Practice Policies & Patient Information
Accessing someone else’s information
Accessing someone else’s information
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.
Compliments and Complaints
Redhouse Medical Centre is always looking for ways to improve the services it offers to patients. To do this effectively, the practice needs to know what you think about the services you receive. Tell us what we do best, where we don’t meet your expectations plus any ideas and suggestions you may have. Only by listening to you can the practice continue to build and improve the service it offers.
We aim to give a friendly and professional service to all our patients. However, if you have any concerns or complaints about any aspect of the services we provide, please let us know. Compliments and complaints should be directed to the Practice Manager.
How to complain?
In the first instance please discuss your complaint with the staff member concerned. Where issue cannot be resolved at this stage, please contact Faye Baker, Practice Manager, via email [email protected] or via letter, who will try to resolve the issue and offer you further advice on the complaint’s procedure. If your problem cannot be resolved at this stage and you wish to make a formal complaint, please let us know as soon as possible, ideally within a matter of days. This will enable the practice to get a clear picture of the circumstances surrounding the complaint.
If it is not possible to raise your complaint immediately, please let us have details of your complaint within the following timescales:
- Within 12 months of the incident that caused the problem
OR
- Within 12 months from when the complaint comes to your notice
The practice will acknowledge your complaint within three working days.
When the practice looks into your complaint it aims to:
- ascertain the full circumstances of the complaint
- make arrangements for you to discuss the problem with those concerned, if you would like this
- make sure you receive an apology, where this is appropriate
- identify what the practice can do to make sure the problem does not happen again
COMPLAINING ON BEHALF OF SOMEONE ELSE
Please note that Redhouse Medical Centre keeps strictly to the rules of medical confidentiality. If you are complaining on behalf of someone else, the practice needs to know that you have their permission to do so. We can provide a form for this purpose, but a note signed by the person concerned will suffice, unless they are incapable of providing this due to illness or disability.
COMPLAINING TO OTHER AUTHORITIES
The practice management team hope that if you have a problem you will use the Practice Complaints Procedure.
However, if you feel you cannot raise your complaint with us, you can contact any of the following bodies:
PATIENT ADVICE & LIAISON SERVICE (PALS)
Gatelodge
Hopewood Park
Ryhope
Sunderland
SR2 0NB
Tel: 0800 328 4397
E-mail: [email protected]
PRIMARY CARE COMPLAINTS
NHS England
PO Box 16738
Redditch
B97 9PT
Tel: 0300 311 2233
E-mail: [email protected]
In the majority of cases, concerns can be resolved quite easily, However if you are not satisfied with the outcome of any complaint you can contact the Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) who will be able to offer you help and advice. PALS are based at Gatelodge, Hopewood Park, Ryhope, Sunderland SR2 0NB. Their telephone number is 0800 328 4397.
Should a patient make a complaint, the practice may need to provide information about the patient and the treatment they have received to their insurers or legal advisors.
Data Protection (GDPR)
Why do we need your information?
The NHS Act 2006 and Health and Social Care Act 2012 invests
statutory functions on GP Practices to promote and provide the
health service to improve quality of services, reduce inequalities,
conduct research, review performance of services and deliver
education & training. To do this we will need to process your
information in accordance with current data protection
legislation to:
• Protect your vital interests
• Pursue our legitimate interests as a provider of medical care, particularly where the
individual is a child or vulnerable adult
• Performs tasks in the public’s interests
• Deliver preventative medicine, medical diagnosis, medical research; and
manage the health and social system and services
Should you require any further information on GDPR or Data Protection Act, this can be found on the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) website: https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/guide-to-thegeneral-data-protection-regulation-gdpr/
You can also contact the Practice Data Protection Officer.
When contacting the Data Protection Officer please ensure that you include the details of the Practice.
Data Protection Officer: Mr James Carroll
Tel No: 0191 404 1000 Ext 3436
Email address: [email protected]
Please click the following links for details:
Practice privacy notice Redhouse Medical Centre – England 1.3
GP Earning
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 the 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.
The average pay for GP’s working in REDHOUSE MEDICAL CENTRE in the last financial year was £120,000 before tax and National Insurance. This is for 2 full time GP’s who worked in the practice for more than 6 months.
GP Published Earnings
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 the 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.
The average pay for GP’s working in REDHOUSE MEDICAL CENTRE in the last financial year was £79718.00 before tax and National Insurance. This is for 3 full time GP’s, 0 part time GP’s and 0 locum GP who worked in the practice for more than 6 months.
2020/2021
Patient Confidentiality
We respect your right to privacy and keep all your health information confidential and secure. It is important that the NHS keeps accurate and up-to-date records about your health and treatment so that those treating you can give you the best possible advice and care. This information may be used for management and audit purposes. However, it is usually only available to, and used by, those involved in your care. You have the right to know what information we hold about you. If you would like to see your records, please inform a member of staff who can arrange this with the practice manager.
Summary Care Record
Summary Care Records (SCR) are an electronic record of important patient information, created from GP medical records.
This will enable health and care professionals to have better medical information about you when they are treating you at the point of care. This change will apply for the duration of the coronavirus pandemic only. Unless alternative arrangements have been put in place before the end of the emergency period, this change will be reversed.
All patients registered with a GP have a Summary Care Record, unless they have chosen not to have one. The information held in your Summary Care Record gives health and care professionals, away from your usual GP practice, access to information to provide you with safer care, reduce the risk of prescribing errors and improve your patient experience.
Your Summary Care Record contains basic information about allergies and medications and any reactions that you have had to medication in the past.
Some patients, including many with long term health conditions, have previously agreed to have Additional Information shared as part of their Summary Care Record. This additional information includes information about significant medical history (past and present), reasons for medications, care plan information and immunisations.
During the coronavirus pandemic period, your Summary Care Record will automatically have Additional Information included from your GP record unless you have previously told the NHS that you did not want this information to be shared.
There will also be a temporary change to include COVID-19 specific codes in relation to suspected, confirmed, Shielded Patient List and other COVID-19 related information within the Additional Information.
By including this additional Information in your SCR, health and care staff can give you better care if you need health care away from your usual GP practice:
- in an emergency
- when you’re on holiday
- when your surgery is closed
- at out-patient clinics
- when you visit a pharmacy
Additional Information is included on your SCR
In response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic we are temporarily removing the requirement to have explicit consent to share the SCR Additional Information. This change of requirement will be reviewed when the pandemic is over.
You can be reassured that if you have previously opted-out of having a Summary Care Record or have expressly declined to share the Additional Information in your Summary Care Record, your preference will continue to be respected and applied.
Additional Information will include extra information from your GP record, including:
- health problems like dementia or diabetes
- details of your carer
- your treatment preferences
- communication needs, for example if you have hearing difficulties or need an interpreter
This will help medical staff care for you properly, and respect your choices, when you need care away from your GP practice. This is because having more information on your SCR means they will have a better understanding of your needs and preferences.
When you are treated away from your usual doctor’s surgery, the health care staff there can’t see your GP medical records. Looking at your SCR can speed up your care and make sure you are given the right medicines and treatment.
The only people who might see your Summary Care Record are registered and regulated healthcare professionals, for example doctors, nurses, paramedics, pharmacists and staff working under their direct supervision. Your Summary Care record will only be accessed so a healthcare professional can give you individual care. Staff working for organisations that do not provide direct care are not able to view your Summary Care Record.
Before accessing a Summary Care Record healthcare staff will always ask your permission to view it, unless it is a medical emergency and you are unable to give permission.
Protecting your SCR information
Staff will ask your permission to view your SCR (except in an emergency where you are unconscious, for example) and only staff with the right levels of security clearance can access the system, so your information is secure. You can ask an organisation to show you a record of who has looked at your SCR – this is called a Subject Access Request.
Opting out
The purpose of SCR is to improve the care that you receive, however, if you don’t want to have an SCR you have the option to opt out. If this is your preference please inform your GP or fill in an SCR patient consent preferences form and return it to your GP practice, alternatively complete our online OPT-OUT form here:
https://www.redhousemedicalcentre.nhs.uk/summary-care-record-opt-out/
Regardless of your past decisions about your Summary Care Record consent preferences, you can change your mind at any time. You can choose any of the following options:
- To have a Summary Care Record with Additional Information shared. This means that any authorised, registered and regulated health and care professionals will be able to see a enriched Summary Care Record if they need to provide you with direct care.
- To have a Summary Care Record with core information only. This means that any authorised, registered and regulated health and care professionals will be able to see information about allergies and medications only in your Summary Care Record if they need to provide you with direct care.
- To opt-out of having a Summary Care Record altogether. This means that you do not want any information shared with other authorised, registered and regulated health and care professionals involved in your direct care, including in an emergency.
To make these changes, you should inform your GP practice or complete the SCR patient consent preferences form and return it to your GP practice.
More information on your health records
More about SCR
Summary Care Records (SCR) are an electronic record of important patient information, created from GP medical records. They can be seen and used by authorised staff in other areas of the health and care system involved in the patient’s direct care.
With this in mind, the following settings and use cases are not in scope for SCR viewing and will not be approved for rollout for:
- research purposes, including clinical trials
- police and other government departments
- non-clinical cosmetics
The PRINCIPLE and PANORAMIC trials
Two exceptions have been agreed for accessing the SCR to ensure timely prescribing and safe patient care by clinical staff working within the PRINCIPLE and PANORAMIC. These are both urgent public health COVID-19 clinical trials.
The PRINCIPLE and PANORAMIC trials seek to identify treatments that, if used early in the course of a coronavirus (COVID-19) infection, will reduce the duration of symptoms, prevent the need to admit people to hospital and reduce deaths.
SCR access has been assessed as essential to ensure individuals are safely brought onto the trial within the very restrictive timeframe of five days since symptom onset. This access enables vital safety checks to be undertaken with the permission of the participants.
Access is sought only for those people who have been screened as eligible to be part of the trial, and who have already signed informed consent for participation.
An urgent patient and public health need for access to specific information contained within the SCR has therefore been demonstrated.