Practice Policies & Patient Information
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– Medical Examiner Service
Accountable Named GP for All Patients
You will be allocated a named GP on registration, but you will be registered with the practice rather than that individual GP. You may see any of the doctors. However, if you do have a preferred GP, please let us know when making an appointment and we will do our best to accommodate your request.
New patients are allocated a Doctor on Registration.
Chaperones
The consultation that takes place between a patient and their Doctor/Nurse is private and confidential. Quite often an examination is required to help make a diagnosis. This may be straightforward or sometimes can be more personal or of a sensitive nature.
Under these circumstances your doctor will normally seek your agreement to a Nurse or other staff member being present or, if a relative or friend has accompanied you to the Surgery, they may be able to act as a Chaperone if you wish.
If a chaperone is not offered but you would like someone to be present, do not be afraid to tell your doctor.
Procedures which are generally regarded as being of a sensitive nature are:
- Cervical cytology
- Gynaecological
- Testicular
- Breast Examination
- Rectal Examination
Complaints Procedure
While we constantly strive to provide a good, friendly and efficient service, we do realise that occasionally things do not go as smoothly as we would like. Should you have any complaints or suggestions then please contact the Practice Manager or Dr P J Turner (Lead GP for complaints) in person or by writing if you prefer. Please tell others when you are pleased with us, but please tell us when you are not. If you have a complaint or concern about the service you have received from the doctors or any of the staff working in this Practice, please let us know. We operate a Practice Complaint’s Procedure as part of a NHS system for dealing with complaints and it is our wish to learn from complaints and put right whatever has gone wrong for the benefit of the complainant and future patients. Our complaints system meets the national criteria. We hope that most problems can be sorted out easily and quickly, often at the time they arise and with the person concerned. If your problem cannot be sorted out in this way and you wish to make a complaint, we would like you to let us know as soon as possible – ideally, within a matter of days or at most a few weeks, because this will enable us to establish what happened more easily. The time limit for a complaint is: Complaints should be addressed to either Jo Lawson (Practice Manager) or any of the doctors at biddulphdoctors, Biddulph Primary Care Centre, Wharf Road, Biddulph, Staffordshire ST8 6AG. Alternatively, you may ask for an appointment with Dr. P. J. Turner (Complaints – Lead GP) in order to discuss your concerns. He will explain the complaints procedure to you and will make sure that your concerns are dealt with promptly. It will be a great help if you are as specific as possible about your complaint. Click here to view more information on our complaints procedure We will acknowledge your complaint within three working days and aim to look into your complaint as soon as possible after this. You will be informed of who will deal with your complaint, giving you details of how it is to be investigated and of the expected timescales for a response. You will also be offered the option to contact us during this process if you need any further help. After an appropriate level of investigation, we will then be in a position to offer you an explanation, or a meeting with the people involved. When we look into your complaint, we aim to: Please note that we keep strictly to the rules of medical confidentiality. If you are complaining on behalf of someone else, we have to 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. Who else can you talk to If for any reason you do not want to speak to a member of our staff then you can request that the Integrated Care Board investigates your complaint. They will contact us on your behalf. Their contact details are :- Address : Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent Integrated Care Board (ICB), New Beacon Building, Stafford Education and Enterprise Park, Weston Road, Stafford ST18 0BF Freephone: 0808 196 8861 Email: PatientServices@staffsstoke.icb.nhs.uk ICAS is a national service that supports people who want to make a complaint about their NHS care or treatment. The local ICAS is: North Staffordshire ICAS Freephone 0800 1615600 Email: advocacy@ecstaffs.co.uk If you are still not satisfied with the response provided at local resolution, you may refer your complaint to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman. The Ombudsman carries out independent investigations into complaints about government departments, their agencies and the NHS. You can call the Ombudsman’s Complaints Helpline or see their website for more information about contacting the Ombudsman. Millbank Tower Telephone: 0345 015 4033 Text to Call back Service 07624 813005 Email: phso.enquiries@ombudsman.org.uk Web: www.ombudsman.org.ukMaking a Complaint
Introduction
Patient Complaints Procedure
How To Complain
What We Will Do
Complaining On Behalf Of Someone Else
ICAS
Healthwatch
Suite 2 Opus House
Preistly Way
Staffordshire Technology Park
Stafford
Staffordshire
ST18 0LQParliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman
Millbank
London
SW1P 4QP
Freedom of Information
Information available from biddulphdoctors under the Freedom of Information Act model publication scheme can be obtained from our Practice Manager.
GP Average Earnings
Disclaimer: NHS England requires that the net earnings of doctors engaged in the practice is publicised, and the required disclosure is shown below. However, it should be noted that the prescribed method for calculating earnings is potentially misleading because it takes no account of how much time doctors spend working in the practice and should not be used to form any judgement about GP earnings, or to make any comparison with any other practice.
All GP practices are required to declare the mean earnings (eg average pay) for GPs working to deliver NHS services to patients at each practice.
The average pay for GPs working at biddulphdoctors in the last financial year was £56,573.40 before tax and national insurance. This is for 7 less than full time GPs who have worked in the practice for more than six months.
How Do I Access My Health Records
Integrated Care Record
One Health and Care
A five-minute information YouTube video about the integrated care record for Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent, One Health and Care.
NHS App Access
It is a requirement that practices promote the use of the App for Full prospective access to their patients. Checks will be made on practice websites to see if access to the relevant information can easily be found as part of the capacity and access assessment
NHS Summary Care Records
As part of a mandatory, national programme each GP Practice will have to make a summary care record for each patient (unless the patient has already opted out). Please read further information about this by following the links below. If you wish to opt out, download and complete the opt out form and return to the Practice (see below).Information Website
For further information see Summary Care Records at NHS Digital.
Information Leaflets and Opt-Out Form
Practice Privacy Policy for Patients
Our Practice Privacy Notice explains what information we collect about you, how we store this information, how long we retain it and with whom and for which legal purpose we may share it. The document can be downloaded here:
Transferring Your Electronic Health Record
Your GP practice holds copies of your patient health record electronically and in paper format. Both contain the healthcare information about you that your GP needs including your medical history, medications, allergies, immunisations and vaccinations.
If you have previously registered with a different GP in England, upon registering at this practice your electronic health record will, where possible, be transferred automatically from your previous practice through the use of an NHS system called GP2GP.
Transferring Your Electronic Health Record Information Leaflet.
Zero Tolerance to Violence Policy
All staff within the National Health Service have the right to work without being subjected to violent, abusive or threatening behaviour. The practice will not tolerate violent, abusive or drunken behaviour towards any staff members, or other patients. The practice reserves the right to remove these individuals from the practice list and, if necessary, we will also call for Police assistance.