Chaperone Policy
Hope Farm Medial Centre is committed to providing a safe, comfortable environment where patients and staff can be confident that Best Practice is being followed at all times and the safety of everyone is of paramount importance. Trust is important in the relationship between the healthcare professional and patient and we would, at all times, wish you to feel able to ask for a chaperone. It is the policy of Hope Farm Medical Centre to respect the privacy, dignity, cultural and religious beliefs of our patients.
There are occasions when patients need to be examined by a clinician which may involve intimate examinations. A chaperone provides a safeguard for patients during such an examination or consultation and protects against verbal, physical, sexual or other abuse for both patient and clinician. A clinician has the right to request a chaperone if they feel it necessary.
All patients are entitled to have a chaperone present for any consultation, examination or procedure where they feel one is required. A variety of people can act as a chaperone in the practice. Where possible, it is strongly recommended that chaperones should be clinical staff familiar with procedural aspects of personal examination. However, members of our Patient Services Team are fully trained Chaperones.
The chaperone will only be present for the examination itself, and discussion with the patient will take place while the chaperone is not present. Patients should be reassured that all practice staff understand their responsibility not to divulge confidential information.
Wherever possible we would ask you to make this request at the time of booking your appointment so arrangements can be made and your appointment is not delayed in any way. Where this is not possible, we will endeavour to provide a formal chaperone at the time of request. However, occasionally it may be necessary to re-schedule your appointment.
Your GP or Nurse may also require a chaperone to be present for certain consultations in accordance with our chaperone policy.
Complaints
We make every effort to give the best service possible to everyone who attends our practice and we welcome your feedback and the opportunity for reflective learning. However, we are aware that things can go wrong resulting in a patient feeling that they have a genuine cause for complaint.
Making a formal complaint
The NHS Choices website explains the NHS complaints process here. Under the NHS Constitution if you are unhappy with an NHS service and decide to make a complaint, you have the right to have that complaint acknowledged by the organisation receiving the complaint within three working days (this does not include weekends and bank holidays). You also have the right for that complaint to be investigated properly.
To pursue a complaint please contact the Practice Manager who will deal with your concerns appropriately. You may make a complaint in person, by telephone, by e-mail or in writing. It is important to make your complaint as soon as possible. Further written information is available regarding the complaints procedure from the Patient Services Team.
If you are unable to make a complaint yourself, then someone can act on your behalf with your written consent. We can accept complaints from:
- A person acting on behalf of a child, normally the parent or legal guardian
- A person acting on behalf of a patient who has died, normally the next of kin
- Someone who has suffered hardship or injustice as a result of actions of the NHS
Confidentiality
All patients’ records are completely confidential. Hope Farm Medical Centre complies with the Access to Medical Records Act, the Data Protection Act and the Freedom of Information Act. Access to patient records is limited to health professionals and administration staff who are bound by a code of confidentiality.
More information is available here:
Disability Access
At Hope Farm Medical Centre, we are committed to ensuring equal access for all patients. We recognize that individuals with disabilities may face unique challenges when seeking healthcare services. Therefore, we have taken specific steps to enhance accessibility:
- Physical Accessibility: Our premises are designed to accommodate individuals with mobility challenges. We have ramps, wide doorways, and two accessible parking spaces. There is a wheelchair available to use, if you would like this please ask for assistance when you arrive.
- Communication Support: We provide communication aids such as large-print materials, sign language interpreters, and accessible formats upon request. Let us know your preferences, and we’ll assist where we can.
- Service Animals: Service animals are welcome in our practice. Feel free to bring your service dog.
- Staff Training: Our team receives regular training on disability awareness and communication. We strive to create a welcoming environment for all patients.
If you have specific needs or require additional support, please let us know. Your well-being matters to us, and we’re here to help you.
Freedom of Information
Freedom of Information Act 2000
The Freedom of Information Act gives the general right of access to all types of recorded information held by the practice. The intention of the Act is to encourage a spirit of openness and transparency in the NHS and the whole public sector. Our organisation aims to fully support this.
The public has had full access rights from January 2005. This means that far more information will be routinely and freely made available. This is subject to some exemptions, which are outlined in the Practice’s Freedom of Information Act leaflet.
Any individual or organisation can make a request for information. The applicant does not have to explain why this information is requested. The Act gives the right to be told if the information exists, and receive information (ideally in the format requested, for example, as a copy or summary or the applicant may ask to inspect a record.)
For further information please see our FOI leaflet.
GP earnings
All GP practices are required to declare the mean earnings (e.g. average pay) for GPs working to deliver NHS services at each practice. The average pay for GPs working at Hope Farm Medical Centre in the financial year 2021/22 was £121,404 before tax and National Insurance. This is for 5 full time GPs and 4 part time GPs who worked in the practice for more than six months.
Some of our GPs have a financial interest in Hope Farm Pharmacy. This has no effect on their prescribing of medication. Patients are not obliged to use our own on-site pharmacy and are free to use any pharmacy of their choice.
GP2GP
What is GP2GP?
GP2GP enables patients’ electronic health records to be transferred directly, securely, and quickly between GP practices. It improves patient care as GPs will have full and detailed medical records available to them for a new patient’s first consultation.
- GP2GP functionality is compliant with EMIS Web, INPS Vision, Microtest Evolution, and TPP SystmOne
- Over 5.1 million records have been transferred
- 96% of practices in England are live with GP2GP (July 2015)
The process
When a patient joins a practice as a full General Medical Services registration, GP2GP is triggered by a successful Personal Demographics Service match.
When the new and old practices are both in England and live with GP2GP, the patient’s electronic health record is transferred to the new practice where it is then integrated, to create a rich electronic health record. This is usually achieved in a few minutes.
Any active medication, allergies, or drug reactions are highlighted for practice personnel to check and process. This is an important clinical safety requirement.
Why do GPs use GP2GP?
The General Medical Services GP Contract 2014 places a contractual requirement to use GP2GP whenever possible for the transfer of patient records between practices.
- Patients expect GPs to receive their medical records at the earliest opportunity, and receipt and integration of the GP2GP electronic health record fully fulfils this expectation
- GP2GP supports the Health Secretary’s objective that ‘patients should have compatible digital records so their health information can follow them around the health and social care system’
- GP2GP has been described as “the best innovation for medical records since we started using computers for patient care.”
How we use your health records
In the National Health Service we aim to provide you with the highest quality of health care. To do this we must keep records about you, your health and the care we have provided or plan to provide to you. These records may include:
- Basic details about you, such as address, date of birth, next of kin
- Contact we have had with you such as clinical visits
- Notes and reports about your health
- Details and records about your treatment and care
- Results of x-rays, laboratory test etc.
- Relevant information from people who care for you and know you well, such as health professionals and relatives
- For further information please see our Health Records Leaflet for patients
Infection prevention & control statement
We aim to keep our practice clean and tidy and offer a safe environment to our patients, relatives and staff. We are proud of our modern, purpose built practice and endeavour to keep it clean and well maintained at all times.
If you have any concerns about cleanliness or infection control, please report these to our Patient Services Team.
Our GPs and nursing staff follow our Infection prevention & control policy to ensure the care we deliver and the equipment we use is safe.
In addition the practice takes the following measures to make sure we maintain the highest possible infection prevention and control standards:
- Encourage staff and patients to raise any issues or report any incidents relating to cleanliness and infection control. We can discuss these and identify improvements we can make to avoid any future problems
- Carry out an annual infection control audit to make sure our infection prevention and control procedures are working
- Provide annual staff updates and training on cleanliness and infection prevention and control
- Review our policies and procedures to make sure they are adequate and meet national guidance
- Maintain the premises and equipment to a high standard and ensure that all reasonable steps are taken to reduce or remove all infection risk
- Use disposable materials for items such as couch rolls, modesty curtains, floor coverings, towels etc., and ensure that these are changed frequently to minimise risk of infection
- Make alcohol hand rub gel available throughout the building
Privacy Notice
Removal of patients from the practice list
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
Violent & abusive patients
Zero Tolerance
The Practice takes it very seriously if a member of staff or one of the doctors or nursing team 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, aggressive behaviour, be it violent or abusive, will not be tolerated 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 in any form including verbally insulting the staff
- Racial abuse and sexual harassment 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
Removal from the practice list
A good patient-doctor relationship, based on mutual respect and trust, is the cornerstone of good patient care. The removal of patients from our list is an exceptional and rare event and is a last resort in an impaired patient-practice relationship. When trust has irretrievably broken down, it is in the patient’s interest, just as much as that of the practice, that they should find a new practice. An exception to this is on immediate removal on the grounds of violence e.g. when the Police are involved.
Removing other members of the household
In rare cases, however, because of the possible need to visit patients at home it may be necessary to terminate responsibility for other members of the family or the entire household. The prospect of visiting patients where a relative who is no longer a patient of the practice by virtue of their unacceptable behaviour resides, or being regularly confronted by the removed patient, may make it too difficult for the practice to continue to look after the whole family. This is particularly likely where the patient has been removed because of violence or threatening behaviour and keeping the other family members could put doctors or their staff at risk.