Access to your Records or Information
You have a right to see or have copies of any information held by the Trust that relates to you free of charge. We have the right to charge an administration fee in situations where repeated requests are received for the same information or the request is excessive. You will be required to prove your identity when making requests. No information will be released without the patient consent unless we are legally obliged to do so.
Subject Access Requests under GDPR rules (post 25 May 18) will be processed within 30 days. However, once our teams have established the volume of records requested there may be a requirement to extended this up to a further 2 months. We will contact you within 30 days should this be the case.
To request access to health records please complete a Subject Access Request form, link provided below, and forward on to:
Health Records Access Team
Health Records Library
Location B19
New Cross Hospital
Wednesfield Road
Wolverhampton
WV10 0QP
Email: [email protected]
Telephone: 01902 307999 Extension 85544/85545/88093
Subject Access Request form (PDF, 171Kb)
Subject Access Request form (Word, 54Kb)
The Health Records Access Team also deal with the Health Records of deceased persons.
Access to the health records of a deceased person is governed by the Access to Health Records Act (1990). Under this legislation when a patient has died, only their personal representative, executor or administrator of their will, or anyone having a claim resulting from the death (this could be a relative or another person), has the right to apply for access to the deceased’s health records.
Access to Health Records Request form (PDF, 111Kb)
Accountability GP
We will register you with a GP, and you do have a right to request to see a GP of your choice.
All patients aged over 75 years will have a named GP.
You can find out who your named GP is by asking at reception; this information is also shown on your repeat prescription form.
Change of details
Please keep us informed every time you change address or telephone number. It would be helpful if you provide both a mobile and landline number in the event we need to contact you more urgently. If you are a student, please let us know your home address so we are able to contact you during holidays.
It is very helpful if you are a student to also let us know your home address during holidays.
Complaint Procedure
If you have a complaint or concern about the service you have received from the doctors or any of the staff working in this GP surgery, please let us know. This includes Primary Care Network staff working as part of our GP surgery. We operate a complaints procedure as part of an NHS system for dealing with complaints. Our complaints system meets national criteria.
How to complain
We hope that most problems can be sorted out easily and quickly when they arise and with the person concerned. For example, by requesting a face-to-face meeting to discuss your concerns.
If your problem cannot be sorted out this way and you wish to make a complaint, we would like you to let us know as soon as possible. By making your complaint quickly, it is easier for us to establish what happened. If it is not possible to do that, please let us have 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.
Complaints should be addressed to the GP surgery team verbally or in writing to the Practice Manager. Alternatively, you may ask for an appointment with the GP surgery to discuss your concerns. They will explain the complaints procedure to you and make sure your concerns are dealt with promptly. Please be as specific as possible about your complaint.
What we will do
We will acknowledge your complaint within three working days. We will aim to have investigated your complaint within ten working days of the date you raised it with us. We will then offer you an explanation or a meeting with the people involved, if you would like this. When we investigate your complaint, we will aim to:
- Find out what happened and what went wrong.
- Make it possible for you to discuss what happened with those concerned, if you would like this.
- Make sure you receive an apology, where this is appropriate.
- Identify what we can do to make sure the problem does not happen again.
Complaining on behalf of someone else
We take medical confidentiality seriously. If you are complaining on behalf of someone else, we must know that you have their permission to do so. A note signed by the person concerned will be needed unless they are incapable (because of illness) of providing this.
Complaining to NHS England
We hope that you will use our Practice Complaints Procedure if you are unhappy. We believe this will give us the best chance of putting right whatever has gone wrong and an opportunity to improve our GP surgery.
However, if you feel you cannot raise the complaint with us directly, please contact NHS England. You can find more information on how to make a complaint at https://www.england.nhs.uk/contact-us/complaint/complaining-to-nhse/.
Unhappy with the outcome of your complaint?
If you are not happy with the way your complaint has been dealt with by the GP surgery and NHS England and would like to take the matter further, you can contact the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO). The PHSO makes final decisions on unresolved complaints about the NHS in England. It is an independent service which is free for everyone to use.
To take your complaint to the Ombudsman, visit the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman website or call 0345 015 4033
Need help making a complaint?
If you want help making a complaint, Healthwatch Hounslow can help you find independent NHS complaints advocacy services in your area.
Alternatively, POhWER is a charity that helps people to be involved in decisions being made about their care. Call POhWER’s support centre on 0300 456 2370 for advice.
Compliments, Suggestions and Complaints
RWT PCN is committed to providing high standards of care and service. However, we know that, as in any other organisation, things can go wrong. If there is something that you are not happy with, please let us know so that we can try to put matters right. You can write to us, call us, email us or complete the online form.
Patient Experience Team
Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust
New Cross Hospital
Zone C, location C2
Wolverhampton Road
Wolverhampton
WV10 0QP
Telephone
01902 695368 / 01902 695362
07880 601085
Email
[email protected]
Confidentiality & Medical Records
RWT PCN and our practices 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.
For more information, you can view our Privacy Notice here.
Data & Privacy
A number of pages throughout this site may invite users to complete forms including their personal details. There is no requirement to fill in these forms in order to view general material on this site. If do you wish to complete a form with your details you should note the following:
All information collected on forms will be submitted via email. NHS Wolverhampton and this GP practice operates highly secure Electronic mail systems in line with National Health Service requirements, we are, however, unable to guarantee that your email service provider is able to offer the same level of security.
If you are sending confidential information to this practice via email we assure you that once it reaches our network we will ensure its confidentiality and security, we cannot offer the same assurance for your email service provider. This means that any email you send is sent unsecured across the internet.
If you have any questions about your own email security please contact your service provider or if you have any questions about this service or NHS confidentiality please contact the Patient Advice and Liaison service on 01902 445378.
Information submitted to the practice via this web site will be used solely for the purpose for which it is collected, and will not be passed on to other areas of Trusts within the NHS Wolverhampton, nor to any other organisation outside this Community, without your explicit permission. The purpose for which the information is collected will be made clear.
We have implemented security procedures and technical measures to protect any personal data which is kept by the practice from
- Unauthorised access.
- Improper use or disclosure.
- Unauthorised modification.
- Unlawful destruction or accidental loss.
Practice employees who have access to personal data are obliged to respect confidentiality, they are bound by confidentiality contract clauses and the duties of common law.
NHS Wolverhampton and this practice abides by the Data Protection Act of 1998 in the holding and processing of your personal data. The Practice Manager is happy to answer any enquiries and may be contacted by letter or phone.
If you are using a public computer and do not wish others to be able to go back to view the details you have typed into a form on the web it is advisable to clear the contents of the form and your cache (temporary internet files) before leaving the computer.
Some information is collected automatically by the web server and is used by NHS Wolverhampton, in aggregate form, for statistical analysis of visits to the site.
Further information on Data Protection issues can be found at www.ico.gov.uk
We do not use cookies for collecting user information and we will not collect any information about you except that required for system administration of our web server.
Link Policy
All links from this website are selected using our links policy. Links are provided for information and convenience only. We cannot accept responsibility for the sites linked to, or the information found there. A link does not imply an endorsement of a site; likewise, not linking to a particular site does not imply lack of endorsement.
You do not have to ask permission to link directly to pages hosted on this site. However, we do not permit our pages to be loaded into frames on your site. The pages must load into the users entire window. You must not use the NHS logo to link to our site without prior permission.
Accuracy
This website is committed to the highest standards of information quality. Every effort is taken to ensure that the information contained in this website is both accurate and complete. However, NHS Wolverhampton and the practice gives no warranty, either expressed or implied, as to the accuracy of the information on this website and accepts no liability for any loss or inconvenience caused as a result of reliance on such information.
In no way should any of the information found here be a substitute for professional medical care by a qualified doctor or other health care professional.
Availability
We cannot guarantee uninterrupted access to this website, or the sites to which it links. We accept no responsibility for any damages arising from the loss of use of this information.
Intellectual Property
The names, images and logos identifying the practice are the proprietary marks of the NHS. Copying our logos and any other third party logos accessed via this website is not permitted without the prior approval of the relevant copyright owner.
Virus Protection
We make every effort to check and test material at all stages of production. It is always wise for you to run an anti-virus programme on all material downloaded from the internet. We cannot accept any responsibility for any loss, disruption or damage to your data or your computer system that may occur while using material derived from this website.
Privacy Notice – Horizon Call Recording Telephony system
This privacy notice explains about our PCN Telephony System, Horizon and partner Gamma who are responsible for the call recording. The core network integration between the Platform and Horizon provides a reliable way to record all incoming, outgoing and internal Horizon calls. Call recordings are stored encrypted for security and can be accessed online via a call recording portal that provides a multi-level permissions-based access. Inbound calls, the system will notify you that all telephone calls are recorded for auditing, training and monitoring purpose. Outbound calls will also be recorded for the same reason and this information can be found in this notice, displayed on our website and in the surgery. We lawfully do not require your consent; however, you do have the right to terminate the call if you do not wish for the call to be recorded. All calls made to the practice by a registered patient or from the practice to a registered patient, will be stored securely on Servers hosted by Gamma at their datacentre. All data originates from the caller into the practice or the practice dialing out to the recipient.
Personal data
When a call is recorded we collect:
- a digital recording of the telephone conversation
- the telephone number of both parties (internal and external)
- Personal data revealed during a telephone call will be digitally recorded for example name and contact details to deliver appropriate services.
- Occasionally ‘special category’ personal information may be recorded where a customer voluntarily discloses health, religious, ethnicity or criminal information to support their request for advice and/or services.
We are required by Articles in the General Data Protection Regulations to provide you with the information in the following 9 subsections.
1) Data Controller
Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust
Practice Managers and Service Delivery Managers
2) Data Protection Officer
Raz Edwards, Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust
3) Purpose of the processing Direct Health Care – To enable a safe two-way communication between patient and Surgery.
4) Lawful basis for processing.The processing of personal data in the delivery of direct care and for providers’ administrative purposes in this surgery and in support of direct care elsewhere is supported under the following Article 6 and 9 conditions of the GDPR:
Article 6(1)(e) ‘…necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority…’.
Article 9(2)(b) ‘Carrying out of obligations under employment, social security or social protection law, or a collective agreement’
Article 9(2)(c) ‘Vital interests of a data subject who is physically or legally incapable of giving consent.’
Article 9(2)(h) ‘necessary for the purposes of preventative or occupational medicine for the assessment of the working capacity of the employee, medical diagnosis, the provision of
health or social care or treatment or the management of health or social care systems and services…”
*Healthcare staff will also respect and comply with their obligations under the common law duty of confidence.
5) Recipient or categories of recipients of the processed data
Data is accessible by the Practice as the Data Controller for this information. Information may be accessed remotely by the supplier for support purposes. Making recordings available for the Practice, patients and other data subjects may request this.
6) Rights to object You have the right to object to some or all the information being
processed under Article 21. Please contact the Data Controller or the practice. You should be aware that this is a right to raise an objection, that is not the same as having an absolute right to have your wishes granted in every circumstance
7) Right to access and correct You have the right to access the data that is being stored and have any inaccuracies corrected. There is no right to have accurate medical
records deleted except when ordered by a court of Law.
8) Retention period The recording data will be retained for 3 months on the Telephony
System hosted by Gamma, before being automatically deleted.
9) Right to Complain. You have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s
Office, you can use this link https://ico.org.uk/global/contact-us/
or calling their helpline Tel: 0303 123 1113 (local rate) or 01625 545 745
(national rate)
* “Common Law Duty of Confidentiality”, common law is not written out in one document like an Act of Parliament. It is a form of law based on previous court cases decided by judges; hence, it is also referred to as ‘judge-made’ or case law. The law is applied by reference to those previous cases, so common law is also said to be based on precedent. The general position is that if information is given in circumstances where it is expected that a duty of confidence applies, that information cannot normally be disclosed without the information provider’s consent.In practice, this means that all patient information, whether held on paper, computer, visually or audio recorded, or held in the memory of the professional, must not normally be disclosed without the consent of the patient. It is irrelevant how old the patient is or what the state of their mental health is; the duty still applies.
Three circumstances making disclosure of confidential information lawful are:
- where the individual to whom the information relates has consented;
- where disclosure is in the public interest; and
- where there is a legal duty to do so, for example a court order
Categories of Personal Data
- race;
- ethnic origin;
- political opinions;
- religious or philosophical beliefs;
- trade union membership;
- genetic data;
- biometric data (where this is used for identification purposes);
- health data;
- sex life; or
- sexual orientation.
Medical Examiners Programme – Data Sharing Statement
The medical examiner office at our trust has been commissioned by NHS England and NHS Improvement to provide medical examiners to carry out independent scrutiny of the causes of death for non-coronial deaths of patients previously registered under your care. In order to undertake this duty, we will require access to records relating to relevant patients and their next of kin. This statement describes the information governance arrangements in place to facilitate this.
What information will we require and why?
In order to undertake our duties, we will require access to:
- Medical and clinical records associated with deceased patients, which will be independently reviewed by our medical examiner
- Contact details for relevant patients’ next of kin, so our medical examiners and medical examiner officers can contact them to ask if they have questions about the causes of death, and about any concerns they may have regarding the care before death.
- The medical examiner or medical examiner officer will also contact the medical practitioner completing the Medical Certificate of Cause of Death, regarding the proposed causes of death. This interaction can be completed by correspondence (eg email), a verbal discussion is not normally required.
What is our UK GDPR basis for collecting this information?
Medical records associated with deceased patients are outside scope of the UK GDPR. However, next of kin details are within the scope of the UK GDPR. Our Trust is the controller for next of kin’s contact details, which we shall process under Article 6.1(e).
Under Article 6(1)(e) of the GDPR, processing is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority invested in the controller. The information is being processed for the purposes of the medical examiner system, as part of the NHS Patient Safety strategy and within NHS Trust and NHS foundation trust functions for activities carried out in connection with the provision of health services. It is necessary for medical purposes and is undertaken by either a health professional, or a person who, in the circumstances owes a duty of confidentiality to the patient equivalent to that of a health professional. We will be clear with relevant organisations from which the information is requested, the purpose of collecting the information. Only information which is relevant to the medical examiner system will be collected.
How will we set aside the duty of confidence in order to review medical records of deceased patients?
Secretary of State for Health and Social Care decision
NHS England and NHS Improvement, on behalf of NHS Trusts and NHS foundation trusts, submitted an application under Regulation 5 of the Health Service (Control of Patient Information) Regulations 2002 (‘section 251 support’) to process confidential information without consent.
The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, having considered the advice from the Confidentiality Advisory Group, supported the application which means that confidential patient information can be shared with medical examiners by health and care organisations for the purpose of the medical examiner programme.
Details of the approved application (ref: 21/CAG/0032) can be found on the Health Research Authority’s website https://www.hra.nhs.uk/planning-and-improving-research/application-summaries/confidentiality-advisory-group-registers/ .
The General Medical Council’s (GMC) Confidentiality Guidance advises that doctors should disclose relevant information about a patient who has died where disclosure is authorised under section 251 of the NHS Act 2006.
Paragraph 137 of the General Medical Council (GMC) guidance https://www.gmc-uk.org/ethical-guidance/ethical-guidance-for-doctors/confidentiality/managing-and-protecting-personal-information#paragraph-137 advises:
137 – Circumstances in which you should usually disclose relevant information about a patient who has died include:
- the disclosure is permitted or has been approved under a statutory process that sets aside the common law duty of confidentiality, unless you know the patient has objected
Paragraph 103 to 105 of the GMC guidance https://www.gmc-uk.org/ethical-guidance/ethical-guidance-for-doctors/confidentiality/using-and-disclosing-patient-information-for-secondary-purposes#paragraph-103 advises:
103 – In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, statutory arrangements are in place for considering whether disclosing personal information without consent for health and social care purposes would benefit patients or the public sufficiently to outweigh patients’ right to privacy. Examples of these purposes include medical research, and the management of health or social care services. There is no comparable statutory framework in Scotland.
104 – Section 251 of the National Health Service Act 2006 (which applies in England and Wales) and the Health and Social Care (Control of Data Processing) Act (Northern Ireland) 2016 allow the common law duty of confidentiality to be set aside for defined purposes where it is not possible to use anonymised information and where seeking consent is not practicable.
105 – You may disclose personal information without consent if the disclosure is permitted or has been approved under regulations made under section 251 of the National Health Service Act 2006 or under the Health and Social Care (Control of Data Processing) Act (Northern Ireland) 2016. If you know that a patient has objected to information being disclosed for purposes other than direct care, you should not usually disclose the information unless it is required under the regulations.
How will we secure your information?
We have provided a copy of our organisational assurance checklist with this statement, which should provide you with confidence in our ability to process your data in a secure, lawful and transparent manner.
Digitisation of Paper Medical Records – Privacy Notice
The NHS Long Term plan published in 2019 requires the digitisation of all primary care paper medical records, commonly known as ‘Lloyd George’ records or ‘A4 medical records’
Having paper based medical records restricts the use of technology to provide ‘joined up’ services and therefore the current paper records will be transferred to a digital format and then destroyed.
This will involve the current patient paper medical records being scanned and then entered directly into a patient’s electronic medical record. This work will be completed by a third-party supplier, NEC Software Solutions UK Limited (formerly known as Northgate Public Services), whose security standards have been reviewed by NHS Black Country Integrated Care Board (BC ICB).
We are required by Data Protection law to provide you with the following information about how we handle your information.
Data Controller contact details : Royal Wolverhampton Primary Care Network (Alfred Squire Road Coalway Road Surgery, Lea Road Medical Practice, Oxley Surgery, Penn Manor Medical Centre, Thornley Street Surgery, Warstones Health Centre, West Park Surgery)
Data Protection Officer contact details: Daniel Okonofua (Interim Head of Data Security and Protection DPO)
Purpose of the processing: Transferring the current paper medical records into patients’ electronic medical records.
Lawful basis for processing: The following provisions of the General Data Protection Regulation permit us to digitise existing paper medical records:
Article 6(1)(e) – ‘processing is necessary…in the exercise of official authority vested in the controller…’’
Article 9(2)(h) – ‘processing is necessary for the purpose of preventative…medicine…the provision of health or social care or treatment or the management of health or social care systems and services…’
Recipient or categories of recipients of the processed data: We will not be sharing your data with a third party. However we will be employing the services of NEC to carry out the scanning and digitisation of the current paper medical records on our behalf.
Right to access and correction: You have the right to access your medical record and have any errors or mistakes corrected. Please speak to a member of staff or look at our ‘subject access request’ policy on the practice website The Royal Wolverhampton Trust Primary Care Network (RWT PCN) (rwtprimarycare.nhs.uk)
Retention period: GP medical records will be kept in line with the law and national guidance. Information on how long records can be kept can be found within the NHS Records Management Code of Practice or speak to the Practice. The paper medical records will be destroyed 60 days after they are transferred to an electronic format and written confirmation received from the practice in accordance with national standards.
The practice holds medical records to provide medical treatment and advice and patients have a relationship with a GP in order for them to be provide health and care service to you. We therefore do not require your consent to transfer these papers records to an electronic format.
If you have any questions about this project, please contact Fran Freeman, BCICB Lloyd George Digitisation Project Manager; Tel; 0121 612 4110 (Time-2-Talk).
Please note that information about your rights covered by Data Protection legislation and the complaints procedure are detailed in the Practice’s Main Privacy Notice The Royal Wolverhampton Trust Primary Care Network (RWT PCN) (rwtprimarycare.nhs.uk)
Details of Supplier:
NEC Software Solutions UK Limited (formerly known as Northgate Public Services)
Suite 101, 1st Floor iMex Centre
575-599 Maxted Road
Hemel Hempstead
HP2 7DX
Document scanning that’s secure and efficient – NEC Software Solutions (necsws.com)
Entitlement to NHS Treatment
All UK residents are entitled to the services of an NHS GP. You can register with any local surgery provided you are within the catchment area, and the surgery has vacancies for new patients. You have a right to change your surgery anytime, with no need to provide any explanation. If we have to remove you from our list, for instance if you move out of the practice area, then we have to notify the local CCG and let you know why – this does not take effect immediately, so you have time to find a new GP (the only exception is that we remove violent or abusive patients with immediate effect).
We are expected to check whether new patients registering are eligible for NHS treatment, so please don’t be offended if we have to ask questions related to this.
Freedom of Information
The Freedom of Information Act gives you the legal power to request any information that the PCN holds. This may be minutes of meetings, access to services requirements or how the PCN has spent money. The purpose of the Act is to promote greater openness by public authorities, of which The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust is one. If you are looking for a specific piece of information about the Trust, PCN or about yourself, this section will also provide you with the contact details and explain how you can gain access to certain types of information.
The Freedom of Information Act does not change the right of patients to protection of their information in accordance with Article 8 of the Human Rights Act 1998, the General Data Protection Regulations 2016, Data Protection Act 2018 and in common law. Maintaining the legal right to patient confidentiality continues to be an important commitment on our part.
What is a Publication Scheme?
Under Section 19 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, the RWT has a legal duty to adopt and maintain a Publication Scheme. The Information Commissioners Office (ICO) are responsible for monitoring and enforcing the Freedom of Information Act 2000. The ICO has drawn up what is called a Model Publication Scheme as guidance for all public sector organisations which has 7 classes of information.
This Publication Scheme is a complete guide to the information routinely published by The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust. It is a description of information about our Trust which we make publicly available. We shall review the Scheme at regular intervals and monitor how it is operating. Please note, whilst we are trying to ensure as much information is available, we are still required to consider any of the exemptions for release under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
We have ensured most of the information is routinely available. However, should you not locate what you are looking for, please contact the Trust’s Freedom of Information Officer;
Freedom of Information Officer
The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust
Governance and Legal Department
The New Cross Hospital
Wolverhampton
WV10 0QP
Email: [email protected]
GP Responsibilities
You will be treated as an individual and will be given courtesy and respect at all times. You have the right to be treated confidentially.
Respect for religious and cultural beliefs will be honoured.
Normally we will answer the telephone promptly and courteously.
You have a right to information about your own health (illness and treatment, possible side effects, prevention or recurring illness etc). We will offer medical advice and information for promotion of good health.
You have the right to see your own medical records subject to the limitations of the law. A charge may be made.
Home visits will be made when requested and if a doctor feels that you are not well enough to attend the surgery. The final decision rests with the doctor.
We may give you test results when you telephone the surgery for them, or you may be asked to make an appointment with the doctor to discuss them.
If your doctor believes that you need a second opinion, then they will arrange this.
You will be given a time to see a doctor in accordance with the system used in this practice. If there is a substantial delay for any reason, you will be given an explanation.
Repeat prescriptions will normally be ready within 48 hours from the surgery, or 72 hours for collection from a local pharmacy following your written request arriving at the surgery.
Routine referral letters for hospital appointments will normally be dispatched within three working days of the referral being agreed with the doctor. Urgent referrals for hospital appointments may be telephoned or provided as a handwritten note for the patient to take to the hospital.
Named GP
All patients have a named allocated GP – please contact the practice if you are unsure who this is and would like to find out, and/or request a specific GP.
Patient Charter
We aim to provide the best healthcare we can in the community within the available resources.
We aim to ensure that:
- You will be received courteously and be able to identify all staff by name
- We will endeavour to see you within 30 minutes of your appointment time
- If unforeseen circumstances delay your appointment, you will be given a reason for the delay
- We will acknowledge your religious and cultural beliefs
- We aim to be able to offer appointments with a doctor every working day
- For medical emergencies, a service will be available, although you may not be able to see the doctor of your choice
- The practice will not discriminate on the grounds of race, gender, social class, age, religion, sexual orientation or appearance, disability, medical condition or marital status
Your commitment to us:
- Co-operating in your medical care by keeping to the agreed treatment plan
- Advising us if you change your name or home address and enquiring if you may still be registered as our patient from your new address
- Giving us 24 hours’ notice if you cannot keep your appointment, enabling us to offer you another appointment, and offer your cancellation to another patient
- When arranging a home visit, or booking an appointment, please inform us if the patient is temporarily residing at an address other than their own
- Observing our No Smoking Policy
Easy read guides to health choices and questions to ask
NHS Knowledge and Library Services have worked with people with lived experience to produce two, new, easy read guides for people with learning disabilities.
These easy read guides are designed to help people navigate healthcare information, they can help people get the treatment they want and the answers they need to understand information they are given. This could include information about medication, appointments, or treatment, and how it is provided, for example by letter or email.
Information for veterans
Patient Responsibilities
We ask that you treat our doctors and all practice staff with courtesy and respect.
The first hour of the morning can be extremely busy. Please keep telephone calls brief. If possible, leave routine calls till later in the day.
You are responsible for your own health and that of your children. Please take the advice given to you at the practice. Let us know immediately if you change your address or name and remember to give your phone number and postcode.
Please speak to a member of the practice staff if you wish to see your medical records. This can then be arranged with your doctor. There may be a fee payable.
Please contact the surgery before 12.00pm for a home visit during the day.
If tests are ordered for you, please note that we do not routinely inform patients if your result is normal. If you have not heard within 10 working days you can assume that your result is normal but if you are still worried you can telephone the practice after 2pm Monday-Friday. We will only contact you if there is cause for concern with a result. Normally we will contact you via text message/phone call with instructions on what action to take – this is to make an appointment with your GP to discuss your recent tests. Please do not be alarmed – it does not necessarily mean it is serious if the result needs a discussion.
Please browse the rest of this website to get the best out of the services available.
You can discuss any medical matter with the doctor, including asking for a second opinion.
Please let us know if you are unable to keep an appointment. We can then offer that appointment to someone else.
Please acquaint yourself with the procedure for obtaining repeat prescriptions.
Where an appointment or acknowledgement of a routine referral for a hospital appointment is not received within six weeks, please contact the hospital concerned.
Summary Care Records
If you are registered with a GP practice in England, you will have a Summary Care Record (SCR) unless you have chosen not to have one. Your SCR contains the following basic information:
- the medicines you are taking
- your allergies
- bad reactions you may have to certain medicines
It also includes your name, address, date of birth and unique NHS Number which helps to identify you correctly.
An SCR is used in a number of healthcare settings and will provide healthcare professionals with any information they wouldn’t otherwise have. For example, when you’re visiting an urgent care centre or being admitted to a hospital, staff could view your SCR and discover you are on a particular medication or have allergies.
Can I add more information to my Summary Care Record?
You can choose to add any information to your SCR that you think will help improve your care. This can be of particular benefit to patients with detailed and complex health problems. You and/or your carer should discuss anything you wish to add with your GP.
If you are a parent or guardian of a child under 16 and feel that your child is able to understand this information you should show it to them. You can then support them in the decision to maintain an SCR and whether to include additional information.
Who can access or view my SCR?
Only authorised healthcare professionals directly involved in your care can access your SCR. Your SCR will not be used for any other purposes. The person viewing your SCR needs to have an NHS Smartcard with a chip and passcode will only see the information they need to do their job will have their details recorded every time they look at your record.
In addition, the healthcare professional must seek your permission if they need to look at your SCR. If they cannot ask you because you are unconscious or otherwise unable to communicate, they may decide to look at your record because doing so is in your best interest. This access is recorded and checked RWT to ensure it is appropriate.
Zero tolerance 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.