Policies and Procedures

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.

Manage health services for others – NHS App help and support

You can add people to your NHS App to manage health services for others.

The programme enables patients to test their kidney function from home. We will share your contact details with Healthy.io to enable them to contact you and send you a test kit.

This will help identify patients at risk of kidney disease and help us agree any early interventions that can be put in place for the benefit of your care.

Healthy.io will only use your data for the purposes of delivering their service to you.
If you do not wish to receive a home test kit from Healthy.io we will continue to manage your care within the practice.

Healthy.io are required to hold data we send them in line with retention periods outlined in the Records Management code of Practice for Health and Social Care. Further information about this is available at: www.lp.healthy.io/minuteful_info.

If you wish for a chaperone to be present during an examination, please do not hesitate to ask a clinician or one of our receptionists.

It may not be possible for such a person to be provided immediately and you may have to return for the examination to be carried out at a mutually convenient time.

Trust is important in the relationship between clinician and patient and we would at all times, wish you to feel able to ask for a chaperone. It is the policy of the practice to respect the privacy, dignity, cultural and religious beliefs of our patients.

If you have a complaint or concern about the service you have received from the doctors or any of the staff working in this GP surgery, please let us know. This includes Primary Care Network staff working as part of our GP surgery. We operate a complaints procedure as part of an NHS system for dealing with complaints. Our complaints system meets national criteria.

How to complain

We hope that most problems can be sorted out easily and quickly when they arise and with the person concerned. For example, by requesting a face-to-face meeting to discuss your concerns.

If your problem cannot be sorted out this way and you wish to make a complaint, we would like you to let us know as soon as possible. By making your complaint quickly, it is easier for us to establish what happened. If it is not possible to do that, please let us have details of your complaint:

• Within 6 months of the incident that caused the problem; or
• Within 6 months of discovering that you have a problem, provided this is within 12 months of the incident.

Complaints should be addressed to the GP surgery team verbally or in writing to the Practice Manager. Alternatively, you may ask for an appointment with the GP surgery to discuss your concerns. They will explain the complaints procedure to you and make sure your concerns are dealt with promptly. Please be as specific as possible about your complaint.

What we will do

We will acknowledge your complaint within three working days. We will aim to have investigated your complaint within ten working days of the date you raised it with us. We will then offer you an explanation or a meeting with the people involved, if you would like this. When we investigate your complaint, we will aim to:

• Find out what happened and what went wrong.
• Make it possible for you to discuss what happened with those concerned, if you would like this.
• Make sure you receive an apology, where this is appropriate.
• Identify what we can do to make sure the problem does not happen again.

Complaining on behalf of someone else

We take medical confidentiality seriously. If you are complaining on behalf of someone else, we must 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.

Complaining to NHS England

We hope that you will use our Practice Complaints Procedure if you are unhappy. We believe this will give us the best chance of putting right whatever has gone wrong and an opportunity to improve our GP surgery.

However, if you feel you cannot raise the complaint with us directly, please contact NHS England. You can find more information on how to make a complaint at https://www.england.nhs.uk/contact-us/complaint/complaining-to-nhse/.

Unhappy with the outcome of your complaint?

If you are not happy with the way your complaint has been dealt with by the GP surgery and NHS England and would like to take the matter further, you can contact the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO). The PHSO makes final decisions on unresolved complaints about the NHS in England. It is an independent service which is free for everyone to use.

To take your complaint to the Ombudsman, visit the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman website or call 0345 015 4033

Need help making a complaint?

If you want help making a complaint, Healthwatch Norfolk can help you find independent NHS complaints advocacy services in your area.

The practice is always pleased to receive letters of thanks or compliments about service from our patients. These are communicated to the whole practice team.

The practice follows the standard recommended practice complaints procedure and will always try to resolve your complaint in house. Any written complaints should be made out to Anni Baldry, practice manager. We will usually acknowledge receipt within 3 working days and aim to resolve the matter as soon as possible but will give you some idea of how long that may take at the outset.

You may also approach the following for help and advice:

• Healthwatch
• IHCA
• 01502 719567

Alternatively, you may wish to take the complaint to NHS England’s complaints department. NHS England is the commissioner or purchaser of primary care, ie GPs, dentists, opticians, pharmacy and some specialised services.

You can contact the Complaints Team at NHS England:

• By post to:
  NHS England
  PO Box 16738
  Redditch
  B97 9PT
• By email to: england.contactus@nhs.net (Please state: ‘For the attention of the complaints team’ in the subject line.)
• By telephone: 0300 311 22 33 (Monday to Friday 8:00 to 18:00, excluding English Bank Holidays)

If you feel the practice’s response is not satisfactory, you may contact the parliamentary and health service Ombudsman who will review your complaint and the practice’s response.

Please be aware that our staff are bound to the NHS code of confidentiality. Our staff are therefore not permitted to discuss any of our patient’s medical history, including their registration status, without their written consent to do so.

Once we have received their written consent and verified this with the patient, we can then we can provide you with this information. This includes complaining on behalf of a patient, but excludes patients who are unable to act on their own behalf and already have a designated person or carer responsible for their medical care.

We therefore respectfully ask parents and guardians not to request information regarding their relatives, or to complain on their behalf, unless we have their written consent to do so.

During COVID-19 we may ask you to send a photograph of your bruise or skin condition that you are concerned about whilst we conduct virtual consultations. This photograph will be used by the clinician to determine any medical treatment necessary and will be added to your medical record.

Please note that as this is sent via email, it may not be secure and we therefore ask that you only include your NHS number alongside your photograph in the email. The photograph should only be of the area requested and no other person should be visible in the shot.

A person who is regarded as ordinarily resident in the UK is eligible for free treatment by a GP. A person is ‘ordinarily resident’ for this purpose if lawfully living in the UK for a settled purpose as part of the regular order of his or her life for the time being. Anyone coming to live in this country would qualify as ordinarily resident. Overseas visitors to the UK are not regarded as ordinarily resident if they do not meet this description.

The following NHS treatment is available to anyone:

• Treatment in an emergency (but not follow up treatment)
• Treatment of certain communicable diseases
• Compulsory psychiatric treatment

To qualify for other NHS treatments you must meet certain conditions, which are outlined below:

EU Nationals

Foreign nations from EU member states have reciprocal arrangements for both dental and medical health care so they can access the full range of NHS services.

Non EU Nationals

Foreign nationals from non-EU countries have no automatic right to NHS healthcare (other than those outlined above). Students and visitors who are going to stay in the UK for less than six months would have to be seen as private patients and would have to pay for their treatment. It is therefore essential that you have medical insurance to pay for any private treatment.

If you are not a student registered at a UK university and you’re not going to stay in the UK for between six months and a year, it may be unlikely that you will be able to receive free NHS Treatment.

If you are unsure of entitlement to NHS treatment, or require further information, please ask the reception staff when you register, and they will advise you accordingly.

Be aware that a valid six month visa does not automatically confer the right to free NHS treatment.

Please note that registering with a GP does not give you automatic entitlement to access free NHS hospital treatment. It is therefore essential that you take out medical insurance for the duration of your visit prior to arrival in the UK.

If you are a student registered at a UK university (and you have documentary proof of this) and are going to stay in the UK for more than six months, you will qualify for NHS treatment from the beginning of your stay and you (and your dependants) will be entitled to NHS treatment and you may register with a GP.

Medical Emergencies

If you need immediate medical assistance (e.g. because of an accident) telephone 999 – the call is free. An operator will ask you which emergency service you require (fire, police or ambulance). You will need to tell the emergency services what has happened and where you are. If someone is injured and needs to go to hospital, an ambulance will arrive and take them to the nearest hospital with an emergency department

If you need urgent treatment but are well enough to travel, please make your own way to the nearest A&E department.

For more information, please review the Information Commissioner’s Office guide on the Freedom of Information Act.

Please use the links below to find more information about the practice and data protection.

• Our Data Protection
• Provider Processors
• ACR project for patients with diabetes (and/or other conditions) Privacy Policy

We aim to keep our surgery clean and tidy and offer a safe environment to our patients and staff. We are proud of our practice and endeavour to keep it clean and well maintained at all times.

If you have any concerns about cleanliness or infection control, please report these to our reception staff.

Our GPs and nursing staff follow our infection control policy to ensure the care we deliver and the equipment we use is safe.

We take additional measures to ensure we maintain the highest standards:

• Encourage staff and patients to raise any issues or report any incidents relating to cleanliness and infection control. We can discuss these and identify improvements we can make to avoid any future problems.
• Carry out an annual infection control audit to make sure our infection control procedures are working.
• Provide annual staff updates and training on cleanliness and infection control.
• Review our policies and procedures to make sure they are adequate and meet national guidance.
• Maintain the premises and equipment to a high standard within the available. financial resources and ensure that all reasonable steps are taken to reduce or remove all infection risk.
• Use washable or disposable materials for items such as couch rolls, modesty curtains, floor coverings, towels etc., and ensure that these are laundered, cleaned or changed frequently to minimise risk of infection.
• Make alcohol hand rub gel available throughout the building.

Infection Control Audit Certificate

The current contractual requirement of GP practices is to provide detailed coded online access for patients, the 2020/2021 GP contract does add in a requirement to provide full online access to patients on the condition that appropriate redaction software is available, unfortunately, due to the pandemic, national work on the redaction software has been pushed back and so there is no appropriate redaction software available.

Our Data Protection Officer has been working in the background to raise concerns over a conflict between adhering to data protection legislation and complying with full online access requests.

This is because full online access is a type of subject access request. There is a legal obligation on GP Practices to ensure that the exemptions set out in law are adhered to. For example, third party, serious harm, and child abuse exemptions. Determining whether an exemption applies requires specialist knowledge and training, currently, when a request is submitted, dedicated staff have time to go through the record to confirm whether an exemption applies, this can include requiring input from DPO, and third-party health or social care organisations involved in patient care.

Due to the current pandemic, the practice does not have the resources to provide this specialist training to all staff and support them to be able to navigate complex exemptions for every patient upload in a timely manner. Therefore, in line with guidance from our DPO we are pausing full online records access.

The practice is happy to provide you with a copy of your records through the usual request route when you need them, and we can provide you with detailed coded access should you not already have this.

Anybody in England, whether a resident or overseas visitor, may access primary care services at a GP practice without charge.

Homeless patients are entitled to register with a GP using a temporary address, which may be a friends address or a day centre. The practice address may also be used to register but we will need up to date contact details.

No documents are required to register with a GP, however sometimes we will contact you for further information to confirm your registration.

We request that all new patients should present two forms of identification if you have these. This helps to reduce and prevent fraudulent attempts to obtain or misuse NHS care. Overseas visitors may be asked for additional information to prove NHS entitlement.

If presenting identification, one form should ideally be photographic such as:

• Passport
• Drivers licence
• Official ID card from Public Services body
• Student matriculation card (current year)

Other documents for prove of residency that are acceptable are:

• Recent utility bill (within last 3 months)
• Council tax document
• Television licence
• Payslips (last two months)
• Rent book/agreement (Public Body or Private Landlord)
• Bank statement (Name and address section only required)
• Solicitors letter- (Clearly showing name and address)

If unable to provide photographic evidence then you can present one of the above and one of the following:

• Birth certificate
• Marriage certificate
• Divorce/annulment papers

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 asking the surgery directly.

Enhanced Summary Care Record

If you wanted to ‘enhance’ your record it would include the following information:

• Significant medical history (past and present)
• Reason for medication
• Anticipatory care information (important in the management of long term conditions)
• Communication preferences
• End of life care information
• Immunisations

You can opt in for an enhanced summary care record at any time. Please contact the practice if you wish to do this.

Children Under The Age Of 16

Patients under 16 years will have an enhanced summary care record created for them unless their GP surgery is advised otherwise. If you are the parent or guardian of a child under 16 then you should make this information available to them if they are old enough to decide for themselves if they want a summary care record.

Whatever you decide, you can change your mind at any time.

If you are a family member or carer of a person and you have concerns that they may not have the mental capability to make this decision, please contact the practice; you can alternatively download the form from the government website, and then return to the practice.

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 the summary care opt out form. To obtain this form please contact reception.

More Information

For further information please visit the HSCIC Website.