Our quality of care is officially ‘GOOD’

This is not just what most of our patients think but is the impartial formal findings of the CQC, the Independent Regulator of Health and Social Care in England.

Your practice achieved a rating of ‘good’ for all of the standards reviewed by the Inspection Team which you can read about in more detail on the CQC website by following the link below:-

 CQC Website

This practice is one of over 600 practices in England contributing pseudonymised data for national research and surveillance.

These data enable continuous monitoring of infections and diseases in the community and is used in ethically approved research. The RCGP RSC is the main source of information for Public Health England (PHE) and helps with prediction and management of flu out-breaks and pandemics.

Providing pseudonymised data does not affect patients, their care or privacy, however if you no longer wish to allow your information to be used, please speak to your GP.

Patient info leaflet

Shared Care Record – Partner Organisations

Shared Care Record – Privacy Policy

New Shared Care Record delivering better, safer care for all our patients

We wanted to let you know that we are finally connecting our systems to offer joined-up health and care records, which will enable better, safer care and treatment for all our patients.

As a GP, it is difficult to provide joined-up care with so many separate systems for handling patient information. These were not connected, meaning that you often had to repeat your story each time you received care at a different organisation, or with a different health professional. The Shared Care Record means up-to-date records will be immediately available to professionals caring for you as a patient, when you need direct care.

It will mean, for instance, a doctor in a hospital, or a paramedic who attends a 999 call will be able to confidentially access the same crucial information that we can at the Practice, such as details of any allergies and current medications, bringing potentially life-saving benefits.

Robust security measures are in place to protect your health information and all staff must follow the law on keeping your information confidential.

The Shared Care Record is not the same as the General Practice Data for Planning and Research Directions (GPDPR), which is a national NHS Digital initiative to use GP practice data for research and planning purposes.

The Shared Care Record is a local initiative to share information with organisations directly involved in your care to ensure that you receive prompt and appropriate treatment when you need it.

For more information, please visit: https://herefordshireandworcestershireccg.nhs.uk/health-services/shared-care-record

What is the Shared Care Record?

The Shared Care Record is a way of bringing together all your separate records from the different organisations involved in your health and care. It’s confidential and different to anything you might have heard of before.

It will let health and care professionals see relevant information about the care and treatment you’ve had across all services.

We know you only want to tell your story once when receiving care from any health or social care organisation across Herefordshire and Worcestershire. That’s why we’ve developed the Shared Care Record.

A new series of videos raising awareness of the Shared Care Record are available for our patients.

The videos feature recordings from clinicians and social work professionals, and explain the benefits of joined-up health and care records.

The Videos, entitled: ‘An introduction to the Shared Care Record’, ‘Why the Shared Care Record matters’, and ‘The Shared Care Record and your Care’ can all be found by following the link;

Herefordshire and Worcestershire ccg – Shared Care Record

There is also an additional video on: ‘Your right to object to the Shared Care Record’, which explains to our patients the consequences of opting out of data sharing. You have the right to object at any time. We don’t recommend this, as information that could be vital when you need health or social care support – for instance, during a visit to a hospital Emergency Department – might not be immediately to hand as a result. To view this video follow the link;

Herefordshire and Worcestershire ccg – Right to Object

• • What Constitutes a Health Record?

    A health record could include, and not exhaustively, hand-written clinical notes, letters between clinicians, lab reports, radiographs and imaging, videos, tape-recordings, photographs and monitoring printouts. Records can be held in both manual or computerised medias.

    Patient Access to Medical Records Policy

    The Data Protection Act 1998

    This scope of this Act includes the right of patients to request information on their own medical records. Requests for information under this Act must:

    Be in writing to the data controller (Kathryn Bush, Site Manager is the data controller) at Stourport Medical Centre. (E-mail requests are allowed. Verbal requests can be accepted where the individual is unable to put the request in writing – this must be noted on the patient record);

    • Be accompanied with sufficient proof of identity to satisfy the data controller and to enable them to locate the correct information (where requests are made on behalf of another, the data controller must satisfy themselves that correct and adequate consent has been given);
    • Be accompanied with the correct fee where applicable (see below for guidance on fees);

    The data controller should check whether all the individual’s health record information is required or just certain aspects.

    Where an information request has been previously fulfilled, the data controller does not have to honour the same request again unless a reasonable time-period has elapsed. It is up to the data controller to ascertain what constitutes as reasonable.

    Requests for health records information should be recorded internally and fulfilled within 21 days (unless under exceptional circumstances – the applicant must be informed where a longer period is required). Information given should be in a manner that is intelligible to the individual.

    Which clinician should be consulted for information?

    The correct clinician to be consulted about an individual’s information should be:

    • The clinician who is currently, or was most recently, responsible for the clinical care of the individual in connection with the information which is the subject of the request; or
    • where there is more than one such clinician, the one who is the most suitable to advise on the information which is the subject of the request.

    Denial or Limitation of Information

    The data controller may deny or limit the scope of information given where it may fall under any of the following:

    • The information released may cause serious harm to the physical or mental health or condition of the individual or any other person, or
    • The disclosure would also reveal information relating to or provided by a third person who has not consented to that disclosure unless:
    • The third party is a clinician who has compiled or contributed to the health records or who has been involved in the care of the individual;
    • The third party, who is not a clinician, gives their consent to the disclosure of that information;
    • It is reasonable to disclose the information without that third party’s consent.

    A reason for denial of information does not have to be given to the individual, but must be recorded.

    Former NHS Patients Living Outside the UK

    Patients no longer resident in the UK still have the same rights to access their information as those who still reside here, and must make their request for information in the same manner.

    Original health records should not be given to an individual to take abroad with them, however, the practice may be prepared to provide a summary of the treatment given whilst resident in the UK.

    Parental Requests for Information pertaining to their Children

    Parents will normally have responsibility for accessing the health records of their children, however, care must be taken to obtain consent of the child where necessary (16 and 17 year olds are seen as adults in relation to confidentiality, and their consent would be necessary). It is important to be aware that children under 16 who have capacity and understanding for decision-making should also have their confidence respected, however, they should be encouraged to involve parents and guardians in their healthcare matters.

 

We are an approved University of Birmingham Medical Training site for final year students.

At times you may be offered an appointment with a final year medical student. These consultations are carried out initially by the student alone and will be reviewed by the supervising doctor from the practice. They provide invaluable experience for the fifth year university students and feedback from patients who have seen students has always been very positive. You may also be asked if you would be willing for the consultation to be videoed, the video is used only for training purposes and is not seen by anyone other than the student and the supervising doctor. Any recordings made will not be kept but erased once used for student training purposes.

All your information remains confidential as it would if you were seeing a doctor from the practice in the usual way.

Your consent to be seen by a student or to have the consultation with a student videoed is always requested before the consultation and you will be asked to sign a consent form on arrival at the practice. This is in keeping with the rules set for obtaining consent for any patients to be seen by student doctors as requested by The General Medical Council.

Patient Charter

Patient’s Rights to General Medical Services

To be offered a health check on joining a doctor’s list for the first time.

To have appropriate drugs and medicine prescribed.

To be referred to a Consultant acceptable to them when they and their GP thinks it is necessary, and to be referred for a second opinion if they and their GP think it is advisable.

To have access to their health records, subject to any limitations of the law, and to know that those working for the NHS are under a legal duty to keep those records confidential.

To choose whether to take part in research or medical student training.

To receive a copy of their doctors practice leaflet, setting out the services that he or she provides.

To receive a full and prompt reply to any complaints they make about the care they receive at Stourport Medical Centre.

Stourport Medical Centre Philosophy

Our aims are to offer the highest standard of health care and advice to our patients, with the resources available to us.

We have a team approach to patient care and endeavour to monitor the service provided to patients, to ensure that it meets current standards of excellence.

We are dedicated to ensuring that practice staff and doctors are trained to the highest level and to provide a stimulating and rewarding environment in which to work.

Our Practice Charter

You will be treated with courtesy and respect by all practice personnel.

An urgent appointment with a doctor or nurse Practitioner will be available on the same day.

A non-urgent appointment with a doctor will be offered within 48 hours

Our standard is to see 80% of patients within 20 minutes of their appointment time. If you have waited longer than this please ask the receptionist for an explanation.

We aim to answer the telephone within six rings.

An appointment with a practice nurse will be available within three working days.

Requests for repeat prescriptions will be dealt with within 48 hours. This can be in person or by telephoning 01299 827171 between 9am-12noon and 2.00pm-4pm.

All comments and suggestions about the service are welcome. Please use the box provided in the waiting area.

If you have a complaint please speak to any member of staff. Your complaint will be dealt with in a professional and efficient manner.

We wish to make the Stourport Medical Centre as accessible as possible. If you have hearing, visual or physical difficulties please let the receptionist know so that we can enable you to fully use our services.

Patient’s Responsibilities

If you are unable to attend for an appointment please let us know so that we can offer it to someone else.

If you are late for your appointment you may be asked to rebook at another time. Try to let us know in advance if you are going to be unavoidably delayed, so that we can make alternative arrangements to help you.

A home visit should only be requested for those who are unable to come to the surgery because of serious illness or infirmity. Please ring the surgery before 10am if at all possible.

An urgent appointment is for an urgent medical problem. Please speak to the receptionist if you require a sick note or repeat prescription.

We would ask you to be patient if the doctor is running late. This is often due to unforeseeable emergencies but please ask for an explanation from the receptionist.

Make a separate appointment for each patient that needs to be seen. This allows the doctor enough time to treat each patient with the time that they deserve.

Please act in a responsible and courteous manner whilst on the practice premises for the safety and comfort of others.

Please treat all surgery staff, fellow patients, carers and visitors politely and with respect. Violence or verbal harassment will not be tolerated or accepted, you may be asked to register at another surgery if this behaviour occurs.

How You Can Help Us To Help You

Please read our practice booklet. This will help you to get the best out of the services we offer.

Any comments or suggestions you wish to pass on to us may be either given to a member of staff or ‘posted’ into the box in the entrance lobby of the surgery.

We ask that you treat the doctors and staff with the respect and politeness you would expect to receive from them.

Valuable staff time is often spent in ‘tracking down’ patients who have failed to let us know that they have changed their name or address. Please inform us of any such change as soon as possible.

Please do not call before the suggested time.

If you are unhappy with our service, complaints can be made either to any member of your health care team or, if preferred, to the practice manager in writing. Remember that aggressive or abusive behaviour is not helpful and in extreme circumstances an offending patient will be reported to the police and may be removed from the list.

Violence And Abuse

This is a zero tolerance practice and any incidence of abusive or violent behaviour will lead to the person involved being removed from the practice list and advised to seek another practic

 

 

We make every effort to give the best service possible to everyone who attends our practice and take any complaint seriously.

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.

You can contact the Site Manager, Donna Davies by letter, by email hwicb.smc@nhs.net or telephone on 01299 827171 and she will do all she can to try and resolve any issue.

Further written information is available on the complaints procedure from reception. We are continually striving to improve our service. Any helpful suggestions would be much appreciated.

Complaints and Comments

There is a new Central NHS Computer System called the Summary Care Record (SCR). The Summary Care Record is meant to help emergency doctors and nurses help you when you contact them when the surgery is closed. Initially, it will contain just your medications and allergies.

Later on as the central NHS computer system develops, (known as the ‘Summary Care Record’ – SCR), other staff who work in the NHS will be able to access it along with information from hospitals, out of hours services, and specialists letters that may be added as well.

Your information will be extracted from practices such as ours and held on central NHS databases.

As with all new systems there are pros and cons to think about. When you speak to an emergency doctor you might overlook something that is important and if they have access to your medical record it might avoid mistakes or problems, although even then, you should be asked to give your consent each time a member of NHS Staff wishes to access your record, unless you are medically unable to do so.

On the other hand, you may have strong views about sharing your personal information and wish to keep your information at the level of this practice. Connecting for Health (CfH), the government agency responsible for the Summary Care Record have agreed with doctors’ leaders that new patients registering with this practice should be able to decide whether or not their information is uploaded to the Central NHS Computer System.

For existing patients it is different in that it is assumed that you want your record uploaded to the Central NHS Computer System unless you actively opt out.

Your Health Record

Your Information and Confidentiality

Everyone working for the NHS has a legal duty to keep information about you confidential.

We have a duty to:

• Maintain full and accurate records of the care we provide to you
• Keep records about you confidential and secure
• Provide information in a format that is accessible to you (e.g. large type if you are partially sighted)

We will not share information that identifies you for any reason unless:

• You ask us to do so
• We ask and you give us specific permission
• We have to do this by law
• We have special permission for health or research purposes, or
• We have special permission because the interests of the public are thought to be of greater importance than your confidentiality—for example, if you had a serious medical condition that may put others you had come into contact with at risk
• We hold your records in STRICT CONFIDENCE

Confidentiality & Medical Records

Your Information and Confidentiality

Everyone working for the NHS has a legal duty to keep information about you confidential.

 We have a duty to

Maintain full and accurate records of the care we provide to you

Keep records about you confidential and secure

Provide information in a format that is accessible to you (e.g. large type if you are partially sighted)

 

We will not share information that identifies you for any reason unless:

• You ask us to do so
• We ask and you give us specific permission
• We have to do this by law
• We have special permission for health or research purposes, or
• We have special permission because the interests of the public are thought to be of greater importance than your confidentiality—for example, if you had a serious medical condition that may put others you had come into contact with at risk

We hold your records in  STRICT CONFIDENCE

WFHP Patient Privacy Notice

WFHP COVID-19 PRIVACY NOTICE – to be updated 

 

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Below are 2 leaflets that explains how NHS England and our surgery are sharing your medical information to enable to offer the best possible care:

Patient Leaflet about Care Data

About Your Medical Centre

 

Who are our partner organisations?

We may share information with the following main partner organisations:

Strategic Health Authorities (SHA’s)

NHS Trusts (Hospital’s, PCT’s)

Special Health Authorities

Ambulance Service

You may be receiving care from other organisations as well as the NHS (for example Social Services), we may need to share some information about you so we can all work together for your benefit. We only ever use or pass on your information if others involved have a genuine need for it. We will not disclose your information to third parties without your permission unless there are exceptional circumstances, such as when the health or safety of others is at risk or where the law requires information to be passed on.  We may share yourinformation, with your consent and subject to strict sharing protocols on howit will be used, with:

SocialServices

EducationServices

LocalAuthorities

VoluntarySector Providers

PrivateSector

Anyone who receives information from us also has a legal duty to: KEEP IT CONFIDENTIAL!

We are required by law to report some information to the appropriate authorities. For example:

· Infectious diseases which may endanger the safety of others, such as meningitis or measles (but not HIV/AIDS)

· Where a formal court order has been issued

Our guiding principle is that we hold your records in the strictest of confidence.

 

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Why we collect information about you:

In the National Health Service we aim to provide you with the highest quality of health care. To do this we must keep records about you, your health and the care we have provided or plan to provide to you.

 

These records may include:

• Basic details about you such as address, date of birth, next of kin
• Contact we have had with you such as clinical visits
• Notes and reports about your health
• Details and records about your treatment and care
• Results of x-rays, laboratory tests, etc.
• Relevant information from people who care for you and know you well such as healthprofessionals and relatives

 

It is good practice for people in the NHS who provide care to:

Discuss and agree with you what they are going to record about you

Give you a copy of letters they are writing about you, and

Show you what they have recorded about you, if you ask

 

How your records are used

•  The people who care for you use your records to:
• Provide a good basis for all health decisions made in consultation with you and otherhealth care professionals
• Deliver appropriate health care
• Make sure your health care is safe and effective, and
• Work effectively with others providing you with health care

Others may also need to use records about you to:

• Check the quality of  health care (such asclinical audit)
• Protect the health of the general public
• Keep track of NHS spending
• Manage the health service
• Help investigate any concerns or complaints you or your family have about yourhealth care
• Teach health workers and
• Help with research

Some information will be held centrally to beused for statistical purposes. In these instances we take strict measures to ensure that individual patients cannot be identified

We use anonymous information, wherever possible, but on occasions we may use personal identifiable information for essential NHS purposes such as research and auditing.

However, this information will only be used with your consent, unless the law requires usto pass on the information

 

You have the right

You have the right to confidentiality under the Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA), the Human Rights Act 1998 and the common law duty of confidence (the Disability Discrimination and the Race Relations Acts may also apply)

 

You also have the right to ask for a copy of all records about you (a fee may be charged) see Access to Medical Records

• Your request must be made in writing to the organisation holding your information
• There may be a charge to have a printed copy of the information held about you
• We are required to respond to you within 40 working days
• You will need to give adequate information (for example full name, address, date of birth, NHS number etc.)
• You will be required to provide ID before any information is released to you

If you think anything is inaccurate or incorrect, please inform the surgery or organisation such as the hospital holding your information

Notification

The Data Protection Act 1998 requires organisations to notify the Information Commissioner of the purposes for which they process personal information

 

All GP practices are required to declare the mean earnings (i.e. average pay) for GPs working to deliver NHS services to patients at each practice.  The average pay for GPs working in Wyre Forest Health Partnership in the last financial year was £63,880 before tax and National Insurance.  This is for 19 full time GPs, 35 part time GPs and 0 locum GPs who worked in the practice for longer than six months.