All Polices

Privacy Policy

Please click here to view our policy.

GDPR

How we use your medical records – important information for patients

  • This practice handles medical records in-line with laws on data protection and confidentiality.
  • We share medical records with those who are involved in providing you with care and treatment.
  • In some circumstances we will also share medical records for medical research, for example to find out more about why people get ill.
  • We share information when the law requires us to do so, for example, to prevent infectious diseases from spreading or to check the care being provided to you is safe.
  • You have the right to be given a copy of your medical record.
  • You have the right to object to your medical records being shared with those who provide you with care.
  • You have the right to object to your information being used for medical research and to plan health services.
  • You have the right to have any mistakes corrected and to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office. Please see the practice privacy notice on the website

GP Earnings

NHS England require that the net earnings of doctors engaged in the practice is publicised, and the required disclosure is shown below.

However it should be noted that the prescribed method for 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 to form any judgement about GP earnings, nor to make any comparison with any other practice.

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

The average pay for GPs working in The Dow Surgery in the last financial year 2023/24 was £75,732 before tax and National Insurance.

This is for 4 full-time GPs, 5 part-time GPs and 2 locum GPs who worked in the practice for more than 6 months.

Summary Care Record

Dear patient,

If you are registered with a GP practice in England, you will already have a Summary Care Record (SCR), unless you have previously chosen not to have one. It will contain key information about the medicines you are taking, allergies you suffer from and any adverse reactions to medicines you have had in the past.

Information about your healthcare may not be routinely shared across different healthcare organisations and systems. You may need to be treated by health and care professionals who do not know your medical history. Essential details about your healthcare can be difficult to remember, particularly when you are unwell or have complex care needs.

Having a Summary Care Record can help by providing healthcare staff treating you with vital information from your health record. This will help the staff involved in your care make better and safer decisions about how best to treat you.

You have a choice

You have the choice of what information you would like to share and with whom. Authorised healthcare staff can only view your SCR with your permission. The information shared will solely be used for the benefit of your care.

Your options are outlined below; please indicate your choice on the form overleaf.

  • Express consent for medication, allergies and adverse reactions only. You wish to share information about medication, allergies for adverse reactions only.
  • Express consent for medication, allergies, adverse reactions and additional information. You wish to share information about medication,allergies for adverse reactions and further medical information that includes: your illnesses and health problems, operations and vaccinations you have had in the past, how you would like to be treated (such as where you would prefer to receive care), what support you might need and who should be contacted for more information about you.
  • Express dissent for Summary Care Record (opt out). Select this option, ifyou DO NOT want any information shared with other healthcare professionals involved in your care.

If you chose not to complete a consent form, a core Summary Care Record (SCR) will be created for you, which will contain only medications, allergies and adverse reactions.

Once you have completed the consent form, please return it to your GP practice.

You are free to change your decision at any time by informing your GP practice.

Copyright © 2017Health and Social Care Information Centre. The Health and Social Care Information Centre is a non-departmental body created by statute, also known as NHS Digital.

Latest information regarding Shared Care Record November 2021

New Shared Care Record delivering better, safer care for all our patients
We wanted to let you know that we are finally connecting our systems to offer joined-up health and care records, which will enable better, safer care and treatment for all our patients.

As a GP, it is difficult to provide joined-up care with so many separate systems for handling patient information. These were not connected, meaning that you often had to repeat your story each time you received care at a different organisation, or with a different health professional.

The Shared Care Record means up-to-date records will be immediately available to professionals caring for you as a patient, when you need direct care.

It will mean, for instance, a doctor in a hospital, or a paramedic who attends a 999 call will be able to confidentially access the same crucial information that we can at the Practice, such as details of any
allergies and current medications, bringing potentially life-saving benefits.

Robust security measures are in place to protect your health information and all staff must follow the law on keeping your information confidential.

The Shared Care Record is not the same as the General Practice Data for Planning and Research Directions (GPDPR), which is a national NHS Digital initiative to use GP practice data for research and planning purposes.

The Shared Care Record is a local initiative to share information with organisations directly involved in your care to ensure that you receive prompt and appropriate treatment when you need it.

For more information, please visit: https://herefordshireandworcestershireccg.nhs.uk/health-services/shared-care-record

Sharing Your Records

Increasingly, patient medical data is shared e.g. between GP surgeries and District Nursing, in order to give clinicians access to the most up to date information when attending patients.

The systems we operate require that any sharing of medical information is consented to by patients beforehand. Patients must consent to sharing of the data held by a health provider out to other health providers and must also consent to which of the other providers can access their data.

e.g. it may be necessary to share data held in GP practices with district nurses but the local podiatry department would not need to see it to undertake their work. In this case, patients would allow the surgery to share their data, they would allow the district nurses to access it but they would not allow access by the podiatry department. In this way access to patient data is under patients’ control and can be shared on a ‘need to know’ basis.

Zero Tolerence

 ZERO TOLERANCE NOTICE

We treat our patients with courtesy and respect and ask for the same in return. We ask that you treat your GP and all other Practice Staff courteously without violence, abuse or harassment.

GPs and their staff have the right to care for others without fear of being attacked or abused.  Any behaviour whether that be verbal, physical or in writing, which causes staff to feel uncomfortable, embarrassed, or threatened, is totally unacceptable.

The Zero Tolerance policy includes abuse, aggression or threats made in person, over the telephone or in written communication, including on social media. The Practice considers threatening behaviour to be:

  • Attempted or actual aggressive, threatening, or physical actions made towards any member of staff
  • The use of aggressive, threatening, or abusive language, (including raising of the voice, swearing, shouting or in writing) which threatens or intimidates staff

This policy applies throughout the premises. It also applies to any employee or partner away from the practice but only in so far as it relates to the business of the practice.

Any instance or threat of physical abuse will be reported to the police. The offender will be removed from the premises by the police. The patient will then be removed from the practice list.

Instances of abusive/threatening behaviour will be reported to the Practice Manager and a warning letter will be sent to the patient. The patient may contact the Practice Manager to discuss this warning letter if they wish to do so. If there is any further incident, the patient will be sent a Final Warning Letter informing them of their breach of the Zero Tolerance Policy and their removal from the Practice list.

We hope you understand the reason for this policy which is designed to always keep our staff and other patients safe.

Patient Charter

Standards
We are constantly striving to improve the health care we provide for our patients. We are committed to giving you a good service and we feel this is
best achieved by working together. Please help us to help you.

  • You will be treated confidentially and with courtesy by all members of the practice.
  • You will be kept informed of your illness and its treatment, any preventative measures advised to avoid recurrence , and any proposed tests.
  • You will be referred to a consultant if necessary and referred for a further opinion if you and your GP think it desirable.
  • You are entitled to have access to your health records (within the limitations of the law)
  • Any complaint made about the practice will receive a full and prompt reply.
  • Emergency care will be available as needed at any time.
  • We aim to see patients within 30 minutes of their appointment time. If we are running late, please be patient—on another occasion it may be you who needs extra time.
  • We aim to ensure that urgent appointments can be made on the day the problem arises.
  • You should be able to book a non urgent appointment with the doctor of your choice within three working days.

Freedom of Information

The Freedom of Information Act 2000, obliges the practice to produce a Publication Scheme. A Publication Scheme is a guide to the “classes” of information the Practice intends to routinely make available. The Scheme is available from reception.

Confidentiality

We ask for information about you so that you can receive the best possible care and treatment. We keep this information, together with details of your care, to ensure that your doctor or nurse has accurate and up-to-date information. It may also be needed if we see you again.

There are times when we have to pass on information about you to other people such as hospitals, Social Services, or the Health Authority. This is always done confidentially or by removing your identifying details when they are not essential.

Everyone working for the NHS has a legal duty to maintain the highest level of confidentiality about patient information. If at any time you would like to know more about how we use your information, you can speak to our Practice Manager.

Chaperone Policy

If you feel you would like a chaperone present at your consultation, Please inform your Doctor / Nurse who will be more than happy to arrange this for you.