What is the Accessible Information Standard?

The Accessible Information Standard – known officially as SCCI1605 Accessible Information – is a new ‘information standard’ for implementation by all organisations that provide NHS or adult social care.

Compliance with information standards of this type is a mandatory requirement, including for NHS Trusts and GP practices. This is set out in section 250 of the Health and Social Care Act.

The Accessible Information Standard aims to ensure that people who have a disability or sensory loss receive information that they can access and understand, for example in large print, braille or via email, and professional communication support if they need it, for example from a British Sign Language interpreter.

The Standard requires organisations that provide NHS or adult social care to:

1. Ask people if they have any information or communication needs, and find out how to meet their needs.
2. Record those needs clearly and in a set way.
3. Highlight or flag the person’s file or notes so it is clear that they have information or communication needs and how to meet those needs.
4. Share people’s information and communication needs with other providers of NHS and adult social care, when they have consent or permission to do so.
5. Take steps to ensure that people receive information which they can access and understand, and receive communication support if they need it.

Which patients are affected by the Standard?

The Standard applies to patients and service users who have information and/or communication needs relating to a disability, impairment or sensory loss. It also applies to parents and carers of patients/service users who have such information and/or communication needs, where appropriate. Individuals most likely to be affected by the Standard include people who are blind or deaf, who have some hearing and/or visual loss, people who are deafblind and people with a learning disability. However, this list is not exhaustive.

What impact will implementing the Standard have?

Successful implementation of the Standard aims to lead to improved outcomes and experiences, and the provision of safer and more personalised care and services to those individuals who come within the Standard’s scope. It should lead to improvements in patient satisfaction and experience, patient safety, outcomes (for example to due to earlier diagnosis and treatment) and patients’ ability to self-care and adhere to clinical and medical advice.

The Standard is expected to benefit both patients and organisations, for example by reducing ‘did not attend’ (DNA) rates. For instance, the 2013 Action on Hearing Loss report, Access all Areas? included the statistic that 14% of people with hearing loss had missed an appointment due to not hearing their name being called in the waiting room. There are an estimated 10 million people with hearing loss across the UK, if 14% of them have missed an appointment due to not hearing their name being called, that is 1.4 million missed appointments.

The Standard should lead to some specific and significant benefits, including as follows:

• Improved health and wellbeing amongst patients in the key affected groups due to increased take-up of early intervention and prevention opportunities as part of national programmes (for example NHS Health Checks and ‘flu vaccination), ability to participate in decision-making and improved compliance with treatment / medical advice.
• Improved patient safety due to ability to understand and follow information regarding care and treatment, including medicines management and pre- and post-operative advice.
• More appropriate use of services by patients in affected groups including increased use of primary/routine care and services and reduction in urgent and emergency care usage.
• Improvement in the effectiveness of clinical care due to addressing barriers to communication.
• Improvement in patient experience and satisfaction, and reduction in complaints and litigation associated with failure to provide accessible information and communication support.

Further information can be found here.

At Upton Surgery, we will ask newly registered patients about their specific needs on our registration form.

For existing patients, our staff will routinely ask when you visit. Please help us to communicate effectively with you by making us aware of your specific needs.

Thank you.

Upton Surgery is a Research Practice

Upton Surgery has for many years been a research active practice linked to the Clinical Research Network (CRN). This means that as a practice we get involved in CRN portfolio research projects. All of these projects have ethical approval and all are supported by high level funding, e.g. from the National Institute for Health Research, the Medical Research Council, the Welcome Foundation, or major charity funders such as Diabetes UK.

We work in close collaboration with the CRN team of GPs, research nurses and facilitators based in the Medical School at the University of Warwick. If a patient is eligible to take part in a CRN research study running in our practice, a GP or other healthcare professional will provide written information. Taking part in a research study is voluntary and can be beneficial to patients who participate in them. Studies vary as to what is involved. Sometimes the study may involve filling in a questionnaire or it may involve a research nurse gathering data and, where needed, taking clinical measurements such as blood pressure or a blood test.

Examples of CRN projects include:

• investigations into the causes and outcomes of respiratory infections
• the management of heart failure
• interventions designed to increase physical activity
• finding out whether low dose aspirin helps people with Type 2 diabetes
• trialling techniques to help people stop smoking
• investigating the use of self-monitoring of blood pressure

It is essential that such research occurs in general practice as this is where the majority of NHS clinical encounters occur. The current move is towards increasing involvement of general practices in research and we are delighted to be working so closely with the Clinical Research Network team to improve patient care and outcomes.

Our GP Research Lead within the practice is Dr Gail Wetmore

If you have any questions about our research then please contact the surgery or if you would like to know more about CRN, visit www.warwick.ac.uk/go/pcresearchparticipation

COMPLAINTS – SUGGESTIONS – COMPLIMENTS

Making a Complaint

As a practice we strive to deliver a quality service to meet the needs of our patients, however in a very small number of cases, we don’t always get it right.

We are aware that some patients are reluctant to contact the surgery with a complaint regarding their treatment/care. However as a surgery we actively encourage you to do so, giving us the opportunity to address your concern with you.

All complaints will be dealt with in a confidential and timely manner. During investigation of the complaint any information shared will be done so on a need to know basis only.

It is important that you inform us of any problems as soon as possible after the incident has taken place and at latest within 12 months.

Complaints may be received either verbally or in writing. You can speak to any member of staff who will capture the initial information you provide by completing a complaints form. This will then be passed on to the surgery’s complaints lead or in their absence, a senior member of staff.

If you are complaining on behalf of someone else, and in order to maintain patient confidentiality, we will require to know that you have their permission to do so.

On initial contact we would hope to resolve any concerns/issues you have around your treatment or care to your satisfaction. This may be via a telephone conversation, email or where appropriate meeting with you. If a resolution is not agreed the Practice operates a formal complaints procedure which conforms to NHS guidelines.

On receipt of a complaint which triggers the surgery’s formal complaints process you will receive an acknowledgement within 3 days. This acknowledgement, which could be in written form or by telephone, will confirm that the issues you have raised will be investigated.

Upton surgery has a nominated Complaints Lead, Georgina Gwynne, who is responsible for monitoring the complaints process and the progress of the investigation ensuring that any concerns you have will be investigated thoroughly and in a timely manner.

Our aim is to investigate your concerns and contact you with the outcome within 10 working days. However, in some instances this may take a little longer; we will keep you informed if this is the case.

The complaints lead will identify an appropriate member of the surgery team to undertake the investigation. This could be a GP Partner or other senior person associated with the practice.

The responsibility of this person is to find out what happened by conducting a detailed investigation of the complaint and related issues and for ensuring that action is taken in light of the outcome of any investigation.

Once the investigation is completed we will provide you with a written statement of the investigation and its conclusions or where appropriate meet with you to discuss the outcomes.

Our complaints procedure is available on request from Upton surgery.

Send your written complaint to:

Georgina Gwynne
Complaints Lead
Upton Surgery,
Tunnel Hill,
Upton upon Severn.
Worcester
WR8 0QL

Complaints procedure leaflet

To see our Children’s Privacy Notice, please click here.

Please see our Privacy Notice – Data Protection here.

To see our Privacy Notice – Data Sharing please click here

To see our Easy Read Privacy Notice, please click here.

To view our Privacy Notice – General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) policy, please click here.

Confidentiality & Medical Records

We understand how important confidentiality is to our patients and we provide complete confidentiality between you and us at all times.

As a patient it is your right, with certain exceptions, to have all information regarding your personal health, whether kept on paper or on the computer, confidential ? and, to this end, all staff are required to sign a statement of confidentiality to ensure that the highest possible standards of confidentiality are maintained.

When you first register with a practice certain personal details, such as name, address and date of birth are passed to the Primary Care Trust and to the NHS Central Register. This enables your medical record to be located and passed to your new practice. Although the Primary Care Trust’s database holds information on childhood vaccinations and immunisations and cervical cytology no other clinical information is held either there or at the Central Register.

It is possible, however, that it may be necessary to share some information regarding your medical history with other health care professionals such as hospital consultants, to ensure you receive appropriate treatment. In addition there are certain statutory requirements that require a practice to pass on information to the authorities, for example notifications of birth or death, infectious diseases, gunshot wounds.

In other cases, such as releasing medical records to solicitors when dealing with complaints or legal claims, information is only released with your written authority to do so.

The Practice occasionally participates in Department of Health commissioned surveys to assess patient experiences of aspects of general practice care. The Practice undertakes an annual patient satisfaction survey.

Freedom of Information

Information about the General Practioners and the practice required for disclosure under this act can be made available to the public. All requests for such information should be made to the practice manager.

Access to Records

In accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998 and Access to Health Records Act, patients may request to see their medical records. Such requests should be made through the practice manager and may be subject to an administration charge. No information will be released without the patient consent unless we are legally obliged to do so.

Data Protection

We need to hold personal information about you on our computer system 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.

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 other s 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 a legal and contractual duty to keep your details private.

All information about you is held securely and a ppropriate 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 circumstances 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 a re 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 and our patient information leaflet. An appointment will be required. In some circumstances a fee may be payable.

Missed Appointments (DNAs)

Upton Surgery works hard to keep missed appointments or DNAs (Did Not Attends) to a minimum so that all our patients can access appointments when they need them at our practice.

A DNA is where:

• a patient does not turn up for their appointment.
• a patient does not contact the surgery in advance to cancel/change the appointment.

If we don’t know a patient is not attending, or a patient makes a short-notice cancellation less than an hour before a scheduled appointment, we can’t offer the appointment slot to another patient.

This leads to increased waiting times for appointments, frustration for both staff and patients and it’s a waste of precious NHS resources which over 12 months, adds up to weeks’ worth of wasted clinical time.

Patients who are experiencing ongoing difficulties in keeping their appointments should discuss this with the surgery. See Exclusions below for more details.

Upton Surgery reserves the right to remove patients from our practice list if they DNA three appointments within a 12 month period.

When a patient does not attend an appointment without giving advance notice of more than one hour, the doctor will code the missed appointment on the patient record and we follow the process below:

First DNA

The practice will send the patient a text message to remind them of the importance of attending appointments.

Second DNA

If a patient DNAs two appointments within a twelve month period, a second DNA text message is generated. This tells the patient that should there be a further DNA within the twelve month period, that the surgery may remove the patient from our practice list.

Third DNA

In the event of a third DNA within a twelve-month period, we send a final letter to the patient. A medical team member reviews the case and the patient is removed from our practice list.

Exclusions

• Upton Surgery does not decide to remove a patient from our list lightly but we have around 12,000 patients relying on us for timely care and access to appointments.
• Lack of organisation or forgetting is not an acceptable reason for non-attendance.
• We don’t remove patients without due consideration of their individual circumstances or reasons for non-attendance. The medical team reserves the right to exclude patients with special circumstances from management under this policy. For example, a patient who has been admitted to hospital or has dementia.
• Patients who are having problems attending appointments should speak to our practice manager.

The practice aims to provide a comprehensive and integrated service to patients who misuse drugs and alcohol. We provide advice, information and support. We have good links with clinical substances misuse teams and we can arrange and co-ordinate aftercare.

Easy Read Privacy Notice

Employee Privacy Notice 2024

Equality and Diversity Policy

NHS Digital’s daily collection of GP data will support vital health and care planning and research.

You may have read in the press about “General Practice Data for Planning and Research” (GPDPR). This is a new way that NHS Digital will collect data from the GP record to help plan for future NHS healthcare. The new way of collecting patients data reduces the amount of work GP practices have to share the information.

For information on how we share data, please see our Data Sharing Policy.

To opt out, you must complete the required opt out form and return it to the surgery –

• Either by dropping off a signed paper copy at the surgery
• Email us a photo of the signed form to [email protected]

A copy of the Type 1 opt out form can be downloaded here:

Other Sources of Information

www.onside-advocacy.org.uk

Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman

New NHS complaints information

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 by the public.

The average pay for GPs working in Upton Surgery in the last financial year was £84,063 before tax and national insurance. This is for 2 full time GPs, 6 part time GPs and 5 locum GPs who worked in the practice for more than six months.

Named GP’s For All Patients

All patients are allocated a named accountable GP when you register with the practice.

Who is my named GP?

Simply ask at your next appointment or speak to Reception.

What does ‘accountable’ mean?

By having a named GP, we have a requirement to reassure you that you have one GP within the practice who is responsible for ensuring that care if carried out on your behalf.

What are the named GP’s responsibilities to people aged 75 and over?

If you are aged 75 or over, your named accountable GP is responsible for:

• working with relevant associated health and social care professionals to deliver a multi-disciplinary care package that meets the needs of you as the patient
• ensuring that you have access to a health check as set out in section 7.9 of the GMS Contract Regulations.

Does the requirement mean 24-hour responsibility for patients?

No. The named GP will not:

• take on vicarious responsibility for the work of other doctors or health professionals
• take on 24-hour responsibility for the patient, or have to change their working hours. The requirement does not imply personal availability for GPs throughout the working week
• be the only GP or Clinician who will provide care to that patient

Can I choose their own named GP?

In the first instance, patients are simply allocated a named GP. However, if you prefer a particular GP, reasonable efforts can be made to accommodate your preference, recognising that there are occasions when the practice may not feel the patient’s preference is suitable.

Do I have to see the named GP when I book an appointment with the practice?

No. Patients can and should feel free to choose to see any GP or nurse in the practice in line with current arrangements. However, some practices may see this change as a way to encourage and promote a greater degree of continuity of care for patients.

All patients registered with this practice have an allocated named GP at the point of registration. If you would like clarification of who your named GP is, please speak to reception.

As a patient, you can request access to your GP medical record at our practice.

You can read more about the types of information we hold about you here and learn about some of the abbreviations we use here.

To request online access to your medical records click here.

Patients Privacy Notice 2024

Your Rights:

• You will be treated reasonably and courteously at all times
• You have a right to confidentiality – we will respect your privacy and confidentiality at all times
• You have the right to see your medical records subject to the limitations of the law and in accordance with Practice procedure for access to health records
• You will be seen the same day if your problem is urgent
• You will be informed if there will be a delay of more than 20 minutes when you arrive for your appointment
• You will be given the result of any test or investigation on request or at your next appointment
• Your repeat prescription will be ready for collection within 48 hours of your request
• Your suggestions and comments about the services offered will be considered sympathetically and any complaint dealt with in accordance with Practice complaint procedure
• When changes are introduced to practice procedures that affect patients, we will ensure that these are clearly explained

With these rights come responsibilities:

• To treat all members of staff in a reasonable and courteous manner. The practice adheres to the national guidelines and follows a zero tolerance ruling with regard to abusive or violent patients. In circumstances where patients are aggressive, violent or abusive towards a member of staff they may be taken off the practice list, depending on the severity of the incident
• To provide us with any change of address, telephone number or name, so that our records are kept up to date
• To attend appointments on time or give the practice adequate notice that they wish to cancel. Someone else could use your appointment!
• To order your repeat prescriptions in plenty of time
• To switch off your mobile phone whilst on the Practice premises
• An appointment is for one person only – where another member
  of the family needs to be seen or discussed, another appointment
  should be made
• Patients should make every effort when consulting the surgery to
  make best use of nursing and medical time – home visits should be
  medically justifiable and not requested for social convenience
• Out-of-hours calls (e.g. evenings; nights & weekends) should
  only be requested if they are felt to be truly necessary
• Do let us know whenever you feel we have not met our responsibility to you

To see our Collaborative organisations – shared care record policy, please click here.

To see our Privacy Notice – Shared Care Record, please click here.

We operate a zero-tolerance policy towards any form of abuse or bad behaviour towards our staff, doctors or other patients. Physical, verbal and online abuse included.

GPs and staff have a right to care for others without fear of being attacked, abused or poorly treated in any way. To successfully provide our services, mutual respect between staff and patients has to be in place.

All our team aim to be polite, helpful, and sensitive to all patients’ individual needs and circumstances. After all, patients usually contact their GP practice when they are unwell and can be upset, scared or worried about their health. We understand that and are here to help.

But we respectfully remind patients that staff can often be dealing with many different, and sometimes complex, tasks and situations, all at the same time. Patience and understanding on both sides are therefore vital.

To protect our team and other patients, aggressive behaviour, whether physical, verbal or online, will not be tolerated. It may result in you being removed from the practice list, and in extreme cases, we may need to call the police.

The practice wants to maintain good relations with our patients, so we ask all patients to read and take note of the rare types of behaviour that we deem unacceptable:

• Using bad language, shouting or raising of voices at practice staff.
• Any physical violence towards any member of our team or other patients.
• Verbal abuse towards staff or patients in any form, including shouting.
• Discriminative, racist, homophobic, transphobic, xenophobic, sexist, ableist or ageist language or harassment are never acceptable.
• Persistent or unrealistic demands that cause stress to staff will not be accepted. We will always try to meet requests wherever possible, but our team shall explain if or when they cannot.
• Being perceived to bully or manipulate a staff member to obtain something.
• Causing damage to, stealing or not returning practice equipment from the practice’s premises, staff or patients.
• Obtaining drugs and/or medical services fraudulently.

Thank you for being part of a practice community that looks after each other.

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. 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.