Confidentiality Policy

Under the Data Protection Act 1998, you have a right to know who holds personal information about you. This person or organisation is called the data controller. In the NHS, the data controller is usually your local NHS Trust and your GP surgery. The NHS must keep your personal health information confidential; it is your right.

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.

Chaperones Policy

The practice is committed to putting patients at ease wherever possible.

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.

CCTV Policy

We use CCTV for security of the grounds.

  • Images are held to improve the personal security of patients, staff and for the prevention and detection of crime.
  • These may be provided to the police or other bodies.
  • Images will not be retained longer than is considered necessary and will then be deleted.
  • Images may record individuals and/or incidents. Not all recordings are designed to identify persons.
  • When access is granted in response to an application, the image may be edited to exclude images of third parties who may also be included within the requested image. This may be necessary to protect the identity of the third parties. In these circumstances, the image released as part of the application may record or identify the ‘data subject’ only.
  • Images will be located by the data controller or an authorised individual.

When assessing the content of the image released the decision will be made by the data controllers having due regard to the requirements of the data protection act and code of conduct.

Registration Policy

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

Complaint Procedure

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.