The procedure will explain that you can make your complaint either in writing or by booking a telephone consultation with the Practice Manager.

If your complaint is made in writing it will be acknowledged within 2 working days. Progress reports will then be made until the complaint is resolved.

If you wish to discuss your complaint via a telephone consultation the practice will endeavour to book this within 2 working days of your initial contact. Updates will then be made until the complaint is resolved.

If you feel that the complaint has not been resolved you can opt to take the complaint to an independent authority, the details of which will be in the leaflet and the final letter from the practice. A practice complaints leaflet is available in reception.

We endeavour to make our service as user-friendly as possible, and welcome any comments good or bad and suggestions you may have to help us to do this. Please make your suggestions and/or comments in brief, addressed to the Practice Manager in writing and place in the box where the repeat prescription requests are requested.

Please remember to put your name and either a contact telephone number or address so that your communication can be acknowledged.

Should you wish to make a complaint about the practice please complete our complaints form and one of our management team will be in touch.

• Complaints Form

Should you wish to pass on positive feedback please complete our compliments form, we collate our positive feedback and share it at practice meetings.

• Compliments Form

Confidentiality & Medical Records
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 a 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

Freedom of Information
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 to the practice manager.

Access to Records
In accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998 and Access to Health Records Act, patients may request to see their medical records. Such requests should be made through the practice manager and may be subject to an administration charge. No information will be released without the patient consent unless we are legally obliged to do so.

You may be receiving care from other people as well as your GP (eg NHS Hospital Trust, Social Services, private hospitals etc). So that we can all work together for your benefit we may need to share some information about you.

We only ever pass on information about you if it is in your interest with regard to your health. Whenever we can we shall remove details which identify you. The law strictly controls the sharing of some types of very sensitive personal information. Sometimes we may have to share information with the Department of Health when giving certain vaccinations. If you do not want us to share this information please inform us and your notes will be marked accordingly. Your personal details will not be used for research purposes unless you have been informed beforehand and given your consent for us to do so.

In order to assure the quality of the care and training, we provide our clinical records are sometimes inspected by outside visitors. The visitors must make undertakings to keep your records confidential before we will allow them to see them. You can refuse to participate in these inspections by informing the reception staff appropriately.

Our members of staff are trained in information security and confidentiality. There are strict codes of conduct in place to ensure that all your information, be it on paper or on the computer, is safe. It is written into all our staff contracts that it is a serious disciplinary offence to breach confidentiality and may lead to a staff member’s dismissal. If you disclose sensitive information that you strongly feel should not be shared with the practice team please discuss this in your consultation to enable the doctor or nurse to take appropriate action in their record keeping.

Patients registered for SystmOnline are able to access a summary of their patient records by clicking on the link below.   The Summary Record will provide details of your recorded allergies and sensitivities, details of acute medications issued within the last 12 months, details of all current repeat medications and details of past repeat medication discontinued in the last 6 months.

https://SystmOnline.tpp-uk.com/Login?Practiceld=B86043

In order to use this service patient must obtain a unique username and password from reception staff.

THIS SERVICE IS ONLY AVAILABLE TO PATIENTS AGED 16 YEARS AND OVER.

The username and password ensure patient confidentiality.

1. Patients have a right to be greeted courteously.

2. Patients have a right to absolute confidentiality.

3. Any delay in meeting appointment times will be due to medical necessity – where there is a delay in excess of 30 minutes, patients have a right to be informed and to make an alternative appointment.

4. Patients have a right to information about their own health and choices, particularly:

-the illness and its treatment.

-alternative forms of treatment.

-likely outcome of the illness.

5. Access to health records subject to any limitation in the law and to know that those working for the practice are under a legal duty to keep contents of records confidential.

6. The practice will offer advice and seek to inform patients of:

-steps they can take to promote good health and to avoid illness, e.g. smoking, exercise, diet, immunisation.

-advice on self-help which can be undertaken without reference to a nurse, health visitor or doctor in the case of minor ailments.

7. The practice will inform patients of services available by means of its noticeboards, leaflets and website.

8. Patients requiring urgent medical attention will be given priority and will be seen as soon as possible, even when this means a delay to booked appointments.

9. Patients may choose whether or not to take part in research or training.

10. All new patients will be offered a New Patient Health Check, to identify any potential medical problems and to offer timely interventions.

11. Patients will be offered a choice of services when referral is deemed necessary.

12. Any suggestions to improve services will be considered by the appropriate team members and a response given.

13. Complaints will be dealt with promptly in accordance with NHS procedures.

14. Access to a GP will be offered within 48 hours, in urgent need, or to another health professional within 24 hours. This may be over the telephone.

15. Repeat prescriptions will be available within 2 working days of request.

With these rights come responsibilities, and for you this means:-
1. Courtesy to all staff at all times. Receptionists have a very difficult and stressful job and are working under doctors’ orders. There is a zero tolerance policy to violence or abuse towards all staff and other patients. The penalty for violating this rule is immediate removal from the practice list.

2. To attend appointments on time or to give the practice adequate notice that they wish to cancel – lateness or non-attendance inconveniences other patients and wastes valuable appointment time. There is a cancellation option on the telephone menu where patients can leave a message if no-one is available to answer the call. Patients who persistently fail to attend for a booked appointment, where there are no reasonable explanations will be warned and then removed from the list.

3. Attending surgery for review of repeat medication, or chronic condition, when requested to do so by clinical staff, or admin staff acting on their behalf.

4. An appointment is for one person only – where another member of the family needs to be seen or discussed, another appointment should be made.

– GP appointments are for ten minutes. If you think you need a longer appointment please request this on booking.

5. Home visits are for housebound patients or those who are too ill to leave the home. Visits will not be made to patients staying outside the practice boundary.

6. Out-of-hours calls, e.g. evening, night and weekends, should only be made if they are felt to be a medical emergency. Repeat prescriptions should be ordered in good time to ensure that they do not run out. The Out of Hours service is not for Repeat Medication requests.

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.