The relationship between a GP surgery and their patients is based on trust, mutual respect, and open communication.
This partnership between GP surgeries and their patients is crucial for ensuring high-quality medical care and promoting overall health and well-being.
Below are listed some of the key elements that help to support and sustain the important relationship.
In accordance with our contract with NHS England, every patient is allocated a named GP
All patients should be given a named GP within 20 days of registration and told so at the next appropriate time.
The practice must confirm on their website that every patient has a named GP.
If a patient requests a particular GP, reasonable efforts should be made to accommodate their preference.
Practices are required to use the code 'patient allocated named accountable general practitioner' in the clinical system.
The named GP is largely a role of oversight. It reassures patients they have one GP who is responsible for their care.
It is really important that you attend your scheduled appointments at the surgery.
If it is no longer convenient or you decide you no longer need it then please let us know as early as you possibly can. Demand for appointments is very high and, with enough notice, we can usually reallocate your appointment to another patient.
You can cancel any appointment via the NHS app even it was not booked online in the first place.
When a patient misses an appointment it is known as a 'Did Not Attend' (DNA).
If a patient persistently misses appointments with letting us know in advance in can harm the relationship of mutual trust with the practice. We may contact you by phone or letter to discuss this and what we can do together to improve things in the future.
Our full policy for dealing with persistent non-attendance is contained in our DNA policy
As an employer, the practice has a duty to care for the health and safety of its staff. The practice also has a legal responsibility to provide a safe and secure working environment. Therefore the practice is committed to doing everything possible to protect staff, patients and visitors from unacceptable behaviour, and has a 'zero tolerance' attitude of any incident that causes hurt, alarm, or distress.
Our practice staff are here to help you; our aim is to be as polite and helpful as possible to all patients. If you consider that you have been treated unfairly or inappropriately, please ask the reception staff for a complaints form and our Practice Manager in due course will then contact you and will be happy to address your concerns. However, shouting or swearing or use of abusive or offensive language at practice staff will not be tolerated under any circumstances. Patients who are abusive will be removed from the practice list and will have to register with another GP Practice.
Examples of unacceptable standards of behaviour:
Furthermore, the practice will not hesitate to take legal action or inform the police whenever it is appropriate to do so.
The whole of the NHS, and especially GP surgeries are working under unprecedented levels of patient demand and expectation. Coupled with this there a ongoing problems with recruiting GPs, practice nurses and other clinical staff and we appreciate that this can lead to increased levels of distress not only for the patients but for staff as well. However, we hope that patients will agree that our staff are our most valuable asset, and that verbal abuse or aggression is unacceptable.
Thank you very much in anticipation of your understanding.
If you have access to the internet and you are comfortable using digital services then the NHS App is the easiest way to interact with the surgery.
We encourage everyone who is able to use digital services to try them out and use them whenever possible.
You can use the app to carry out many of the basic interactions liking ordering medication or cancelling an appointment.
Doing these tasks via the NHS App can save you time and also reduces the amount of adminstration for the practice.
However we will make sure that technology is not a barrier that prevents patients accessing our services. We will always try make it clear how patients can access services without using digital apps.
Equally we will work to make sure the digital apps and our website meets the required standards for accessibility.
We encourage all our patients to use the NHS app to interact with the surgery but will make sure thatthose who are unable to use digital apps are not prevented from accessing services.
How We Use Your Medical Records
Important Information for Patients
Dr. Sarwar Khan, Data Protection Officer
How to access your medical records?
Your data, privacy, and the Law. How we use your medical records
This practice handles medical records according to the laws on data protection and confidentiality.
For more information please ask at reception.
How we keep your records confidential
Everyone working for the NHS has a legal duty to keep information about you confidential
We have a duty to:-
We will not share any information that identifies you for any reason, unless:
OUR GUIDING PRINCIPLE IS THAT WE ARE HOLDING YOUR RECORDS IN STRICT CONFIDENCE
Who are our partner organizations
We may share information with the following main partner organizations
We may also share your information, with your consent and subject to strict sharing protocols about how it will be used
With:
Anyone who receives information from us also has a legal duty to
KEEP IT CONFIDENTIAL
If you believe that the practice has breached any of your Data Protection Rights, you have the right to complain to Information Commissioner
www.infromatoncommisioner.gov.uk
Why we collect information about you
In the practice we aim to provide you with the highest quality of health care. To do this we must keep records about you, your health and the care we have provided or plan to provide to you.
These records may include:
It is good practice for people in the NHS who provide care to:
How your records are used
The people who care for you use your records to:
Others may also need to use records about you to:
Some information will be held centrally to be used for statistical purposes. In these instances, we take strict measures to ensure that individual patients cannot be identified. We will always obtain your consent, unless the law requires us to pass on the information.
The legal part
You have the right to privacy under the General Data Protection Regulations 2016 (GDPR) and the Data Protection Act. The Practice needs your personal, sensitive and confidential data in order to perform our statutory health duties, in the public interst or in the exercise of official authority vested in the controller in compliance with Article 6 (e) of the GDPR and for the purposes of prevention or occupational medicine, for assessment of the working capacity of the employee, medical diagnosis, the provision of health and social care or treatment or the management of health or social care systems and services on the compliance with Article 9, (h) of the GDPR.
You have the right to ask for a copy of all records about you.
To access your records please contact the Reception at Mere Lane Group Practic