations through appropriate and safe data sharing for secondary uses, as specified in the technical specification for care data.

At our practice we have specific arrangements in place to allow patients to “opt out” of care. Data which allows for the removal of data from the practice. Please see the page about care data on our website.

The practice confirm these arrangements are in place and that we undertake annual training and audits to ensure that all our data is handled correctly and safely via the Information Governance Toolkit.

Patient’s rights

We are committed to giving you the best possible service. This will be achieved by working together. Help us to help you. You have a right to, and the practice will try to ensure that:

• You will be treated with courtesy and respect.
• You will be treated as a partner in the care and attention that you receive.
• All aspects of your visit will be dealt with in privacy and confidence.
• You will be seen by a doctor of your choice subject to availability.
• In an emergency, out of normal opening hours, if you telephone the practice you will be given the number to receive assistance, which will require no more than one further call.
• You can bring someone with you, however you may be asked to be seen on your own during the consultation.
• Repeat prescriptions will normally be available for collection within two working days of your request.
• Information about our services on offer will be made available to you by way of posters, notice boards and newsletters.
• You have the right to see your medical records or have a copy subject to certain laws.

Patient’s responsibilities

With these rights come responsibilities and for patients we would respectfully request that you:

• Treat practice staff and doctors with the same consideration and courtesy that you would like yourself. Remember that they are trying to help you.
• Please ensure that you order your repeat medication in plenty of time allowing 2 working days.
• Please ensure that you have a basic first aid kit at home and initiate minor illness and self-care for you and your family.
• Please attend any specialist appointments that have been arranged for you or cancel them if your condition has resolved or you no longer wish to attend.
• Please follow up any test or investigations done for you with the person who has requested the investigation.
• Attend appointments on time and check in with reception.
• Patients who are more than 20 minutes late for their appointment may not be seen.
• If you are unable to make your appointment or no longer need it, please give the practice adequate notice that you wish to cancel. Appointments are heavily in demand and missed appointments waste time and delay more urgent patients receiving the treatment they need.
• An appointment is for one person only. Where another family member needs to be seen or discussed, another appointment should be made.
• Patients should make every effort to present at the surgery to ensure the best use of nursing and medical time. Home visits should be medically justifiable and not requested for social convenience.
• Please inform us when you move home, change your name or telephone number, so that we can keep our records correct and up to date.
• Read the practice leaflets and other information that we give you. They are there to help you use our services. If you do not understand their content please tell us.
• Let us have your views. Your ideas and suggestions whether complimentary or critical are important in helping us to provide a first class, safe, friendly service in pleasant surroundings.

NHS Constitution

The NHS Constitution establishes the principles and values of the NHS in England. For more information see these websites:

Website
The NHS Constitution for England

The NHS enforces a strict zero-tolerance policy towards violence and abuse. We firmly believe that NHS staff should never be subjected to threats, verbal or physical abuse while performing their duties. We are committed to treating all patients with respect and courtesy, regardless of age, ethnicity, disability, gender, or sexual orientation. In return, we expect the same respect and professionalism from our patients. Discriminatory, antisocial, violent, threatening, or abusive behaviour toward our staff, other patients, or on our premises will not be tolerated under any circumstances.

The Practice reserves the right to remove any patient who engages in violent behaviour from our patient list immediately, to ensure the safety of our staff, patients, and others. In this context, violence includes both actual or threatened physical violence and verbal abuse that causes fear for a person’s safety. In such cases, the patient will be notified in writing of their removal, and the circumstances will be recorded in their medical records. Depending on the severity of the situation, the Practice may involve the police.

Please note that all telephone calls are recorded for training and monitoring purposes. In instances where patients are verbally abusive or rude, these recordings will be reviewed, and if necessary, action will be taken to remove the patient from the Practice list.