Policies
Access to Medical Records
Please click the link below.
Chaperone Policy
We will always respect your privacy, dignity and your religious and cultural beliefs particularly when intimate examinations are advisable – these will only be carried out with your express agreement, and you will be offered a chaperone to attend the examination if you so wish.
You may also request a chaperone when making the appointment or on arrival at the surgery (please let the receptionist know) or at any time during the consultation.
Children’s Privacy Notice
Please click here for more information.
Confidentiality
You can be assured that anything you discuss with any member of the surgery staff, whether doctor, nurse or receptionist, will remain confidential. Even if you are under 16, nothing will be said to anyone, including parents, other family members, care workers or teachers, without your permission.
The only reason why we might want to consider passing on confidential information without your permission would be to protect either you or someone else from serious harm. In this situation, we would always try to discuss this with you first.
If you have any worries or queries about confidentiality, please ask a member of staff.
If you would like to discuss matters of a confidential nature, either with our receptionists or a member of the dispensary team, we have a side room available for this purpose.
Data Protection
In order to provide the right level of care, we are required to hold personal information about you on our computer systems and in paper records to help us to look after your health needs, and your doctor is responsible for their accuracy and safe-keeping.
Please help to keep your record up to date by informing us of any changes to your circumstances.
Confidentiality and Personal Information
Doctors and staff in the practice have access to your medical records to enable them to do their jobs. From time-to-time information may be shared with others involved in your care if it is necessary.
Anyone with access to your record is properly trained in confidentiality issues and is governed by both legal and contractual duty to keep your details private.
All information about you is held securely and appropriate safeguards are in place to prevent accidental loss.
In some circumstances we may be required by law to release your details to statutory or other official bodies, for example if a court order is presented, or in the case of public health issues. In other circumstance you may be required to give written consent before information is released – such as for medical reports for insurance, solicitors etc.
To ensure your privacy, we will not disclose information over the telephone or fax unless we are sure that we are talking to you. Information will not be disclosed to family, friends or spouses unless we have prior written consent, and we do not, leave messages with others.
You have a right to see your records if you wish. Please ask at reception if you would like further details about our patient information leaflet. An appointment may be required. In some circumstances a fee may be payable.
Did Not Attend (DNA) Policy
Disabled Access
We make every effort to make the surgery accessible for disabled patients. There are plenty of Blue Badge parking spaces which are free of charge and step free access through the main door.
We have a wheelchair available for use in surgery.
Hearing Difficulties
If you are experiencing hearing difficulties when being called in to see the doctor or nurse, please do let us know so we can set up an alert on your medical records and personally collect you from the waiting room.
Alternatively, we do have the facility of a portable induction loop. If you would like to use this, please ask at reception for assistance.
Dog Policy
As a Practice we are keen to enable the treatment of disabled people and make reasonable adjustments where necessary, such as providing extra help or making changes to the way we provide our services in accordance with the Equality Act 2010.
This includes adjustments to physical features of premises to overcome physical barriers to access for people with disabilities and facilitating such visitors to use services.
The nature of general practice is such that assistance dog (eg guide dog / hearing dog) access is common and desirable.
The purpose of this policy is to set out a few simple principles for dogs on the premises.
It is not intended to cover the use of assistance dogs in relation to employees of the practice, which would encompass a wider range of disability employment law considerations.
General Considerations
- The practice welcomes assistance dogs. This includes dogs in training where a “walker” is in control of the dog rather than a disabled owner.
- The practice will manage the presence of assistance dogs without recourse to the owner and will pay particular attention to infection control and housekeeping whilst dogs are on the premises.
- Physical contact with a dog by clinical staff will be resisted during consultations or examinations, and whilst a general surgery is in progress.
- Hand washing or alcohol hand gel will be used by staff after any physical contact with a dog, whether during a consultation or not.
- Care will be taken by clinical staff to identify other patients in the surgery list for that session who have been identified as potentially being adverse clinically to the presence of dogs.
- Consideration will be given to allow patients and their assistance dogs to wait, or be seen, in an alternative consulting room.
- Cleaning staff will be advised to pay particular attention to a room known to have accommodated a dog that day.
- In the event of an incident involving a dog, a significant event record will be created where necessary.
- Owners of assistance dogs will be given the opportunity to “tour” the practice and the grounds with their assistance dog. This will enable the dog to become familiar with routes throughout the building, including those routes seldom used. This will include routes to and from:
- Public / disabled toilets
- Through fire exits and on to assembly areas
- To usual GP and nurse rooms
- Accessing and exiting the building by normal routes
As part of the high level of training an assistance dog receives, there are unlikely to be any incidents giving rise to special concern, and the following aspects of these dogs on the premises are likely to be standard behaviour for these animals:
- Dog will remain on a lead and in close contact with the owner.
- The dog will usually lie quietly with the owner when waiting to see a clinician and is trained to behave well in public places.
- Dog is unlikely to foul any area not within its usual habit and is trained to go to toilet on command and will be well-groomed (minimal loose hair).
- The dog will be in good health, physically fit, with vaccinations and care programme up to date.
- The dog will usually wear a special identifying harness and collar tag.
Pet dogs and Emotional Support Animals are NOT allowed in the Practice at any time.
If a patient feels that they require their Emotional Support Animal to accompany them to Pershore Medical Practice, please contact the Assistant Practice Manager. Information will be required to support your request and staff have been trained to help you with this.
We recognise your need to have access to your GP and our process is for our SEN Lead and Management to discuss the best options to support your appointments.
We recognise that this process may take some time to complete.
This will not affect your access to a clinician.
Resources
Equality and Human rights Commission – Making reasonable adjustments.
Fear of Flying
Please click here for more information.
GP Earnings
All GP practices are required to declare the mean net earnings (eg average pay) for GPs working to deliver NHS services to patients at each practice. This is required in the interests of the greater public accountability recognising GP pay is ultimately funded from tax paid for by the public.
The average pay for GPs working in Pershore Medical Practice in the last financial year (23/24) was £66591 before tax and national insurance. This is for 0 full time GPs, 9 part time GPs and 0 locum GPs who worked in the Practice for more than 6 months.
However, it should be noted that the prescribed method for calculating earning is potentially misleading because it takes no account of how much time doctors spend working in the practice, and should not be used to form any judgment about GP earnings, nor to make any comparison with any other practice.
IT Policy
This practice is committed to preserving, as far as is practical, the security of data used by our information systems. This means that we will take all reasonable actions to;
Maintain the Confidentiality of all data within the practice by:
- Ensuring that only authorised persons can gain access to our systems
- Not disclosing information to anyone who has no right to see it
Maintain the integrity of all data within the practice by:
- Taking care over input
- Ensuring that all changes are reported and monitored
- Checking that the correct record is on the screen before updating
- Reporting all apparent errors and ensuring that they are resolved
Maintain the availability of all data by:
- Ensuring that all equipment is protected from intruders
- Ensuring that backups are taken at regular, predetermined intervals
- Ensuring that contingency is provided for possible failure or equipment theft and that any such contingency plans are tested and kept up to date
Additionally we will take all reasonable measures to comply with our legal responsibilities under:
Personal Data
The following IT systems are in use at the practice:
- Referral Management (using NHS numbers in referrals)
- Electronic Appointment Booking (the facility to book routine appointments online and, similarly, to cancel appointments
- Online booking of repeat prescriptions
- Summary Care Record (uploading details of your current medication and allergies to the national “spine” so that these are available for doctors involved in your care elsewhere)
- GP to GP transfers (the electronic transfer of records from practice to practice when you re-register
- Patient Access to records (the facility to view your medical records online).
If you are not already registered for online access and would like to be please complete our online form.
If you would like access to your medical records enabled or would like to opt out of the local or national summary care record, please contact reception.
Privacy Notice
Please click here for more information.
Sedatives for Scans
We do NOT prescribe sedatives for patients undergoing radiological procedures eg CT scans or MRI scans
Patients often ask if we can prescribe sedatives prior to radiological procedure eg CT scans or MRI scan.
It is NOT safe for GP practices to prescribe sedatives for patients.
Safe and effective analgesia and sedation should be delivered by an appropriately trained and credentialed team with good access to anaesthetics, pre-procedure assessment, sedation plan and checklist, with appropriate monitoring and availability of resuscitation equipment and reversal agents.
SEDATION, ANALGESIA, AND ANAESTHESIA IN THE RADIOLOGY DEPARTMENT, ROYAL COLLEGE OF RADIOLOGISTS
Sedated patients should be regularly monitored, and we are aware of a case where a GP-provided sedative was given, the patient not monitored, and subsequently had a respiratory arrest in an MRI machine.
Practices are not required to prescribe this, and we would highlight the following:
- Benzodiazepines such at 2mg diazepam are probably sub-therapeutic for most adults for any effective sedation. Conversely anxiolytics can have an idiosyncratic response in patients, and even very small doses can cause increased agitation in some groups of patients.
- A patient may take a sedative ‘an hour’ before their assumed procedure, to then attend the hospital to find their procedure has been delayed, therefore the timing of the anxiolytic being sub optimal.
- GPs are not regularly involved, skilled, trained or appraised in sedation skills.
- Hospital consultants, both those requesting imaging and those providing it, have access to the same prescribing abilities as GPs. If a patient needs a certain medication to enable an investigation to go ahead, they are best positioned to provide a prescription, either through the hospital pharmacy or a hospital prescription.
- The Royal College of Radiologists‘ own guidelines on sedation for imaging makes no mention of GP involvement or provision of low dose anxiolytics and stresses the importance of experienced well trained staff involved and the monitoring of sedated patients: “Safe and effective analgesia and sedation should be delivered by an appropriately trained and credentialed team with good access to anaesthetics, pre-procedure assessment, sedation plan and checklist, with appropriate monitoring and availability of resuscitation equipment and reversal agents.” (see this link for more information).
To help patients avoid situations where they are not adequately sedated for a procedure or are unmonitored due to the procedure team being unaware of consumed sedation provided by general practice, we would decline requests even if the hospital asks to do so for prescribing in those circumstances.
Where the referral for imaging is made, it may be useful to highlight that an assessment for support during the procedure by the radiology team may be beneficial on the referral form as well.
Summary Care Record
Your patient record is held securely and confidentially on the electronic system at your GP practice. If you require treatment in another NHS healthcare setting such as an Emergency Department or Minor Injury Unit, those treating you would be better able to give you appropriate care if some of the information from the GP practice were available to them.
This information can now be shared electronically via: The Summary Care Record, used nationally across England
The information will be used only by authorised health care professionals directly involved in your care. Your permission will be asked before the information is accessed, unless the clinician is unable to ask you and there is a clinical reason for access.
If you would like to opt out, please ask reception for our opt out form.
A parent or guardian can request to opt out children under 16 but ultimately it is the GP’s decision whether to create the records or not, because of their duty of care to the child. If you are the parent or guardian of a child under 16 and feel that they are able to understand, then you should make this information available to them.
Who Has Access?
Across all health care settings, including urgent care, community care and outpatient departments in England.
Information Source
GP record
Content
- Your current medications
- Any allergies you have
- Any bad reactions you have had to medicines
- Additional information (upon request to your GP)
For more information visit:
www.digital.nhs.uk
Training
GPs in Training
Our practice is approved to train fully qualified doctors who wish to specialise in general practice. Our GP registrar will have had 2-4 years of experience as a qualified hospital doctor working in various specialities. They consult patients on their own, under the mentorship of our trainer. Occasionally we ask permission to video a consultation. You will always be asked in advance and are given the option not to take part, and this will not affect your care in any way. No recording will be taken without your consent and the camera will be switched off on request. These videos are used only for educational purposes with the doctor doing the consultation and are destroyed after use.
Medical Students
Medical students are sometimes attached to the practice for 2 – 3 weeks as part of their training. If you do not wish a student to be present during your consultation, please inform the receptionist.
Violence Policy
The Practice staff shall always show due respect and courtesy when dealing with patients and their representatives. We respectfully request that patients and their representatives do the same when dealing with members of the practice team.
The NHS operate a zero-tolerance policy with regard to violence and abuse and the practice has the right to remove violent patients from the list with immediate effect in order to safeguard practice staff, patients and other persons.
No form of aggression (whether verbal or physical in nature) will be tolerated – any instances of such behaviour on the practice premises may result in the perpetrator being reported to the Police and removed from the practice’s List of Registered Patients.
Violence in this context includes actual or threatened physical violence or verbal abuse which leads to fear for a person’s safety. In this situation we will notify the patient in writing of their removal from the list and record in the patient’s medical records the fact of the removal and the circumstances leading to it.