Zero Tolerance

The Practice takes it very seriously if a member of staff, a doctor, a nurse or patient is treated in an abusive or violent way.

The Practice supports the government’s ‘Zero Tolerance’ campaign for Health Service Staff. This states that GPs and their staff have a right to care for others without fear of being attacked or abused. To successfully provide these services a mutual respect between all the staff and patients has to be in place. All our staff aim to be polite, helpful, and sensitive to all patients’ individual needs and circumstances. They would respectfully remind patients that very often staff could be confronted with a multitude of varying and sometimes difficult tasks and situations, all at the same time. The staff understand that ill patients do not always act in a reasonable manner and will take this into consideration when trying to deal with a misunderstanding or complaint.

However, at no time will any violent, threatening or abusive behaviour be tolerated towards staff, patients or other visitors to the practice and may result in you being removed from the Practice list and, in extreme cases, the Police being contacted.

In order for the practice to maintain good relations with their patients the practice would like to ask all its patients to read and take note of the occasional types of behaviour that would be found unacceptable:

· Using bad language or swearing at practice staff

· Any physical violence towards any member of the Primary Health Care Team or other patients, such as pushing or shoving

· Verbal abuse towards the staff or patients in any form including verbally insulting the staff.

· Sexism, racism, homophobia, biphobia, transphobia, ageism or harassment or abuse on basis of disability, marriage or civil partnership, pregnancy or maternity, religion or belief will not be tolerated within this practice

· Persistent or unrealistic demands that cause stress to staff will not be accepted. Requests will be met wherever possible and explanations given when they cannot

· Causing damage/stealing from the Practice’s premises, staff or patients

· Obtaining drugs and/or medical services fraudulently

We ask you to treat your GPs and their staff and other patients courteously at all times

Text message reminders – Helping you to stay on top of your care

New rules related to data protection were introduced in May 2018. Known as GDPR, these rules allow us to text you about your care, so you may receive appointment and healthcare reminders by text if you have provided us with your mobile phone number.

We can also recommend treatment for the management of a specific health issue, but we are not allowed to text you for marketing purposes.

Please contact your practice directly if you would like to opt-out of the text messaging reminder service.

The Summary Care Record – What it is and why it matters

The NHS uses a computer system called the Summary Care Record (SCR), which supports emergency doctors and nurses in helping you outside of surgery hours.

Currently, the system holds information on your medications and allergies. In the future, more NHS staff will be able to access it, and hospitals, out of hour services, and specialists’ letters may also be added.

During an emergency, it’s easy to forget to mention something that’s important. In this instance the Summary Care Record can help medical professionals avoid making a mistake or encountering a problem. However you’ll always be asked whether it’s OK for us to see your records, unless you’re medically unable to do so.

If you have strong views about sharing your personal information and wish to keep your information at only our practice, you can.

You can opt out by completing this form: SCRConsentFormApr20_1.2.odt (live.com)

How We Handle Missed Appointments

Each month our practices waste precious resources on hundreds of missed appointments. These have a very real impact on both our practice and our patients:
  • Patients must wait longer for appointments
  • Both staff and patients are frustrated
  • Resources are wasted

Our ‘Did Not Attend’ Policy aims to reduce the impact of missed appointments.

After two missed appointments – one after the other – where we weren’t informed, we’ll contact you by letter to ask whether there are any problems that stand in the way of you easily accessing the surgery. If there’s anything we can do to help, please let us know. The letter will also advise you that any further missed appointments may mean that you’re removed from our patient list. This letter (known as a warning letter), will be valid for 12 months.

If you miss another appointment within 12 months – our team will discuss the next step. If most of our team agrees, you’ll be removed from our practice as a patient. If this happens, we’ll send you a letter to inform you of the outcome. This will ask you to find an alternative GP practice.

Freedom of Information Requests

We will make information available which is covered under the Freedom of Information Act (FOI) when asked to do so.

For any FOI requests, please contact your practice manager.

More information can be found here.

Encouraging Equality & Diversity, Eliminating Discrimination

Every day we work to eliminate discrimination and encourage diversity – among our workforce and for our patients and service users.

We will never discriminate based on gender, marital status, race, ethnic origin, colour, nationality, national origin, disability, sexual orientation, religion or age.

How We Look After Your Confidentiality & Medical Records

Our practices look after your data in line with data protection and medical records laws. We only share your data when…
  • We need to provide you with further medical treatment – for example, sharing information between your district nurse and the hospital you’ll be treated at.
  • To help you access other services – for example, to social workers (we’ll always ask your consent first).
  • We have a duty to others – for example, in child protection cases we may provide anonymous patient information that could help with government planning (if you’d prefer that anonymous information about you is not used in this way, just let us know).
  • For day-to-day operations – for example, our reception and administrative staff require access to your medical records so they can do their jobs. Rest assured – our entire team work to the same rules of confidentiality as our medical staff.

Your Right to Access to Records

You can request to see your medical records whenever you wish. Contact your practice manager for more information. There may be a small administrative charge, however the practice manager will advise you on this.

Your rights to your records are defined in the General Data Protection Regulations 2018 and Access to Health Records Act.

Worth knowing: We’ll never release any of your medical information without your consent unless we’re legally obliged to do so.

GP Earnings

All GP practices are required to declare the mean earnings for GPs working to deliver NHS services to patients at each practice.

The average pay for GPs working in Park Lane Surgery in the last financial year was £69,104 before tax and National Insurance. This is for 1 full time GP and 8 part time GPs who worked in the practice.