Practice Policies & Patient 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.
Data Protection
We need 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.
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 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 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.
GDPR
General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)
The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is a new law that determines how your personal data is processed and kept safe, and the legal rights that you have in relation to your own data.
Opting out of sharing your confidential patient information
You can decide if health and care information that could identify you is used to improve everyone’s health and care, or only used for your own health and care. If you want your health and care information to be included in sets of data used to improve everyone’s health and care, you don’t need to do anything. Click here for more information.
GP Earnings
The average pay for GPs working in The Grange Surgery in the last financial year was £92,062 before tax and National Insurance. This is for 1 full time GP and 5 part time GPs who worked in the practice for six months or more.
“NHS England require that the net earnings of doctors engaged in the practice is publicised by 31 March 2024 at the latest. However, it should be noted that the prescribed method of calculating earnings is potentially misleading because it takes no account of how much time doctors spend working in the practice and should not be used for any judgement about GP earnings, nor to make any comparisons with other practices
Infection Control Annual Statement
The Grange Surgery
Infection Control Annual Statement
Purpose
This annual statement will be generated each year in July in accordance with the requirements of The Health and Social Care Act 2008 Code of Practice on the prevention and control of infections and related guidance. It summarises:
- Any infection transmission incidents and any action taken (these will have been reported in accordance with our Significant Event procedure)
- Details of any infection control audits undertaken, and actions taken
- Details of any risk assessments undertaken for prevention and control of infection
- Details of staff training
- Any review and update of policies, procedures and guidelines
Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) Lead
The Grange Surgery has 2 Lead(s) for Infection Prevention and Control: Dr K Bannell , Sister Bethany Andrews/Sister Claire Dunn, Practice Nurses.
The IPC Leads are supported by: Julieanne Page, Practice Manager
Sister Andrews has attended an IPC Lead training course in 2022 and keeps updated on infection prevention practice by attending the ICB Infection prevention Forums regularly.
Infection transmission incidents (Significant Events)
Significant events (which may involve examples of good practice as well as challenging events) are investigated in detail to see what can be learnt and to indicate changes that might lead to future improvements. All significant events are reviewed in the fortnightly Clinical meetings and learning is cascaded to all relevant staff.
In the past year there have been no significant events raised that related to infection control.
Infection Prevention Audit and Actions
The Annual Infection Prevention and Control audit was completed by Sister Andrews and Sister Dunn in August 2024.
As a result of the audit, the following have been changed at The Grange Surgery
- Old carpet replaced by hard cleanable floors if all communal corridors.
- New cupboards supplied to store personal items and reduce clutter.
- Offensive waste bin installed in patients’ toilets.
- Change to daily cleaning schedule for consulting rooms and expectations of clinicians regarding cleaning regime.
- Wall mounted single cartridge soap dispensers in clinical rooms and toilets.
- 5 moments of Hand hygiene posters in clinical rooms as aide memoire
- Spill kit posters updated.
The Practice plan to undertake the following audits in 2024/25
- Annual Infection Prevention and Control audit
- Antimicrobial Stewardship Audit – Dr Adele Bevan
- Domestic Cleaning audit -undertaken by Cleaning Contractor
- Hand hygiene audit
- Vaccine stock and cold chain Audit -Lisa Newson, Practice Nurse
Risk Assessments
Risk assessments are carried out so that best practice can be established and then followed. In the last year the following risk assessments were carried out / reviewed:
- Legionella (Water) Risk Assessment: The practice has conducted/reviewed its water safety risk assessment to ensure that the water supply does not pose a risk to patients, visitors or staff.
- Immunisation: As a practice we ensure that all our staff are up to date with their Hepatitis B immunisations and offered any occupational health vaccinations applicable to their role (i.e. MMR, Seasonal Flu, COVID vaccine). We take part in the National Immunisation campaigns for patients and offer vaccinations in house and via home visits to our patient population.
- Curtains: The NHS Cleaning Specifications state the curtains should be cleaned or if using disposable curtains, replaced every 6 months. To this effect we use disposable curtains and ensure they are changed every 6 months. The window blinds are very low risk and therefore do not require a particular cleaning regime other than regular vacuuming to prevent build-up of dust. The modesty curtains although handled by clinicians are never handled by patients and clinicians have been reminded to always remove gloves and clean hands after an examination and before touching the curtains. All curtains are regularly reviewed and changed if visibly soiled.
- Toys: NHS Cleaning Specifications recommend that all toys are cleaned regularly and we therefore provide only wipeable toys in the waiting room, not in consultation rooms.
- Hand washing sinks: The practice has clinical hand washing sinks in every room for staff to use. Some of our sinks do not meet the latest standards for sinks but we have removed plugs, covered overflows and reminded staff to turn of taps that are not ‘hands free’ with paper towels to keep patients safe. We have also replaced our liquid soap with wall mounted soap dispensers to ensure cleanliness.
Training
- All staff receive annual training in infection prevention and control.
- Clinical staff training (including GP’s) take part in annual e-learning and face to face training.
- Non-clinical staff training have undertaken e-learning regarding infection, prevention and control.
- Dr K Bannell has taken specialist training in joint injections.
- Dr P Mileham has taken specialist training in LARC Implanon insertion and removal.
Policies
The following policies continue to be reviewed and updated:
- Infection prevention and control policy
- Cleaning schedule
- Spirometry SOP
- Cold Chain Policy
Policies relating to Infection Prevention and Control are available to all staff and are reviewed and updated annually, and all are amended on an on-going basis as current advice, guidance and legislation changes. Infection Control policies are circulated amongst staff for reading via Clarity and discussed at meetings on an annual basis.
Responsibility
It is the responsibility of each individual to be familiar with this Statement and their roles and responsibilities under this.
Review date.
August 31st, 2025
Responsibility for Review
The Infection Prevention and Control Lead and Julieanne Page, Practice Manager are responsible for reviewing and producing the Annual Statement.
Sister Claire Dunn/Sister Bethany Andrews Practice Nurses
For and on behalf of the Grange Surgery
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:
Named Accountable GP
The Grange Surgery is required to allocate a named accountable GP to all its patients, including children.
The patient’s allocated named accountable GP is responsible for the co-ordination of all appropriate services required and ensures they are delivered where required (based on the clinical judgement of the named accountable GP). This is largely a role of oversight, with the requirements being introduced to reassure patients they have one GP within the practice who is responsible for ensuring this work is carried out on their behalf.
However, overall responsibility for patient care has not changed and The Grange Surgery is still ΄practice based΄. A patient can still request, or may be allocated, an appointment with another doctor or nurse at The Grange Surgery. The Centre maintains electronic medical records allowing all clinicians access to up to date information about each patient.
Next time you have an appointment at the surgery, please ask the doctor/nurse to advise your Named Accountable GP. New patients registering with The Grange Surgery will be informed of their Named Accountable GP as part of the registration process.
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 requests 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 (the facility to view your medical records online)
If you are not already registered for Patient 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
We understand how important it is to keep your personal information safe and secure and we take this very seriously. We have taken steps to make sure your personal information is looked after in the best possible way. We review our procedures regularly. Please read this privacy notice (‘Privacy Notice’) carefully, as it contains important information about how we use the personal and healthcare information we collect on your behalf.
Proxy User Access
Please be advised that we are now able to offer a service for patients whereby they can have access to another person’s online services, with consent if needed.
For The Grange Surgery we have 3 options
- For patients between 1 and 13 (For parents/carers of young children)
- For patients between 13 and 16 (If deemed competent a 13 year old can have their own access) for this age group, where consent is given by the patient, it will be the registered doctor’s decision for the proxy user access to be given.
- For patients 16+ (For carers/family members of patients 16 and above who may not be competent or need help)
Please click on the link below to find out more information and fill in the age appropriate form and return it to the surgery with the relevant identity documentation.
PLEASE NOTE YOU WILL NEED TO HAVE YOUR OWN ACTIVE PATIENT ACCESS ACCOUNT IN ORDER TO BE A PROXY USER FOR ANY AGE GROUP.
For more information please download this guide.
Suggestions & Complaints
Want to make a complaint?
If you have a complaint or concern about the service you have received from the doctors or any of the staff working in this practice, please let us know. We operate a practice complaints procedure as part of the NHS system for dealing with complaints.
How to complain?
We hope that most problems can be solved and addressed quickly, often at the time they arise and with the person concerned. If your problem cannot be addressed in this way and you wish to make a complaint, we would like you to let us know as soon as possible, ideally within a matter of days or at most a few weeks as this will enable us to review the situation more easily. You may still complain up to 12 months after the incident occurs or even longer if there are good reasons for not complaining earlier, and provided it is still possible to investigate matters effectively and fairly.
Complaints should be addressed to the Practice Manager. Alternatively you may ask for an appointment with the Practice Manager in order to discuss your concerns. They will explain the complaints procedure to you and will make sure that your concerns are dealt with promptly. Please help by being as specific as possible about your complaint.
Practice Manager/Partner responsible for complaints:
Mrs Julieanne Page
The Grange Surgery
The Causeway
Petersfield
Hampshire
GU34 4JR
Tel: 01730 267722
Email: [email protected]
Alternatively you could raise a complaint with NHS England if you do not feel able to raise a complaint directly with us. They can be contacted via telephone on: 0300 311 2233 or by email: [email protected]
What do we do?
We shall acknowledge your written complaint within three working days and aim to have looked into your complaint within a reasonable timeframe. We should then be in a position to offer you an explanation, or a meeting with the people involved. We shall aim to find out what happened and what went wrong and to identify what we can do to make sure the problem does not happen again. If there is likely to be a delay, we will tell you the reasons and we will keep you informed of our progress.
We will inform you in writing of the outcome of our investigations.
Although we hope you will feel able to contact the practice first, if you prefer you can make your complaint direct to VoiceAbility, Unit 1, The Old Granary, Westwick, Oakington, Cambridge, CBH24 3AR, email address: [email protected]. Tel: 01223 555800. This service can support you with advice, information and guidance. More information can be found on the VoiceAbility website: www.voiceability.org.
Complaining on behalf of someone else:
Please note that we keep strictly to the rules of medical confidentiality. If you are complaining on behalf of someone else we will need their signed consent to respond to you about the issue, unless they are medically incapable of providing this.
If you are still dissatisfied:
We hope that we will be able to resolve any problems satisfactorily using the above procedure. However, if you are dissatisfied with the outcome of the investigation you have the right to approach the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman, Millbank Tower, London SW1P 4QP, Tel: 0345 015 4033, or email: [email protected].
Want to make a suggestion?
Your comments and suggestions are important to us, please click on the link below and complete the form to send them to us. Please only use this form for comments about the practice and suggestions as to how we can improve our service to you.
Medical matters and official complaints cannot be dealt with via this form. If you have a query regarding a medical matter please telephone reception to make and appointment to see the appropriate person.
Violence Policy
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.