AIS applies to people who use a service and have information or communication needs because of a:

·         Disability

·         Impairment

·         Sensory Loss

It covers the needs of people who are deaf/Deaf, blind, or deafblind, or who have a learning disability. This includes interpretation or translation for people whose first language is British Sign Language.

It does not cover these needs for other languages.

It can also be used to support people who have aphasia, autism or a mental health condition which affects their ability to communicate.

It is important to the practice that we meet the individual needs of our patients and establish if information from us needs to be delivered in a different way.

We may know that a patient is deaf, but what we don’t know is how this patient communicates; do they use British Sign Language (BSL); do they need an interpreter present; do they prefer to lip read; do they use a notebook?  We cannot make assumptions about the needs of our patients.

We ask all of our new patients to inform us of any communication needs when they register with us, but our existing patients also need to be aware of this information.  Therefore, we ask our existing patients to let us know if there is any particular information about your communication needs you think we should be aware of.

If you, or someone you know who is a patient, feels there is a need we need to know about, please complete this Accessible Information Standards form and either bring it in to the surgery, or email it to the practice at [email protected]

This practice is committed to providing a safe and comfortable environment and strives to achieve good practice at all times.

All patients are entitled to have a chaperone present during any consultation, examination or procedure. Clinicians at this practice will advise patients that a chaperone is necessary during any intimate examination. This is to safeguard both the clinician and you, the patient.

Where a chaperone is not available, the clinician will ask you to make an appointment and request the presence of a chaperone
at the time of booking.

We will use trained staff as chaperones as they have had the appropriate training and have knowledge of the examination or procedure you may be undergoing.

Family and friends are not permitted to act as chaperones as they are not deemed impartial, do not have the knowledge required and nor do they have the necessary training. Should you wish to see the full chaperone policy, please ask to speak to the practice manager.

If you have any questions, please speak to the reception staff who will direct you to an appropriate member of the team.

HOW CAN PATIENTS COMPLAIN?

Trent Meadows Medical Practice always aims to deliver a safe, caring and efficient service to all of our patients; but if you feel that this has not happened, then we would want to know about it, so that we can address the area causing concern and put things right.

We take complaints very seriously and want to hear if patients have concerns regarding their care.  Patients may make a complaint or comment on the provision of our services verbally or in writing to the Practice Manager Mrs Judith Williams you can telephone 01283 845555 to arrange to speak with her or can email her at [email protected].

Please see below our procedure for the investigation of complaints

Your complaint should be raised as soon as possible after the event giving rise to your concerns, either verbally or in writing. Your complaint will be investigated by the Practice Manager or the Partners of the Practice.

When your complaint is received we will aim for it to be acknowledged verbally or in writing within three working days and a report on the investigation will be sent to you within thirty working days. If the investigation is to take longer than thirty working days, you will be informed together with the reasons for the delay. On completion of the investigation you will be given a full explanation.

Your complaint will in no way have any impact on the treatment you receive from clinicians and administrative staff at the Practice. You can be assured that YOUR care is our priority

You can make your complaint to the practice or directly to NHS England (but not to both) should your complaint not be resolved to your satisfaction you can then contact the Parliamentary & Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) contact details below.

NHS Primary Care Complaints

You can contact the Customer Contact Centre:

Post:
NHS England
PO Box 16738
Redditch
B97 9PT

Email:          [email protected]

Telephone:    0300 311 22 33

If patients are not satisfied with the way their complaint has been dealt with by the provider or commissioner, they can contact the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO)

Post:
The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman
Millbank Tower
Millbank
London
SW1P 4QP

Telephone:    0345 015 4033

Email:           [email protected]            

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.

Trent Meadows Medical Practice believes that people living with dementia should have the opportunity to live a good quality, active and healthy lifestyle for as long as possible. Our clinical team will discuss the individual needs of patients and listen to their wishes when formulating their care plan. We will treat our patients and their carers with understanding, dignity and respect.

Our aim is that our staff and partners with whom we work to deliver care in our community are well informed and share an ambition to deliver the highest standards of care for our patients. Patients and their carers feel able to approach the practice to ask for help and support when they need it, so that they enjoy the best quality of life possible. We will plan ahead to minimise the impact of a deterioration in a patient’s condition. We will strive continuously to provide outstanding care and service and will share best practice at every opportunity.

We are making adjustments throughout the practice to ensure our surgery is comfortable, welcoming and accessible for our patients and visitors that would benefit from these changes.

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) came into force on 25^th May 2018. This is a new regulation about the protection of any confidential and sensitive information.

Please see our Privacy Notice Booklet that explains how we collect and process your personal data and how we meet our obligations to you.

Download our GDPR Privacy Notice.

General Practice Transparency Notice for GPES Data for Pandemic Planning and Research (COVID-19)

This practice is supporting vital coronavirus (COVID-19) planning and research by sharing your data with NHS Digital.

The health and social care system is facing significant pressures due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. Health and care information is essential to deliver care to individuals, to support health, social care and other public services and to protect public health. Information will also be vital in researching, monitoring, tracking and managing the coronavirus outbreak. In the current emergency it has become even more important to share health and care information across relevant organisations. This practice is supporting vital coronavirus planning and research by sharing your data with NHS Digital, the national safe haven for health and social care data in England.

Our legal basis for sharing data with NHS Digital

NHS Digital has been legally directed to collect and analyse patient data from all GP practices in England to support the coronavirus response for the duration of the outbreak. NHS Digital will become the controller under the General Data Protection Regulation 2016 (GDPR) of the personal data collected and analysed jointly with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, who has directed NHS Digital to collect and analyse this data under the COVID-19 Public Health Directions 2020 (COVID-19 Direction).

All GP practices in England are legally required to share data with NHS Digital for this purpose under the Health and Social Care Act 2012 (2012 Act). More information about this requirement is contained in the data provision notice issued by NHS Digital to GP practices.

Under GDPR our legal basis for sharing this personal data with NHS Digital is Article 6(1)(c) – legal obligation. Our legal basis for sharing personal data relating to health, is Article 9(2)(g) – substantial public interest, for the purposes of NHS Digital exercising its statutory functions under the COVID-19 Direction.

The type of personal data we are sharing with NHS Digital

The data being shared with NHS Digital will include information about patients who are currently registered with a GP practice or who have a date of death on or after 1 November 2019 whose record contains coded information relevant to coronavirus planning and research. The data contains NHS Number, postcode, address, surname, forename, sex, ethnicity, date of birth and date of death for those patients. It will also include coded health data which is held in your GP record such as details of:

• diagnoses and findings
• medications and other prescribed items
• investigations, tests and results
• treatments and outcomes
• vaccinations and immunisations

How NHS Digital will use and share your data

NHS Digital will analyse the data they collect and securely and lawfully share data with other appropriate organisations, including health and care organisations, bodies engaged in disease surveillance and research organisations for coronavirus response purposes only. These purposes include protecting public health, planning and providing health, social care and public services, identifying coronavirus trends and risks to public health, monitoring and managing the outbreak and carrying out of vital coronavirus research and clinical trials. The British Medical Association, the Royal College of General Practitioners and the National Data Guardian are all supportive of this initiative.

NHS Digital has various legal powers to share data for purposes relating to the coronavirus response. It is also required to share data in certain circumstances set out in the COVID-19 Direction and to share confidential patient information to support the response under a legal notice issued to it by the Secretary of State under the Health Service (Control of Patient Information) Regulations 2002 (COPI Regulations).

Legal notices under the COPI Regulations have also been issued to other health and social care organisations requiring those organisations to process and share confidential patient information to respond to the coronavirus outbreak. Any information used or shared during the outbreak under these legal notices or the COPI Regulations will be limited to the period of the outbreak unless there is another legal basis for organisations to continue to use the information.

Data which is shared by NHS Digital will be subject to robust rules relating to privacy, security and confidentiality and only the minimum amount of data necessary to achieve the coronavirus purpose will be shared. Organisations using your data will also need to have a clear legal basis to do so and will enter into a data sharing agreement with NHS Digital. Information about the data that NHS Digital shares, including who with and for what purpose will be published in the NHS Digital data release register.

For more information about how NHS Digital will use your data please see the NHS Digital Transparency Notice for GP Data for Pandemic Planning and Research (COVID-19).

National Data Opt-Out

The application of the National Data Opt-Out to information shared by NHS Digital will be considered on a case by case basis and may or may not apply depending on the specific purposes for which the data is to be used. This is because during this period of emergency, the National Data Opt-Out will not generally apply where data is used to support the coronavirus outbreak, due to the public interest and legal requirements to share information.

Your rights over your personal data

To read more about the health and care information NHS Digital collects, its legal basis for collecting this information and what choices and rights you have in relation to the processing by NHS Digital of your personal data, see:

• the NHS Digital GPES Data for Pandemic Planning and Research (COVID-19) Transparency Notice
• the NHS Digital Coronavirus (COVID-19) Response Transparency Notice
• the NHS Digital General Transparency Notice

All GP Practices are required to declare the mean earnings (e.g. average pay) for GPs working to deliver NHS services to patients at each practice.

The average pay for GPs working in Trent Meadows Medical Practice in the last financial year was £92,495 before tax and National Insurance.  This is for 3 full time GPs and 3 part time GPs who worked in the practice for more than six months.

Download a copy of our How we use your information leaflet.

This is one of the major non-clinical activities of the Practice.

We take medical students, usually from the University of Keele undergraduate Medical School. The students may sit in with surgeries from time to time. If you prefer not to have a student present, please mention this either at reception or when you enter the consulting room. This will not affect the care you will be given.

There may be doctors in their second Foundation Year – the second year since qualification. They are gaining experience in a range of specialities before moving into their specialised training years.

Registrars. The Practice usually has one or two General Practitioner Registrars working with us – they are qualified doctors undergoing further training to specialise in general practice. They may be with us for up to 12 months. You may make appointments to see them just as you would any other doctors.

Video work. As part of training medical students and registrars, as well as occasional personal development work for the established GPs, we may ask you for permission to videotape a consultation.  No intimate examinations would be recorded. The videotape may be used for examination purposes or assessment of the doctor’s ability. You can decline to be videotaped and this will not affect the care you will be given.

From 1st April 2015 GP practices were required to allocate all patients including children, with a named accountable GP who has overall responsibility for their care.

If you wish to know who your named GP is please contact the surgery and we will be happy to inform you.

N.B. This does not stop you from seeing any GP at the Practice

At Trent Meadows Medical Practice, we have a Facebook group which provides a range of useful information for our patient population.

Trent Meadows Medical Practice has a duty to maintain patient confidentiality and to safeguard vulnerable patients. You can help us to achieve this by adhering to the code of conduct outlined in this policy.

Patients at Trent Meadows Medical Practice are expected to adhere to the following code of conduct at all times:

1. The organisation requires all users of portable devices to use them in a courteous and considerate manner, respecting their fellow patients. Portable devices are not to be used during consultations, except when agreed with your clinician.

2. Patients are not permitted to disclose any patient-identifiable information about other patients, unless they have the express consent of that patient.

3. Whilst not encouraged, patients may record their consultation but this should be agreed with your clinician. This recording will solely be for your own purpose.

4. Patients must not post any material that is inaccurate, fraudulent, harassing, embarrassing, obscene, defamatory or unlawful. Any such posts on the organisation Facebook group will be deleted and the post reported.

5. Patients are not permitted to take photographs in the waiting room or areas where other patients are present, nor are photographs of staff permitted to be taken.

6. Patients must not post comments on social media that identify any staff.

7. Patients are able to leave a review about Trent Meadows Medical Practice. The following link can enable the practice manager to respond appropriately. https://www.nhs.uk/services/gp-surgery/trent-meadows-medical-practice/M83027

8. Defamatory comments about our team are not to be shared on any social media platform. Legal advice will be sought and the appropriate action taken against any patient who posts defamatory comments.

Patient complaints on social media

We have a separate complaints policy which patients are to use should they wish to make a complaint. We will only respond to complaints made to the organisation in accordance with the organisation’s policy.

Practice Charter

• Members of staff will act courteously towards you and treat you with respect.
• We offer an appointment system. Our aim is to see each patient at the time designated. You will not be kept waiting for more than 20 minutes after your appointment time without an explanation from the staff.
• You are entitled to complete confidentiality.
• Constructive criticism will be welcomed in an effort to improve our service.
• You have the right to see your patient records, subject to legal limitations, by appointment only.
• Members of staff will wear a uniform and name badge in order to identify themselves to you.

Patients Responsibilities

• Be courteous and polite to staff at all times
• Arrive on time for all appointments
• Cancel appointments as soon as possible
• Book one appointment for each patient who wishes to be seen.
• Let the Practice know of any changes in personal details, ie telephone number/address.
• Telephone for results between 12.30 pm and 3.00 pm only.
• Do not ask for information about anyone other than yourself.

Physical violence and verbal abuse are a growing concern. GPs, Practice Nurses and other practice staff have the right to care for others without fear of being attacked or abused. We ask that you treat your GP and Practice staff properly — without violence or abuse.

Violent and abusive patients will be reported to the Police and removed from the surgery’s list.

This practice is part of the local Primary Care Research Network , Central England (PCRN CE). The Network is funded by the Department of Health to undertake research to improve healthcare.

What does this mean for you?

You may be invited to take part in a research study. Whether or not you take part is entirely up to you, and the decision you take will not affect any of your medical care.

Your medical records and how they are used

We may be asked to share information we hold in medical records as part of the research.

We always do this in a way that protects your privacy and gives you the option to opt out of research.

There are strict measures in place at the practice and with the researchers to keep your records confidential. The way in which we do this is set out in the leaflet “Use of your medical records”, please ask for a copy.

If you have any questions we would be happy to answer them.

The Practice will undertake an access audit on an annual basis in order to determine that our services for the disabled remain current and appropriate.

Patient facilities include:-

• easy, level access and dedicated toilet facilities for the disabled at both sites
• large font Practice Leaflet is available
• clear signage
• portable induction loops are available at all surgeries for patients who are hard of hearing
• access for guide dogs and others assisting special needs

Disabled patients are able to make appointments using the email system as well as the telephone service and face to face access at reception.

If you feel you need extra help when visiting one of our sites, please phone ahead to advise and we will do our utmost to assist you.

Anyone requiring further information regarding our facilities and access can contact the Practice Liaison Officer on 01283 845555.

If you require any information in an accessible format, such as large print, Easy Read or Braille, please contact us on 01283 845555, in writing, or ask at the reception desk.

Download our Statement of Purpose

If you decide to have an SCR, it will contain important information about any medicines you are taking, allergies you suffer from and any bad reactions to medicines that you have had and it will also include basic information about your current diagnoses. Giving healthcare staff access to this information can prevent mistakes being made when caring for you in an emergency or when your GP practice is closed. Your Summary Care Record will also include your name, address, date of birth and your unique NHS Number to help identify you correctly. If you and your GP decide to include more information it can be added, but only with your express permission.

• Summary Care Record
• SCR patient Consent Preference Form