Patient Rights

You will be treated with respect and as a partner in your care. Being a partner means you have responsibilities too.

We will:

• Ensure our patients have 24-hour access to medical advice.
• Aim for you to have access to a suitably qualified medical professional within 48 hours of your initial contact during surgery hours, or in an urgent case, the same day
• Work in partnership with you to achieve the best medical care possible.
• Involve you and listen to your opinions and views in all aspects of your medical care.
• The prevention of disease, illness and injury is a primary concern. The medical staff will advise and inform you of the steps you can take to promote good health and a healthy lifestyle.

We would respectfully ask that you:

• Let us know if you intend to cancel an appointment or are running late.
• TREAT STAFF WITH COURTESY AND RESPECT. Reception staff may have to ask some personal questions to assist us in providing you with the best service
• Inform the practice staff of any alterations in your circumstances, such as change of surname, address or telephone number. Please ensure that we have your correct telephone number, even if it’s ex-directory.

As patients, you are responsible for your own health and that of any dependents. It is important that you adhere to information and advice given to you by health professionals, and co-operate with the practice in endeavouring to keep you healthy.

Data Protection

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.

PST (Patient Services team)

TEL 0161 – 212 6270

The NHS employs over a million staff in thousands of locations. It is a large and complex organisation providing a broad range of services. It is not surprising that sometimes you or a loved one may feel bewildered or concerned when using the NHS. And this can be at times when you are feeling at your most vulnerable and anxious.

So, what should you do if you want on the spot help when using the health service? The NHS expects all members of staff to listen and respond to you to the best of their ability. But sometimes, you may wish to talk to someone employed especially to help you. The Patient services Team known as PST, has been introduced to ensure that the NHS listens to patients, their relatives, carers and friends, and answers their questions and resolves their concerns as quickly as possible.

PST also helps the NHS to improve services by listening to what matters to patients and their loved ones and making changes, when appropriate.

What does PST do?

In particular, PST will:

• Provide you with information about the NHS and help you with any other health-related enquiry
• Help resolve concerns or problems when you are using the NHS
• Provide information about the NHS complaints procedure and how to get independent help if you decide you may want to make a complaint
• Provide you with information and help introduce you to agencies and support groups outside the NHS
• Inform you about how you can get more involved in your own healthcare and the NHS locally
• Improve the NHS by listening to your concerns, suggestions and experiences and ensuring that people who design and manage services are aware of the issues you raise
• Provide an early warning system for NHS Trusts and monitoring bodies by identifying problems or gaps in services and reporting them.

Find out more

Should you wish to make a complaint: Please Click here and you will be directed to the practice complaints procedure, and form. Alternatively fill in a contact form HERE.

Should you wish to compliment the practice: As well as when things do not meet your expectations, we also would appreciate being informed of any examples of good experiences you have at the practice also. You do so either by post, or email [email protected]

All reviews of the practice both positive and any areas which you feel we could improve can also be done via the NHS site or via the Business Google review site

Sometime in early 2014 you may receive a leaflet via junk mail, entitled ‘Better information means better care‘

It may not be clear from the leaflet that a significant change in what is done with your medical records is about to happen.

The leaflet says you should “speak to your GP practice” if you want to stop your or your family’s confidential medical information being uploaded and passed on.

This is misleading.

You do not have to speak with your doctor or book an appointment. The choice to keep your medical records private is completely down to you; all you need do is inform your Surgery – not necessarily the doctor themselves – which you can do simply by writing a letter or dropping a form into your surgery.

To make things more straightforward, please follow the below link. Print it off, fill in your details, sign it and send it or drop it into the surgery reception for their attention.

Opt out document

Opting out will not affect the care you receive and you can change your mind at any point and opt back in if you like. If you have any specific concerns, we recommend you speak with Mike Neville – Managing Partner (Practice management)

As you will see from the letter, there are TWO codes that your doctor will need to add to your record – one to prevent identifiable information being uploaded from your GP practice and one to stop the Health and Social Care Information Centre from passing on identifiable information about you that it gathers from anywhere else, e.g. hospital records, clinics or testing laboratories.

Remember, the choice is yours. You don’t need to justify it but if you want to keep your medical records private and confidential you do need to act now.

PUBLICATION OF EARNINGS

It is a contractual requirement for practices to publish their mean average earnings for 2020/21. Practices must;

• Publish details on their website by 31 March 2022.
• If asked this must also be available in paper copy or you can show the patient the information posted on the website.

The calculation excludes certain types of income and the rules are complex and open to interpretation.

Full time GP’s are defined in the guidance as working eight sessions or more. The number of GP’s includes salaried GP’s and locums who worked full or part time for 6 months or more.

All GP practices are required to declare the mean earnings for GPs working to deliver NHS services to patients at each practice.

The average pay for GPs working in Neville Family Medical Centre in the last financial year was £59,052 before tax and National Insurance. This is for 4 part time GPs who worked in the practice for more than six months.

What is a “named GP”?

The GP contract in England now requires the named accountable GP to take responsibility for the co-ordination of all appropriate services and ensure they are delivered where required (based on the named GP’s clinical judgement) to each of their patients.

The role of the named GP will not:

• take on vicarious responsibility for the work of other doctors or health professionals;
• take on 24-hour responsibility for the patient, or have to change their working hours:
• imply personal availability for GPs throughout the working week;
• be the only GP or clinician who will provide care to that patient.

The contract remains ‘practice based’, so overall responsibility for patient care has not changed.

The named GP is largely a role of oversight, with the requirements being introduced to reassure patients they have one GP within the practice who is responsible for ensuring that this work is carried out on their behalf.

There is no condition within the requirement for patients to see the named GP when they book an appointment with the practice.

Patients are entitled to choose to see any GP or nurse in the practice in line with current arrangements.

Who is your named GP at The Neville Family Medical Centre?

The allocation of Named GP is by the first letter of your surname. You can find your named GP below:

If you would prefer a different GP as your named GP, please request this in writing to Mike Neville, Manging Partner, and he will be able to help

Fees for work conducted by the practice that is Non-NHS work

 Section 1: Fees List

Section 2: FAQs regarding why GPs have to charge for some services, provided by the British Medical Association (BMA)

 1.    Surely the doctor is being paid anyway?

• It is important to understand that many GPs are not employed by the NHS.
• They are self-employed and they have to cover their costs – staff, buildings, heating, lighting, etc – in the same way as any small business.
• The NHS covers these costs for NHS work, but for non-NHS work, the fees charged by GPs contribute towards their costs.

2.    What is covered by the NHS and what is not?

• The Government’s contract with GPs covers medical services to NHS patients, including the provision of ongoing medical treatment.
• In recent years, however, more and more organisations have been involving doctors in a whole range of non-medical work.
• Sometimes the only reason that GPs are asked is because they are in a position of trust in the community, or because an insurance company or employer wants to ensure that information provided to them is true and accurate.

3.    Examples of non-NHS services for which GPs can charge their own NHS patients:

• accident or sickness certificates for insurance purposes
• fitness to attend school or university and holiday insurance certificates
• reports for health clubs to certify that patients are fit to exercise

4.    Examples of non-NHS services for which GPs can charge other institutions:

• life assurance and income protection reports for insurance companies
• reports for the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) in connection with disability living allowance and attendance allowance
• medical reports for local authorities in connection with adoption and fostering

5.    Do GPs have to do non-NHS work for their patients?

• With certain limited exceptions, for example a GP confirming that one of their patients is not fit for jury service, GPs do not have to carry out non-NHS work on behalf of their patients.
• Whilst GPs will always attempt to assist their patients, they are not required to do such non-NHS work.

6.    Is it true that the BMA sets fees for non-NHS work?

• We suggest fees that GPs may charge their patients for non-NHS work (ie work not covered under their contract with the NHS) in order to help GPs set their own professional fees.
• However, the fees suggested by us are intended for guidance only; they are not recommendations and a doctor is not obliged to charge the rates we suggest.

7.    Can a fee be charged by a GP for the completion of cremation forms?

• It is important to differentiate between death certificates (which must be completed free of charge) and cremation forms.
• Cremation forms, unlike death certificates, require doctors to make certain investigations which do not form part of their NHS duties.
• A deceased person cannot be cremated until the cause of death is definitely known and properly recorded. Before cremation can take place two certificates need to be signed, one by the GP and one by another doctor.
• Cremation form 4 must be, as stated, completed by the registered medical practitioner who attended the deceased during their last illness.
• Form 5 must be completed by a registered medical practitioner who is neither a partner nor a relative of the doctor who completed form.
• A fee can be charged for the completion of both forms 4 and 5 as this does not form part of a doctor’s NHS duties.
• Doctors normally charge these fees to the funeral director, who, generally passes on the cost to the family. Doctors are also entitled to charge a mileage allowance, where appropriate.
• The fees for cremation forms 4 and 5 (which are agreed with the National Association of Funeral Directors, NAFD, the National Society of Allied and Independent Funeral Directors, SAIF, and Co-operative Funeralcare) are available on our website.

8.    Why does it sometimes take my GP a long time to complete my form?

• Time spent completing forms and preparing reports takes the GP away from the medical care of his or her patients.
• Most GPs have a very heavy workload and paperwork takes up an increasing amount of their time, so many GPs find they have to take some paperwork home at night and weekends.

9.    I only need the doctor’s signature – what is the problem?

• When a doctor signs a certificate or completes a report, it is a condition of remaining on the Medical Register that they only sign what they know to be true.
• In order to complete even the simplest of forms, therefore, the doctor might have to check the patient’s entire medical record. Carelessness or an inaccurate report can have serious consequences for the doctor with the General Medical Council (the doctors’ regulatory body) or even the Police.

10.  What will I be charged?

• We recommend that GPs tell patients in advance if they will be charged, and what the fee will be.
• It is up to individual doctors to decide how much they will charge, but we produce lists of suggested fees which many doctors use. Surgeries often have lists of fees on the waiting room wall based on these suggested fees.

11.  What can I do to help?

• Not all documents need a signature by a doctor, for example passport applications. You can ask another person in a position of trust to sign such documents free of charge.
• If you have several forms requiring completion, present them all at once and ask your GP if he or she is prepared to complete them at the same time to speed up the process.
• Do not expect your GP to process forms overnight. Urgent requests may mean that a doctor has to make special arrangements to process the form quickly, and this will cost more.

12.  What type of report work doesn’t have to be done by my GP?

• There is some medical examination and report work that can be done by any doctor, not only a patient’s GP. For this work there are no set or recommended fees which means doctors may set their own fees. We offer guidelines only.

Statement of Intent

New contractual requirement came into force from 1 April 2014 requiring that GP Practices should make available a statement of intent in relation to the following IT developments:

1. 1. Summary Care Record (SCR
   2. GP to GP Record Transfer
   3. Patient Online Access to their GP Recor
   4. Data for commissioning and other secondary care purposes

The same contractual obligations require that we have a statement of intent regarding these developments in place and publicised by 30 September 2014.

Please find below details of the Practices stance with regards to these points.

Summary Care Record (SCR)

NHS England require Practices to enable successful automated uploads of any chance to patients summary information, at least on a daily basis, to the summary care record (SCR) or have published plans to achieve this by 31 March 2015.

Having your summary care record (SCR) available will help anyone treating you without your full medical record. They will have access to information about any medication you may be taking and any drugs that you have a recorded allergy or sensitivity to.

Of course if you do not want your medical records to be available in this way then you will need to let us know so that we can update your record.

The Neville Family Medical Centre confirm that your SCR is automatically updated on at least a daily basis to ensure that your information is as up to date as it can possibly be.

GP to GP Record Transfers

NHS England requires Practices to utilise the GP2GP facility for the transfer of patient records between Practices, when a patient registers or de-registers (not for temporary registration).

It is very important that you are registered with a Doctor at all times. If you leave your GP and register with a new GP, your medical records will be removed from your previous Doctor and forwarded on to your new GP via NHS England. It can take your paper records up to two weeks to reach your new surgery. With GP to GP record transfers, your electronic record is transferred to your new Practice much sooner.

The Neville Family Medical Centre confirms that GP to GP transfers are already active and we send and receive patient records via this system.

Patient Online Access to Their GP Record

NHS England requires Practices to promote and offer the facility to enable patient’s online access to appointments, prescriptions, allergies and adverse reactions, or have published plans in place to achieve this by 31 March 2015.

We currently offer the facility for booking and cancelling appointments in the same time frame of availability as you would be able to make the appointments over the phone, or here at the practice, and also for ordering your repeat prescriptions on-line. This is done completing an online registration form either at reception or downloading from website and bringing to reception, you will need to provided ID as per the registration letter. You will then be able to activate your registration.

We now offer patients the facility to view, export or print coded information from their records i.e. items agreed between the Practice and the Patient.

Data for Commissioning and Other Secondary Care Purposes

It is already a requirement of the Health & Social Care Act that Practices must meet the reasonable data requirements of commissioners and other health and social care organisations through appropriate and safe data sharing for secondary care usage, as specified in the technical specification for care data

At The Neville Family Medical Centre we have specific arrangements in place to allow patients to “opt out” of care data which allows for the removal of data from the Practice.

Please contact the surgery if you require further information or for the forms to “opt out”.

The Neville Family Medical Centre confirms these arrangements are in place and that we undertake annual training and audits to ensure that all our data is handled correctly and safely via the Information Governance Toolkit.

The Practice takes it very seriously if a member of staff or one of the doctors or nursing team is treated in an abusive or violent way.

The Practice supports the government’s ‘Zero Tolerance’ campaign for Health Service Staff. This states that GPs and their staff have a right to care for others without fear of being attacked or abused. To successfully provide these services a mutual respect between all the staff and patients has to be in place. All our staff aim to be polite, helpful, and sensitive to all patients’ individual needs and circumstances. They would respectfully remind patients that very often staff could be confronted with a multitude of varying and sometimes difficult tasks and situations, all at the same time.  The staff understand that ill patients do not always act in a reasonable manner and will take this into consideration when trying to deal with a misunderstanding or complaint.

However, aggressive behaviour, be it violent or abusive, will not be tolerated and may result in you being removed from the Practice list and, in extreme cases, the Police being contacted.

In order for the practice to maintain good relations with their patients the practice would like to ask all its patients to read and take note of the occasional types of behaviour that would be found unacceptable:

• Using bad language or swearing at practice staff
• Any physical violence towards any member of the Primary Health Care Team or other patients, such as pushing or shoving
• Verbal abuse towards the staff in any form including verbally insulting the staff
• Racial abuse and sexual harassment will not be tolerated within this practice
• Persistent or unrealistic demands that cause stress to staff will not be accepted. Requests will be met wherever possible and explanations given when they cannot
• Causing damage/stealing from the Practice’s premises, staff or patients
• Obtaining drugs and/or medical services fraudulently

Removal from the practice list

A good patient-doctor relationship, based on mutual respect and trust, is the cornerstone of good patient care. The removal of patients from our list is an exceptional and rare event and is a last resort in an impaired patient-practice relationship. When trust has irretrievably broken down, it is in the patient’s interest, just as much as that of the practice, that they should find a new practice. An exception to this is on immediate removal on the grounds of violence e.g. when the Police are involved.

Removing other members of the household

In rare cases, however, because of the possible need to visit patients at home it may be necessary to terminate responsibility for other members of the family or the entire household. The prospect of visiting patients where a relative who is no longer a patient of the practice by virtue of their unacceptable behaviour resides, or being regularly confronted by the removed patient, may make it too difficult for the practice to continue to look after the whole family. This is particularly likely where the patient has been removed because of violence or threatening behaviour and keeping the other family members could put doctors or their staff at risk.