Practice Policies & Patient Information
Accessible Information and Reasonable Adjustments
Accessible information –
The Accessible Information Standard is a requirement that all NHS organisations, including GP Practices must follow to make sure that people who have a disability, impairment or sensory loss or their Carers, are given information in a format they can easily read or understand.
So, we can help and support you we want to know:
- If you need information in a specific format e.g. braille, large print or easy read
- If you need to receive information in a particular way
- if you need someone to support you at appointments e.g. a sign language interpreter or an advocate
- We want to know if you lip read or use a hearing aid or communication tool
Please let us know if you require any type of support so we can record this information and add it to your record. You can do this by telling our reception team, doctor or nurse the support you need. It is best you do this prior to needing an appointment, so the practice can make the necessary adjustments in advance.
NHS England has more information on the standard which is available in a range of formats including easy read, audio and BSL video with subtitles. You can see these by clicking the link below:
Healthwatch Sunderland have created a leaflet to explain this
Do you have communication needs? | Healthwatch Sunderland
Reasonable Adjustments
All disabled people have the right to reasonable adjustments. This includes when using healthcare, including GP practices.
We need to make it as easy for disabled people to use health services. This is called making reasonable adjustments.
Reasonable adjustments are changes which mean people with a disability can access the healthcare they need.
Reasonable adjustments are dependent on the person. Everyone has different needs. Some examples might include:
- making sure there is good access for people who use a wheelchair in the surgery
- providing plain English or easy read appointment letters.
- giving someone a priority appointment if they find it difficult waiting in their GP surgery or hospital.
- offering a longer appointment if someone needs more time with a doctor or nurse to make sure they understand the information they are given.
- having a quiet space available for people waiting for their appointment.
- making sure there is a hearing loop system in consultation rooms
- using a communication chart to support a person with dementia during an appointment.
Please let us know if you require any type adjustment to access your appointments so we can record this information and add it to your record. You can do this by telling our reception team, doctor or nurse the adjustments you need. It is best you do this prior to needing an appointment, so the practice can make the necessary adjustments in advance.
Accessing someone else’s information
Accessing someone else’s information
As a parent, family member or carer, you may be able to access services for someone else. We call this having proxy access. We can set this up for you if you are both registered with us.
To requests proxy access:
- collect a proxy access form from reception from 10am to 6pm
Linked profiles in your NHS account
Once proxy access is set up, you can access the other person’s profile in your NHS account, using the NHS App or website.
The NHS website has information about using linked profiles to access services for someone else.
Complaints
Complaints process/procedures
We make every effort to give the best service possible to everyone who attends our Practice.
However, we are aware that things can go wrong, resulting in a patient feeling that they have a genuine cause for complaint. If this is so, we would like the matter to be settled as quickly, and as amicably, as possible.
To have your complaint investigated, you need to complain within 12 months of the event happening, or as soon as you first become aware of the issue you want to complain about.
The time limit can be extended in special circumstances.
How to make a compliment or complaint
Whether you are happy or unhappy with the care and treatment that you have received, please get in touch and let us know your views.
Receiving compliments and complaints is important to ensuring good quality local healthcare in our Practice – helping us to find out more about what we’re getting right and what we can improve.
We hope this will help you to make your feelings and experiences known to the appropriate people. Should you have a complaint we hope this page will give you more information about what to do, who to contact and what happens next.
You can also use our Online Contact Form by clicking here
How do I raise a concern / informal complaint?
You can speak to any member of staff initially with your complaint. This gives you the opportunity to resolve any concern you may have without it going through a formal process.
Most complaints are best resolved within the practice and these should be made via the Management team.
If you’re considering making a complaint but need help
If you require support to make a complaint Voice Ability can offer both offer both information and support. They have advocates to support people to make a complaint about the treatment or care that they or a friend or family member have received from an NHS service. This support is available at every stage of the complaints process.
Formal Complaint
What we will do
We will contact you about your complaint within three working days and offer to discuss with you the best way to investigate it, including the time scales for a reply. We will aim to offer you an explanation within that time frame. Or a meeting with the people involved.
- Find out what happened and what went wrong
- Invite you to discuss the problem with those involved, if you would like this
- Apologise where this is appropriate
- Identify what we can do to make sure that the problem does not happen again.
If you feel you do not want to contact the surgery directly, then you can contact the NHS integrated care board complaints team on:
Website address: NHS North East and North Cumbria ICB contact us
Email: necsu.pccomplaints@nhs.net
Telephone: 0191 512 8484
In General
If you have a complaint to make, you can either contact the Practice Manager or ask the Receptionist for a copy of our Complaints Procedure. We will endeavour to:
- acknowledge any letter or Complaints Form within 3 working days of receiving it.
- deal with the matter as promptly as possible – usually within 20 working days – dependent on the nature of the complaint.
Who can complain
- Complainants may be current or former patients, or their nominated or elected representatives (who have been given consent to act on the patients behalf).
- Patients over the age of 16 whose mental capacity is unimpaired should normally complain themselves or authorise someone to bring a complaint on their behalf.
- Children under the age of 16 can also make their own complaint, if they’re able to do so.
If a patient lacks capacity to make decisions, their representative must be able to demonstrate sufficient interest in the patient’s welfare and be an appropriate person to act on their behalf. This could be a partner, relative or someone appointed under the Mental Capacity Act 2005 with lasting power of attorney.
Appropriate person
In certain circumstances, we need to check that a representative is the appropriate person to make a complaint.
- For example, if the complaint involves a child, we must satisfy ourselves that there are reasonable grounds for the representative to complain, rather than the child concerned.
- If the patient is a child or a patient who lacks capacity, we must also be satisfied that the representative is acting in the patient’s best interests.
If we are not satisfied that the representative is an appropriate person we will not consider the complaint, and will give the representative the reasons for our decision in writing.
Procedure
We have a two stage complaints procedure. We will always try to deal with your complaint quickly however if it is clear that the matter will need a detailed investigation, we will notify you and then keep you updated on our progress.
Stage one – Early, local resolution
- We will try to resolve your complaint within five working days if possible.
- If you are dissatisfied with our response, you can ask us to escalate your complaint to Stage Two.
Stage Two – Investigation
- We will look at your complaint at this stage if you are dissatisfied with our response at Stage One.
- We also escalate some complaints straight to this stage, if it is clear that they are complex or need detailed investigation.
- We will acknowledge your complaint within 3 working days and we will give you our decision as soon as possible. This will be no more that 20 working days unless there is clearly a good reason for needing more time to respond.
Complain to the Ombudsman
If, after receiving our final decision, you remain dissatisfied you may take your complaint to the Ombudsman.
The Ombudsman is independent of the NHS and free to use. It can help resolve your complaint, and tell the NHS how to put things right if it has got them wrong.
The Ombudsman only has legal powers to investigate certain complaints. You must have received a final response from the Practice before the Ombudsman can look at your complaint and it will generally not look into your complaint if it happened more than 12 months ago, unless there are exceptional circumstances.
Phone: 0345 015 4033
Confidentiality
All complaints will be treated in the strictest confidence.
Where the investigation of the complaint requires consideration of the patient’s medical records, we will inform the patient or person acting on his/her behalf if the investigation will involve disclosure of information contained in those records to a person other than the Practice or an employee of the Practice.
We keep a record of all complaints and copies of all correspondence relating to complaints, but such records will be kept separate from patients’ medical records.
GDPR – Privacy Notice
Privacy Notice: How We Use Your Information
The Practice is computerised which improves the efficiency and service offered to patients. All the information is treated in strict confidence and the Practice is registered with the Data Protection Association. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) We’re making it easier for you to find out how we handle your information A new data privacy law is being introduced later this year in the UK; as a result we now have a new Privacy Notice effective from 25th May 2018. To make it easier for you to understand how we protect and use your personal information within the Health service. We are not changing the ways that we use personal information but our new notice will provide you with some additional advice such as: This privacy notice explains why as a Practice we collect information about our patients and how we use that information. Bridge View Medical Group manages patient information in accordance with existing laws and with guidance from organisations that govern the provision of healthcare in England such as the Department of Health and the General Medical Council. We are committed to protecting your privacy and will only use information collected lawfully in accordance with: Some of this information will be held centrally and used for statistical purposes. Where we hold data centrally, we take strict and secure measures to ensure that individual patients cannot be identified. Information may be used for clinical audit purposes to monitor the quality of service provided, and may be held centrally and used for statistical purposes. Where we do this we ensure that patient records cannot be identified. Sometimes your information may be requested to be used for clinical research purposes – the practice will always endeavour to gain your consent before releasing the information. Improvements in information technology are also making it possible for us to share data with other healthcare providers with the objective of providing you with better care. Patients can choose to withdraw their consent to their data being used in this way. When the practice is about to participate in any new data-sharing scheme we will make patients aware by displaying prominent notices in the surgery and on our website at least four weeks before the scheme is due to start. We will also explain clearly what you have to do to ‘opt-out’ of each new scheme. A patient can object to their personal information being shared with other health care providers but if this limits the treatment that you can receive then the doctor will explain this to you at the time. If you provide us with your mobile phone number we may use this to send you text reminders about any appointments or other health screening information being carried out. Risk stratification is a process for identifying and managing patients who are at high risk of requiring emergency or urgent care. Typically this is because patients have a long term condition such as COPD, cancer or other medical condition at risk of sudden worsening. NHS England (the national Commissioning Board) encourages GPs to use risk stratification tools as part of their local strategies for supporting patients with long-term conditions and to provide care plans and planned care with the aim to prevent avoidable admissions or other emergency care. Information about you is collected from a number of sources including NHS Trusts and from this GP practice. A risk score is then arrived at through an analysis of your de-identified information using software provided by EMIS as the data processor and is provided back in an identifiable form to your GP or member of your care team as data controller. Risk stratification enables your GP to focus on preventing ill health and not just the treatment of sickness. If necessary your GP may be able to offer you additional services. Please note that you have the right to opt out of Risk Stratification. Should you have any concerns about how your information is managed, or wish to opt out of any data collection at the practice, please contact the practice, or your healthcare professional to discuss how the disclosure of your personal information can be limited. Patients have the right to change their minds and reverse a previous decision. Please contact the practice, if you change your mind regarding any previous choice. If you have received treatment within the NHS your personal information may be shared within a strictly monitored, secure and confidential environment in order to determine which Clinical Commissioning Group should pay for the treatment or procedure you have received. Information such as your name, address and date of treatment may be passed on to enable the billing process – these details are held in a secure environment and kept confidential. This information will only be used to validate invoices, and will not be shared for any further commissioning purposes. We are committed to protecting your privacy and will only use information collected lawfully in accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998 (which is overseen by the Information Commissioner’s Office), Human Rights Act, the Common Law Duty of Confidentiality, and the NHS Codes of Confidentiality and Security. Every staff member who works for an NHS organisation has a legal obligation to maintain the confidentiality of patient information. All of our staff, contractors and committee members receive appropriate and regular training to ensure they are aware of their personal responsibilities and have legal and contractual obligations to uphold confidentiality, enforceable through disciplinary procedures. Only a limited number of authorised staff have access to personal information where it is appropriate to their role and is strictly on a need-to-know basis. We maintain our duty of confidentiality to you at all times. We will only ever use or pass on information about you if others involved in your care have a genuine need for it. We will not disclose your information to any third party without your permission unless there are exceptional circumstances (i.e. life or death situations), or where the law requires information to be passed on. We may also have to share your information, subject to strict agreements on how it will be used, with the following organisations: Necessary for the purpose of preventative or occupational medicine for assessing the working capacity of the employee, medical diagnosis, the provision of health or social care or treatment or management of health or social care systems and services on the basis of Union or members state law or a contract with a health professional. You have a right under the Data Protection Act 1998 to access/view information the practice holds about you, and to have it amended or removed should it be inaccurate. This is known as ‘the right of subject access’. If we do hold information about you we will: Data Subject Access Request Form The practice has a minimum of 1 calendar month to respond to your completed request. The practice is registered as a data controller under the Data Protection Act 1998. It is important that you tell the person treating you if any of your details such as your name or address have changed or if any of your details such as date of birth is incorrect in order for this to be amended. You have a responsibility to inform us of any changes so our records are accurate and up to date for you. The Data Protection Act 1998 requires organisations to register a notification with the Information Commissioner to describe the purposes for which they process personal and sensitive information. This information is publicly available on the Information Commissioner’s Office website www.ico.org.uk. The practice is registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) and our registration number is Z7175086. The Data Controller, responsible for keeping your information secure and confidential are the GP partners of Bridge View Medical Group. Any changes to this will be published on our website and displayed in prominent notices in the surgery. The Partnership is registered as a data controller under the Data Protection Act 1998. Further information about the way in which the NHS uses personal information and your rights in that respect can be found in:How We Use Your Data
Privacy Notice: How We Use Your Information
Mobile Telephone
Risk Satisfaction
Invoice Validation
How Do We Maintain the Confidentiality of Your Records?
Who Are Our Partner Organisations?
Lawful Reasons for Processing Special Category Data
Access to Personal Information
Change of Details
Notification
Who is the Data Controller?
Further Information
Violence and Aggression
We operate a zero-tolerance policy towards violence and aggression. Any patient who behaves in a fashion that can be classed as aggressive or violent towards any member of our practice or patient of the practice, on or off the premises, will be instantly removed from the patient list and may be reported to the police.
Your Health Records Data
How Patients Can Opt-Out
- Type 1 Opt-out* – a nationally produced form has been produced which patients can fill in and send to the practice (by post or email).
Click here to view the form. Apply relevant code in grey box below. - National Data Opt-out – Visit the NHS website or use the NHS App (instructions below)
- & 4. Primary Use Opt-out – we would suggest patients contact the surgery reception to perhaps speak to the practice manager/deputy practice manager to discuss this. Patients should be aware of the impact this may have before the opt out is applied. If they still wish to go ahead then code as appropriate using below codes.
* this may be changing to provide patients with a single data opt out pending some national consultation
How data in your GP record is used and how you can control the use (opt-out)
As a practice, we fully respect your right as a patient to control your data. We outline our privacy policy here in more detail on our website and explain how we share data with other providers, including the Great North Care Record and NHS Digital for secondary use. You have the right to opt-out at any time from data being shared.
Your data is used in broadly two different ways:
- To provide you with care. This is called “Primary Use“
- To allow for planning and research to be done. This is called “Secondary Use“
Both uses will only be made where it is considered secure and appropriate to use patient data.
Opting-out of data sharing is an option for all patients, however it is not without potential downsides. For Primary Use data, if you opt-out and need care in a local hospital, for example, it may be much harder for the staff to access important medical information about you needed to provide safe and effective care. For Secondary Use, the downsides are more indirect. If everyone in the country were to opt-out, it would make it much harder to ensure funding is used in the NHS to develop services where they are needed. It would also be harder to develop new treatments.
It is possible to opt-out of specific parts of data sharing, while keeping some elements of data sharing in place. It is very common, for example, for people who have privacy concerns about Secondary Use, to be happy to continue sharing data for Primary Use/Direct Care.
The details below summarises what ‘opt-outs’ are possible, and how to request them:
How data in your GP record is used, and how you can control the use
Primary Use: sharing your data for your direct care
Who it is shared with
Summary Care Record
Great North Care Record
How it is used
These are used by NHS hospitals and other providers (e.g. midwives) to ensure they have the data needed to provide you with the right care
How to Opt Out
Opt out through your GP practice – contact the surgery reception to speak to the practice manager/deputy practice manager to discuss this and we will be able to apply the opt-out
Secondary Use: using your data to design health services and do health research
Who it is shared with
Local NHS Organisations (such as CCGs)
How it is used
using data to plan how to design local services around the needs of the population
How to Opt Out
Use a ‘type-1 Opt Out’ – Please send this form to the practice by email to:
sunccg.bridgeviewmedicalgroup@nhs.net
NHS Digital
using data to plan how to design National services around the needs of the population
Use a ‘type-1 Opt Out’ – Please send this form to the practice by emailed to:
sunccg.bridgeviewmedicalgroup@nhs.net
External Research Organisations
using data for various research purposes
Use the National Data Opt-out – Visit the NHS website or use the NHS App
How to manage your sharing preferences using the NHS App
You can view or change your current preference at any time.
- Go to Your health
- Select Choose if data from your health and care records is shared for planning and research.
- Select Make your choice.
- Review the information on the page, then select Start now.
- View your preference, then select Change if you want to change it.
- Update your choice, then select Submit.
You can also visit www.nhs.uk/your-nhs-data-matters