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 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.
Violence Policy
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.
Complaints - A Patient Guide
If you have a complaint or concern about the service you have received from the doctors or any of the staff working in the practice, please let us know. We operate a practice complaints procedure as part of the NHS system for dealing with complaints. Our complaints system meets national criteria.
Making a complaint
We hope that most problems can be sorted out easily and quickly, often at the time they arise and by speaking with the person concerned. If your problem cannot be sorted out in this way and you wish to make a written complaint please complete the complaints form provided on the website. If you attend the practice in person, please speak to a member of the reception staff who will be able to explain our complaints procedure to you and/or provide you with the appropriate form. All complaints will be dealt with promptly and confidentially.
We would like you to let us know about your problem as soon as possible – ideally within a matter of days or at the most a few weeks – because this will enable us to establish what happened more easily. If it is not possible to do that, please let us have specific details of your complaint:
- within 6 months of the incident that caused the problem, or
- within 6 months of discovering that you have a problem, provided this is within 12 months of the incident
What happens next?
Please complete the complaint form Complaint form and return by email to cahccg.sgppatients@nhs.net
Receipt of your complaint will be acknowledged within three working days.
Your complaint will be investigated to:
- find out what happened
- make it possible for you to discuss the problem with the practice, if you would like this
- make sure you receive a considered response and/or an apology, where this is appropriate
- identify learning points for the practice and make changes where appropriate
We aim to look into your complaint within ten working days of the date when you raised it and either to offer an explanation and conclusion satisfactory to both parties or if appropriate offer a meeting with Kareen Jeremiah (Practice Manager) to discuss the matter.
As a patient registered with the practice, you may of course request a meeting with Kareen Jeremiah at any stage – please speak to reception staff, who will arrange this for you.
Complaining on behalf of someonelse
Please note that if you are complaining on behalf of someone else, we have to know that you have their permission to do so and there is a special form requiring the signature of the person concerned, unless they are incapable (because of illness) of providing this. Reception staff can provide you with the necessary consent form.
Complaining to NHS England or Ombudsman
We hope that, if you have a problem, you will use our practice complaints procedure. We believe this will give us the best chance of putting right whatever has gone wrong and an opportunity to improve our practice. If you are dissatisfied with the result of our investigation, you can contact NHS England for further advice or the Parliamentary and Health Services Ombudsman- contact details as folows:
NHS Commissioning Board
NHS England
PO Box 16738,
Redditch, B97 9PT
Tel: 0300 311 22 33
Email: england.contactus@nhs.net
Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman
Millbank Tower
Millbank
London
Tel: 0345 015 4033
Email: phso.enquiries@ombudsman.org.uk
Website: http:?//www.ombudsman.org.uk/