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.

All staff in this Practice have the right to do their work in an environment free from violent, threatening or abusive behaviour and everything will be done to protect this right. If you do not respect the rights of our staff we may choose to inform the police and make arrangements for you to be removed from our medical list.

Introduction

This policy is designed to protect both patients and staff from abuse or allegations of abuse and to assist patients to make an informed choice about their examinations and consultations.

Guidelines

Clinicians (male and female) should consider whether an intimate or personal examination of the patient (either male or female) is justified, or whether the nature of the consultation poses a risk of misunderstanding.

• The clinician should give the patient a clear explanation of what the examination will involve.

• The clinician should always adopt a professional and considerate manner and careful with humour as a way of relaxing a nervous situation. It can easily be misinterpreted.

• Always ensure that the patient is provided with adequate privacy to undress and dress.

• Ensure that a suitable sign is clearly on display in each consulting or treatment room offering the chaperone service.

There will still be times when either the clinician, or the patient, feels uncomfortable, and it would be appropriate to consider using a chaperone under these circumstances.  Patients who request a chaperone should never be examined without a chaperone present. Where a chaperone is not available, the consultation/examination should be rearranged for a mutually convenient time when a chaperone can be present.

Complaints and claims have not been limited to clinicians treating/examining patients of the opposite gender. There are many examples of alleged assault by female and male clinicians on people of the same gender.

There may be occasions when a chaperone is needed for a home visit.  The following procedure should still be followed.

Who Can Act as a Chaperone?

A variety of people can act as a chaperone in the practice, but staff undertaking a formal chaperone role must have been trained in the competencies required. Where possible, it is strongly recommended that chaperones should be clinical staff familiar with procedural aspects of personal examination. When suitable clinical staff members are not available, consideration should be given to defer the procedure.

Where the practice determines that non-clinical staff will act in this capacity, the patient must agree to the presence of a non-clinician in the examination and be at ease with this. The staff member should be trained in the procedural aspects of personal examinations, comfortable in acting in the role of chaperone and be confident in the scope and extent of their role. They will have received instruction on where to stand and what to watch and instructions to that effect will be laid down in writing by the practice.

Confidentiality

• The chaperone should only be present for the examination itself, and most of the discussion with the patient should take place while the chaperone is not present.

• Patients should be reassured that all practice staff understand their responsibility not to divulge confidential information.

Click here to link to the latest GMC guidelines for intimate examinations:

Intimate examinations and chaperones – ethical guidance summary – GMC (gmc-uk.org)

PROCEDURE

• The clinician will contact reception to request a chaperone.

• If no chaperone is available, a clinician may offer to defer the examination to a date when one will be available, if the delay would not have an adverse effect on the patient’s health.

• If a clinician wishes to conduct an examination with a chaperone present but the patient does not agree to this, the clinician must clearly explain why they want a chaperone to be present. The clinician may choose to consider referring the patient to a colleague who would be willing to examine them without a chaperone if the delay would not have an adverse effect on the patient’s health.

• The clinician will record in the notes that the chaperone is present and identify the chaperone.

• The chaperone will enter the room discreetly and remain in the room until the clinician has finished the examination.

• The chaperone will attend inside the curtain/screened-off area at the head of the examination couch and observe the procedure.

• To prevent embarrassment, the chaperone should not enter conversation with the patient or GP unless requested to do so or make any mention of the consultation afterwards.

• The chaperone will make a record in the patient’s notes after examination. The record will state that there were no problems or give details of any concerns or incidents that occurred. The chaperone must be aware of the procedure to follow if they wish to raise concerns.

The patient can refuse a chaperone, and if so this must be recorded in the patient’s medical record.

It is important to the Practice that you let us know how well we are doing. We welcome feedback from all our service users.

Compliments:

You may want to make positive comments on the care and services you have received and these comments are important to us as they tell us what is contributing to good care experiences for patients. Please give your positive comments directly to the person concerned or alternatively you can leave us a review via our website, or Google reviews.

Complaints:

As a Practice we strive to deliver the best possible care to our patients, but we accept that sometimes things go wrong. If you are not happy with either your care or the treatment you have received then please let us know. You will be treated with courtesy and respect and the making of a complaint will not adversely affect your care or any further treatment you may have.

You can raise your complaint directly with the person involved or, if you prefer, with the Complaints Manager in writing.

The formal complaints procedure is detailed in the Compliments and Complaints leaflet which is available to download from the ‘Our Documents’ page.

We hope that, if you have a problem, you will use our practice complaints procedure. We believe this will give us the best chance of putting right whatever has gone wrong and an opportunity to improve our practice. But this does not affect your right to approach NHS England if you feel you cannot raise your complaint directly with us or you are dissatisfied with the result of our investigation. You should contact NHS England, PO Box 16738, Redditch, B97 9PT.

Or email:   England.contactus@nhs.net

Telephone :  0300 311 22 33

The Independent Complaints and Advocacy Service are there to advise and support people wanting to make a complaint about NHS Services. They can be contacted on 0845 120 3734.

Complaining to the Health Service Ombudsman

If you are not satisfied with how the complaint has been dealt with, you may choose to take your complaint to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman, Millbank Tower, Millbank, London SW1P 4QP

Or email on mailto:phso.enquiries@ombudsman.org.uk, Complaints Helpline – Tel: 0345 015 4033

Or there is a form available for download on the ombudsman’s website at www.ombudsman.org.uk

New Data Protection Regulations From May 2018 (GDPR)

Under the new data protection regulations introduced from 25th May 2018, we will continue to contact patients via text messages regarding the delivery of care if they have provided consent to do so.

If practices are sending messages about recommended treatment for the management of a specific health issue, then this is defined as providing appropriate care for patients, not marketing purposes.

If you would like to opt-out of any future contact via text messaging, then please complete the form and indicate in the marked section.

We make every effort to give the best service possible to everyone who attends our practice.

We always welcome positive feedback! This reassures us that we are providing the level of service that we want to our patients.

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 wish for the matter to be settled as quickly, and as amicably, as possible.

To pursue a complaint please contact the complaints manager who will deal with your concerns appropriately. Further written information is available regarding the complaints procedure from reception.

You can also send feedback to the Care Quality Commission Team by clicking here. You can use the form to tell them about:

• an experience of care – it can be good or bad
• a concern about a service you work for

This is different from making a formal complaint. To make a formal complaint, you must contact us directly.

NHS England require 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 for any judgement about GP earnings, nor to make any comparisons with other practices.

The average earnings for GPs working in Oakwood Lane Medical Practice in the last financial year ending in 2020/21 was £69,671 before taxation and National Insurance. 

This is for 1 full time GP and 11 part time GPs who worked in the practice for more than 6 months.

Updated 31/3/22 by Mrs R Hanif

Confidentiality & Medical Records

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 the 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.

Freedom of Information

Information about the General Practitioners and the practice required for disclosure under this act can be made available to the public. All requests for such information should be made to the practice manager

Access to Records

In accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998 and the Access to Health Records Act, patients may request to see their medical records. Such requests should be made through the practice manager and may be subject to an administration charge. No information will be released without patient consent unless we are legally obliged to do so.

on ‘Our Documents’ page is a copy of our privacy notice which explains how we collect, look after and use your data.

A summary of this information can be found below.

How we Collect, Look After and Use Your Data?

This notice explains how Oakwood Lane Medical Practice will collect, look after, use or otherwise process your personal data. “Personal data” is information relating to you as a living, identifiable individual.

How is the Information Collected and Looked After?

Who is responsible for my information? Oakwood Lane Medical Practice is the data controller for your information and is responsible for looking after your record while you are a registered patient. The person with the key responsibility for data protection and security is Dr Anne Weston.

The Data Protection Officer for Oakwood Lane Medical Practice is Paul Couldrey, PCDC, NBV Enterprise Centre, 6 David Lane, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire. NG6 0JU T: 0115 838 6770 info@pcdc.org.uk . Any queries or concerns should be raised with the practice first.

Why do we Collect Information About You?

As health professionals, we maintain records about you in order to support your care. By registering with the practice, your existing records will be transferred to us from your previous practice so that we can keep them up to date while you are our patient. If you do not have a previous medical record (a new-born child or coming from overseas, for example), we will create a medical record for you. We take great care to ensure that your information is kept securely, that it is up to date, accurate and used appropriately. All of our staff are trained to understand their legal and professional obligations to protect your information and will only look at your information if they need to.

What Information do we Hold About You?

Details about you, such as your name, address, carers, biological gender, gender identity, ethnic origin, date of birth, legal representatives and emergency contact details.

• Any contact the surgery has had with you, such as appointments, clinic visits, emergency appointments, etc.
• Notes and reports about your health.
• Details about your treatment and care.
• Results of investigations such as laboratory tests, x-rays, etc.
• Relevant information from other health professionals, relatives or those who care for you.

How is My Information Stored?

Our practice uses a clinical records programme called SystmOnline which is where any electronic information about you will be stored. Any information held in paper records is stored securely at the practice. We use a combination of working practices and technology to ensure that your information is kept confidential and secure.

What is the Legal Basis That we use to Process Your Information?

We are required to tell you the legal basis that is used for the various ways we process and use your data. The following table sets the main ways your personal data may be used and the corresponding legal basis and category of data. Each purpose is covered in more detail within the document below to explain what these mean in more practical terms.

When is my Information Shared?

We are committed to protecting your privacy and will only use information collected lawfully in accordance with:

• Data Protection legislation.
• Human Rights Act of 1998.
• Common-Law Duty of Confidentiality  Health and Social Care Act 2012.
• NHS Codes of Confidentiality, Information Security and Records Management.
• Information: To Share or Not to Share Review.

How Long Does the Practice Hold my Information?

As long as you are registered as a patient with Oakwood Lane Medical Practice your paper records are held at the practice along with your GP electronic record. If you register with a new practice, they will initiate the process to transfer your records. The electronic record is transferred to the new practice across a secure NHS data-sharing network and all practices aim to process such transfers within a maximum of 8 working days. The paper records are then transferred via Primary Care Services England (operated on behalf of NHS England by Capita) which can take longer.

Primary Care Services England also look after the records of any patient not currently registered with a practice and the records of anyone who has died. Once your records have been forwarded to your new practice (or after your death forwarded to Primary Care Services England), a cached version of your electronic record is retained in the practice and classified as “inactive”.

If anyone has a reason to access an inactive record, they are required to formally record that reason and this action is audited regularly to ensure that all access to inactive records is valid and appropriate. We may access this for clinical audit (measuring performance), serious incident reviews, or statutory report completion (e.g., for HM Coroner).

Change of Details

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.

How can I see What Information You Hold About me?

You have a right under data protection legislation to request to see what information the practice holds about you. You also have the right to ask for inaccuracies to be corrected and in some circumstances, you have the right to request that we stop processing your data. Some of these rights are not automatic and we reserve the right to discuss with you why we might not comply with a request from you to exercise them. If you make a Subject Access Request, we will:

• Describe the information we hold about you,
• Tell you why we are holding that information,
• Tell you who it might be shared with,
• At your request, provide a copy of the information in an easy to read form.

In order to request this, you need to do the following:

• Your request must be made in writing – for information from the hospital you should write directly to them.
• We will provide electronic copies (via online access, by email or on CDROM) free of charge.
• We are required to respond to you within 1 month. You will need to give enough information (for example full name, address, date of birth, NHS number and details of your request) so that your identity can be verified and your records located.

In some circumstances, there may be a charge to have a printed copy of the information held about you. If this is the case, this will be discussed with you before any charge is made. If you would like to make a Subject Access Request or have any further questions, please contact the Practice’s Business Manager.

How is My Information Used?

For the provision of direct care: In the practice, individual staff will only look at what they need in order to carry out such tasks as booking appointments, making referrals, giving health advice or provide you with care. Sometimes your information may be used to run automated calculations. These can be as simple as calculating your Body Mass Index but they can be more complex and used to calculate some risks to your health that we should consider with you.

The ones we use in practice include Qrisk (cardiovascular risk assessment – usually following an NHS Healthcheck), Qdiabetes (diabetes risk assessment) and eFI (electronic frailty index). Whenever we use these profiling tools, we assess the outcome on a case-by-case basis.

No decisions about individual care are made solely on the outcomes of these tools but they are used to help us assess and discuss your possible future health and care needs with you. We share information about you with other health professionals where they have a genuine need for it to support your care, as follows

For Commissioning and Healthcare Planning Purposes:

In some cases, for example, when looking at population healthcare needs, some of your data may be shared (usually in such a way that you cannot be identified from it). The following organisations may use data in this way to inform policy or make decisions about the general provision of healthcare, either locally or nationally.

• Leeds City Council: Public Health, Adult or Child Social Care Services  Embed Health Consortium (NHS commissioning support unit).
• Leeds Clinical Commissioning Group.
• NHS Digital (Formerly known as (HSCIC) – ResearchOne Database.
• Other data processors which you will be informed of as appropriate.

In order to comply with its legal obligations, we may send data to NHS Digital when directed by the Secretary of State for Health under the Health and Social Care Act 2012.

This practice contributes to national clinical audits and will send the data which are required by NHS Digital when the law allows. This may include demographic data, such as date of birth, and information about your health which is recorded in coded form, for example, the clinical code for diabetes or high blood pressure.

For Research Purposes:

Research data is usually shared in a way that individual patients are non-identifiable. Occasionally where research requires identifiable information you may be asked for your explicit consent to participate in specific research projects. The surgery will always gain your consent before releasing any information for this purpose.

Where specific information is asked for, such as under the National Diabetes Audit, you have the choice to opt for the audit.

Further details of these audits are available here: Oakwood Lane Medical Practice

For Safeguarding Purposes, Life or Death Situations or Other Circumstances When we are Required to Share Information:

We may also disclose your information to others in exceptional circumstances (ie life or death situations) or in accordance with Dame Fiona Caldicott’s information sharing review (Information to share or not to share). For example, your information may be shared in the following circumstances:

• When we have a duty to others e.g. in child protection cases.
• Where we are required by law to share certain information such as the birth of a new baby, infectious diseases that may put you or others at risk or where a Court has decided we must.

Objections/Concerns/Complaints

If you are happy for your data to be extracted and used for the purposes described in this notice then you do not need to do anything.

If you would like to see our data protection policies, these can be provided on request. Requests should be brought to the attention of the Business Manager. Should you have any concerns about how your information is managed at the practice, please contact the Business Manager at Oakwood Lane Medical Practice If you are still unhappy following a review by the GP practice, you can then complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) via their website www.ico.org.uk, casework@ico.org.uk, telephone: 0303 123 1113 (local rate) or 01625 545 745.

There is a new Central NHS Computer System called the Summary Care Record (SCR). It is an electronic record which contains information about the medicines you take, allergies you suffer from and any bad reactions to medicines you have had.

Why do I Need a Summary Care Record?

Storing information in one place makes it easier for healthcare staff to treat you in an emergency, or when your GP practice is closed.

This information could make a difference to how a doctor decides to care for you, for example, which medicines they choose to prescribe for you.

Who Can See it?

Only healthcare staff involved in your care can see your Summary Care Record.

How do I Know if I Have One?

Over half of the population of England now have a Summary Care Record. You can find out whether Summary Care Records have come to your area by looking at our interactive map or by asking your GP.

Do I Have to Have One?

No, it is not compulsory. If you choose to opt-out of the scheme, then you will need to complete a form and bring it along to the surgery. You can use the form at the foot of this page.

More Information

For further information visit the NHS Care records website.

Please go to ‘Our Documents’ page to download the opt-out form.