Practice Policies & Patient Information
Access to Patient Information
The information you provide will be seen only by those who have a business need within the practice to do so. Their access to this is controlled by our confidentiality policy.
We may have to give some information about you to those involved in your treatment or care but this will be done confidentially and under quidelines of the Data Protection Act 198.
Confidentiality
We employ a range of highly qualified administration staff whose aim is to help and advise you.
To enable the staff to suggest the right person for advice or offer the most suitable appointment, you may be asked to answer a few questions. Please be assured that the rules of confidentiality apply to all practice staff.
GP Net Earnings
NHS England require that the net earnings of doctors engaged in the practice is publicised and that 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 doctors working in the practice and should not be used for any judgement about GP earnings, nor to make comparisons with other practices.
The average pay for GPs working in Handsworth Medical Practice in the last financial year was £123,141 before tax and National Insurance.
This is for 3 full time GPs, 4 part time GPs and 2 locum GPs who worked in the practice for more than six months.
The figures have been calculated in accordance with guidance issued by NHS England as part of the GMS contract, and there have been no changes to this since last year. As we have previously highlighted, the guidance is far from comprehensive, such that it has been necessary to make a number of assumptions to arrive at the average pay. These assumptions are however consistent with those used in previous years.
Site Privacy Statement
We are committed to protecting your privacy. You can access our website without giving us any information about yourself. But sometimes we do need information to provide services that you request, and this statement of privacy explains data collection and use in those situations.
In general, you can visit our web site without telling us who you are and without revealing any information about yourself. However there may be occasions when you choose to give us personal information, for example, when you choose to contact us or request information from us. We will ask you when we need information that personally identifies you or allows us to contact you.
We collect the personal data that you may volunteer while using our services. We do not collect information about our visitors from other sources, such as public records or bodies, or private organisations. We do not collect or use personal data for any purpose other than that indicated below:
- To send you confirmation of requests that you have made to us
- To send you information when you request it.
We intend to protect the quality and integrity of your personally identifiable information and we have implemented appropriate technical and organisational measures to do so. We ensure that your personal data will not be disclosed to State institutions and authorities except if required by law or other regulation.
Our website may contain links to other websites of interest. However, once you have used these links to leave our site, you should be aware that we don’t have any control over the other website. Therefore, we cannot be responsible for the protection and privacy of any information which you provide whilst visiting these sites.
Suggestions and Complaints
Handsworth Medical Practice aims to give a friendly and professional service to all our patients. However, if you have any concerns about any aspect of our service, please let us know. Speak to whomever you feel most comfortable – your GP, our Practice Manager or our Reception Staff will be happy to help. In the majority of cases, concerns can be resolved quite easily.
If you feel that your concerns have not been addressed by speaking to a member of our team and you feel that you would like to make a written complaint. This should be addressed to Mrs. S. Sandell.
The PCT also a Patient Advice and Liaison Service ( PALS) which can often help resolve any problems before they become a formal complaint. To speak to the PALS Office ring: 0203 594 2040
Summary Care Records (SCR)
Your Summary Care Record is a short summary of your GP medical records. It tells other health and care staff who care for you about the medicines you take and your allergies.
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.
Find out how to make 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 opt-out form and return it to your GP practice.
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
Training Practice
We are a training practice committed to the NHS. We aim to provide the highest possible standard of medical care for our patients with the resources available. As a training practice we may have GP registrars and medical students as part of our team.
If a medical student is sitting in with a GP during their surgery, the reception staff will make you aware of this when you book in and ask for your consent. If you do not wish a student to be present during your appointment reception will make the GP aware of this.
Violence or abusive behaviour from patients
This practice considers aggressive behaviour to be any personal, abusive and aggressive comments, cursing and or swearing, physical contact and aggressive gestures.
No abuse of staff is acceptable whether verbal or physical. All abuse will be reported to the practice manager who will keep a log of all incidents.
All physical abuse of any of our staff by our patients is reported to the police. The patient will then be removed immediately from our list. If the police are not informed, the PCT Registration Department will inform patient of the need to register with a new doctor.