All Polices

GP Earnings

All GP practices are required to declare the mean earnings (e.g. average pay) for GPs working to deliver NHS services to patients at each practice.

The average pay for GPs who worked for six months or more in in the
last financial year was £57,311 before Tax and National Insurance. This
is for 4 full-time GP’s and 3 locum GP’s.

National Data Opt-Out Programme

NHS Digital is developing a new system to support the national data opt-out which will give patients more control over how confidential patient information is used. The system will offer patients and the public the opportunity to make an informed choice about whether they wish their confidential patient information to be used just for their individual care and treatment or also used for research and planning purposes.

Patients and the public who decide they do not want their confidential patient information used for planning and research purposes will be able to set their national data opt-out choice online.

Your health records contain a type of data called confidential patient information. This data can be used to help with research and planning. You can choose to stop your confidential patient information being used for research and planning. You can also make a choice for someone else like your children under the age of 13. NHS Digital will never sell your data. There are strict rules about how NHS can use your data. It’s only shared securely and safely. Shared data helps the NHS. It has been used to find the first treatment for coronavirus and for vaccine research.

If you’re happy with your confidential patient information being used for research and planning you do not need to do anything.

Any choice you make will not impact your individual care. Please click on the link to find out more and opt out if you wish to do so.

https://www.nhs.uk/your-nhs-data-matters/

For further opt-out information, please visit the NHS Digital site:

And if you would like to opt-out, you can follow the process using the link below;

Our practice policy on this subject is available to review below:

Local Data Opt-Out Program

If you wish to register a local data opt out with your GP practice before data sharing starts with NHS Digital, this should be done by downloading the Type 1 Opt Out form and retuning it to your GP practice. 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.

Equality and Diversity Policy

It is NHS policy to treat all patients and employees fairly and equally regardless of their gender, sexual orientation, marital status, race, colour, nationality, ethnic or national origin, religion, age or disability.

Equality is based on the legal obligation to comply with anti-discrimination legislation. Equality protects people from being discriminated against on the grounds of group membership i.e. sex, race disability, sexual orientation, belief, or age.

Diversity implies a wide range of conditions and characteristics. Diversity encompasses visible and non-visible individual differences. It can be seen in the makeup of patients and the workforce in terms of gender, ethnic minorities, disabled people etc.

Confidentiality

The practice complies with the Data Protection Act.  All information about patients is confidential: from the most sensitive diagnosis, to the fact of having visited the surgery or being registered at the Practice. All patients can expect that their personal information will not be disclosed without their permission except in the most exceptional of circumstances, when somebody is at grave risk of serious harm.

All members of the primary health care team (from reception to doctors) in the course of their duties will have access to your medical records. They all adhere to the highest standards of maintaining confidentiality.

As our reception area is a little public, if you wish to discuss something of a confidential nature please mention it to one of the receptionists who will make arrangements for you to have the necessary privacy.

Under 16s

The duty of confidentiality owed to a person under 16 is as great as the duty owed to any other person. Young people aged under 16 years can choose to see health professionals, without informing their parents or carers. If a GP considers that the young person is competent to make decisions about their health, then the GP can give advice, prescribe and treat the young person without seeking further consent.

However, in terms of good practice, health professionals will encourage young people to discuss issues with a parent or carer. As with older people, sometimes the law requires us to report information to appropriate authorities in order to protect young people or members of the public.

Useful Websites

Your Rights and Responsibilities

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 (note that a fee is payable for a copy of your medical records).
  • If you require an interpreter, you must advise reception when you book your appointment of your requirements. Interpreters can usually be arranged for non-emergency appointments.

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 3 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, or if available please use the check in screen.
  • Patients who are 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:

Statement of Intent

New contractual requirements came into force from 1 April 2014 requiring that GP Practices should make available a statement of intent in relation to the following IT developments:

  • Summary Care Record (SCR)
  • 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 and publicised by 30 September 2014.

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

Summary Care Record (SCR)

NHS England require practices to enable successful automated uploads of any changes to patient’s summary information, at least on a daily basis, to the summary care record (SCR) or have published plans in place to achieve this by 31st of March 2015.

Having your Summary Care Record (SCR) available will help anyone treating you without your full medical record. They will have access to information about any medication you may be taking and any drugs that you have a recorded allergy or sensitivity to.

Of course, if you do not want your medical records to be available in this way then you will need to let us know so that we can update your record. You can do this via the opt out form. The practice confirms that your SCR is automatically updated on at least a daily basis to ensure that your information is as up to date as it can possibly be.

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 at least 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

NHS England require practices to promote and offer the facility to enable patients online access to appointments, prescriptions, allergies and adverse reactions or have published plans in place to have achieved this by 31st of March 2015.

We currently offer the facility for booking and cancelling appointments and also for ordering your repeat prescriptions and viewing a summary of your medical records on-line. If you do not already have a user name and password for this system – please register your interest with our reception staff, who will advise you of the identity requirements we need.

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.

NHS England have commissioned a modern data service on behalf of the entire health and social care system.  This involves the anonymised extraction of key clinical information to inform national trends and decision making around the commissioning of new services.  If you would like to access further information please go to www.nhs.uk/caredata or telephone 0300 4563531. If you would like to opt out, please advise the reception team when you are next at the practice.

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.

Named GP

We have allocated a Named Accountable GP for all of our registered patients. If you do not know who your named GP is, please ask a member of our reception team. Unfortunately, we are unable to notify patients in writing of any change of GP due to the costs involved.