Practice Policies & Patient Information
Care Data and Sharing Information
Information about you and the care you receive is shared, in a secure system, by healthcare staff to support your treatment and care.
It is important that we, the NHS, can use this information to plan and improve services for all patients. We would like to link information from all the different places where you receive care, such as your GP, hospital and community service, to help us provide a full picture. This will allow us to compare the care you received in one area against the care you received in another, so we can see what has worked best.
Information such as your postcode and NHS number, but not your name, will be used to link your records in a secure system, so your identity is protected. Information which does not reveal your identity can then be used by others, such as researchers and those planning health services, to make sure we provide the best care possible for everyone.
You have a choice. If you are happy for your information to be used in this way you do not have to do anything. If you have any concerns or wish to prevent this from happening, please speak to practice staff or download the opt out form below, complete it and return it to the practice
We need to make sure that you know this is happening and the choices you have.
- How information about you helps us to provide better care
- Care Data – Frequently Asked Questions
- Opt-Out Form – Download, complete and return to the practice
- Information Sharing
- Communication to Patients about the implementation of type 2 patient objections
You can find out more on the NHS England Care Data website.
Complaints
How to complain
Patient Complaint Process Notice
COMPLAINTS PROCEDURE
If you have a complaint or concern about the service you have received from the doctors or any of the personnel working in this practice, please let us know. We operate a practice complaint procedure as part of an NHS complaints system, which meets national criteria.
HOW TO COMPLAIN
We hope that we can sort most problems out easily and quickly, often at the time they arise and with the person concerned. If you wish to make a formal complaint, please do so AS SOON AS POSSIBLE – ideally within a matter of a few days. This will enable us to establish what happened more easily. If doing that is not possible your complaint should be submitted within 12 months of the incident that caused the problem; or within 12 months of discovering that you have a problem. You should address your complaint in writing to the Practice Manager (ask at reception for a form) or by email to [email protected] FAO The Practice Manager will make sure that we deal with your concerns promptly and in the correct way. You should be as specific and concise as possible.
Patients, carers or relatives that do make a complaint will not be discriminated against in anyway, nor will they be treated adversely as a result of having complained.
COMPLAINING ON BEHALF OF SOMEONE ELSE
We keep strictly to the rules of medical confidentiality (a separate leaflet giving more detail on confidentiality is available on request). If you are not the patient, but are complaining on their behalf, you must have their permission to do so. An authority signed by the person concerned will be needed, unless they are incapable (because of illness or infirmity) of providing this. A Third Party Consent Form is available at reception.
WHAT WE WILL DO
We will acknowledge your complaint within 3 working days and aim to have fully investigated within 10 working days of the date it was received. If we expect it to take longer we will explain the reason for the delay and tell you when we expect to finish. When we look into your complaint, we will investigate the circumstances; make it possible for you to discuss the problem with those concerned; make sure you receive an apology if this is appropriate, and take steps to make sure any problem does not arise again.
You will receive a final letter setting out the result of any practice investigations.
TAKING IT FURTHER
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 practices. But this does not affect your right to approach NHS England directly, if you feel you cannot raise your complaint with us.
By post
NHS England
Customer Contact Centre
PO Box 16738
Redditch
B97 9PT
By email
By telephone
0300 311 22 33
OR
How do I complain to someone Independent?
Is there a time limit?
Other useful contacts
There is also the NHS Complaints Advocacy Service. This service is an independent service offering support and guidance to patients who wish to raise a concern or complaint about the service or care a person has received. The Advocacy Service will assist you in making a complaint if you feel unable to make a complaint directly to the practice or NHS England.
The service is free, independent and confidential and all advocates work within the NHS complaints regulations.
If you would like the support of the NHS Advocacy Service, their contact details are:
Telephone
0300 456 2364
Send the word “pohwer” with your name and contact number to 81025
Website: [email protected]
pohwer.advocacy (8am to 6pm Monday to Friday)
POhWER
PO Box 14043
Birmingham
B6 9BL
The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman
If you remain dissatisfied with the response to your complaint, you have the right to ask the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) to review your case. This should be done within 12 months of receipt of your final response letter. The PHSO is an independent body and is not part of the NHS or Government, although their powers are set down in law. They will only investigate a complaint after the NHS service provider has had a chance to try and sort it out.
By post
Millbank Tower
Millbank
London
SW1P 4QP
By email
Telephone
0345 015 4033
The practice Complaints Manager is Julie Thurlby (Practice Manager)
Reviewed October 2018 by Practice Manager
Next review: October 2020 or sooner
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 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 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 the patient consent unless we are legally obliged to do so.
Data Protection
General Data Protection Regulations – Privacy Notice for Patients
Privacy notice lets you know what happens to any personal data that you give to us, or any information that we may collect from you or about you from other organisations.
Further information can be viewed here, or you can ask on reception for a copy of the below Data Protection Privacy Notice
GP Earnings
HMC (Kimberley) Limited
Publication of Earnings 31.3.19
All GP practices are required to declare the mean (average) earnings for GPs working to delivery NHS services to patients at each practice.
The average pay for GPs working in HMC (Kimberley) Limited in the last financial year was £76,517.36 before tax and National Insurance. This is for one full time and one part time GP and two part time locum GPs who worked in the practice for more than 6 months.
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 form any judgement about GP earnings, nor to make any comparison with any other practice.
Patients know best (PKB)
Hama Medical Centre shared your demographic data (including name, age, gender, date of birth, NHS number and address) with Patients Know Best (PKB) so PKB could create a dormant patient account for each person registered at this practice. The data in these accounts will not be accessed or processed unless you choose to activate your PKB account. Activating the account will create a patient held record which you can choose to share with health and care teams. This data sharing was done through article 6 (1)(e) and 9(2)(h) of UK GPDR 2018.
PKB are registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), which regulates data protection in the UK, and their registration number is Z2704931. PKB cannot see your demographic data or any health information in your PKB account, including your patient held record. Your information is kept encrypted on secure servers and can only be seen by yourself, health care teams chosen by you or those with a lawful basis.
PKB will retain your data for 8 years after either the date your dormant account was created or the date you last accessed your activated account; whichever date is more recent. You can email [email protected] if you wish your PKB information to be deleted before that point, this does not mean that your GP record held by Hama Medical Centre will be deleted.
Summary Care Record
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 or the HSCIC Website
Download the opt out form
Violence Policy
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. In this situation we will notify the patient in writing of their removal from the list and record in the patient’s medical records the fact of the removal and the circumstances leading to it.