If you have a complaint or concern about the service you have received from the doctors or any of the personnel working in this practice, please let us know.  We operate a practice complaint procedure as part of an NHS complaints system, which meets or exceeds national criteria.

How to Complain

We hope that we can sort most problems out easily and quickly, often at the time they arise and with the person concerned. If you wish to make a formal complaint, please do so AS SOON AS POSSIBLE – ideally within a matter of a few days. This will enable us to establish what happened more easily.  If doing that is not possible your complaint should be submitted within 12 months of the incident that caused the problem; or within 12 months of discovering that you have a problem.

You should address your complaint in writing to the Practice Business Manager at the following address:

Emma Cruickshank, Greyswood Practice, 66 Eastwood Street, London, SW16 6PX
Email:  [email protected]

We will also require you give us your basic demographic information when complaining such as Full Name, DOB and Address so we can identify you correctly. None of this information will be passed on to third parties or those who are not employed at the Greyswood Practice.

Greyswood Practice Complaints Procedure

Complaining On Behalf Of Someone Else

We keep strictly to the rules of medical confidentiality (a separate leaflet giving more detail on confidentiality is available on request).  If you are not the patient, but are complaining on their behalf, you must have their permission to do so.  An authority signed by the person concerned will be needed, unless they are incapable (because of illness or infirmity) of providing this. A Third Party Consent Form is provided below in the complaints Policy.

What We Will Do

The Practice Manager will make sure that we deal with your concerns promptly and in the correct way. You should be as specific and concise as possible. You will receive an acknowledgement of your complaint within 3 working days and should receive a final response within 10 working days of us receiving your complaint. If there will be a delay in you receiving a final response you will be informed in writing and will be given an estimated time frame for the final response.

When we look into your complaint, we will investigate the circumstances; make it possible for you to discuss the problem with those concerned; make sure you receive an apology if this is appropriate, and take steps to make sure any problem does not arise again.

You will receive a final letter setting out the result of any practice investigations.
We suggest emailing for a swifter response and to avoid delay due to postal services

Taking It Further

If you remain dissatisfied with the outcome you may refer the matter to NHS England, who commission local health services, or if you are still not satisfied by their response, the next step would be to contact the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) to review how the complaint has been handled.

Complaints to NHS England

If a complainant has concerns relating to a directly commissioned service by NHS England, then the first step is, where appropriate, for complaints and concerns to be resolved on the spot with their local service provider. This is called by NHS England ‘informal complaint resolution’ and is in line with the recommendations of the Complaints Regulations of 2009.

If it is not appropriate to raise a concern informally or where informal resolution fails to achieve a satisfactory outcome, the complainant has the right to raise a formal complaint with either the service provider or the commissioner of the service NHS England.

A complaint or concern can be received by mail, electronically or by telephone via these details;

By telephone:  03003 11 22 33
By email:  [email protected]
By post:   NHS England, PO Box 16738, Redditch, B97 9PT

The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman
Millbank Tower
Millbank
London
SW1P 4QP

Tel: 0345 0154033

If you are not happy with the Ombudsman’s decision, then you can appeal directly to the PHSO, and details of this process can be found on their website;

www.ombudsman.org.uk

Once the Ombudsman or one of their senior staff has considered the complaint and sent a response, their decision is final. Unless you raise any new issues that they consider significant to the complaint, they will not send further replies (but will still acknowledge further correspondence).

Your Data Matters to the NHS

Information about your health and care helps us to improve your individual care, speed up diagnosis, plan your local services and research new treatments. The NHS is committed to keeping patient information safe and always being clear about how it is used.

How your data is used

Information about your individual care such as treatment and diagnoses is collected about you whenever you use health and care services. It is also used to help us and other organisations for research and planning such as research into new treatments, deciding where to put GP clinics and planning for the number of doctors and nurses in your local hospital.  It is only used in this way when there is a clear legal basis to use the information to help improve health and care for you, your family and future generations.

Wherever possible we try to use data that does not identify you, but sometimes it is necessary to use your confidential patient information.

You have a choice

You do not need to do anything if you are happy about how your information is used. If you do not want your confidential patient information to be used for research and planning, you can choose to opt out securely online or through a telephone service. You can change your mind about your choice at any time.

Will choosing this opt-out affect your care and treatment?

No, choosing to opt out will not affect how information is used to support your care and treatment. You will still be invited for screening services, such as screenings for bowel cancer.

What do you need to do?

If you are happy for your confidential patient information to be used for research and planning, you do not need to do anything.

To find out more about the benefits of data sharing, how data is protected, or to make/change your opt-out choice visit www.nhs.uk/your-nhs-data-matters

The Practice takes our responsibilities associated with Data Protection seriously please find below a copy our Privacy Notice which tells you how we handle and use your personal information. In addition to this should you require access to your information we would appreciate if you could complete a copy of Practice’s application form to access your records and follow the instructions on the form.

Privacy Notice

Easy Read Privacy Notice

Access Request Form

Our ICO Registration Number is: Z5773662

Our Data Protection Officer is Umar Sabat he can be contacted at [email protected]

Confidentiality & Medical Records

The practice complies with data protection and access to medical records legislation. Identifiable information about you will be shared with others in the following circumstances:

• To provide further medical treatment for you e.g. from district nurses and hospital services.
• To help you get other services e.g. from the social work department. This requires your consent.
• When we have a duty to others e.g. in child protection cases anonymised patient information will also be used at local and national level to help the Health Board and Government plan services e.g. for diabetic care.

If you do not wish anonymous information about you to be used in such a way, please let us know.

Reception and administration staff require access to your medical records in order to do their jobs. These members of staff are bound by the same rules of confidentiality as the medical staff.

How we use your health records

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.

Freedom of Information Leaflet

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.

The practice is committed to security of patient and staff records.

The practice will take steps to ensure that individual patient information is not deliberately or accidentally released or (by default) made available or accessible to a third party without the patient’s consent, unless otherwise legally compliant. This will include training on Confidentiality issues, DPA principles, working security procedures, and the application of Best practice in the workplace.

The practice will undertake prudence in the use of, and testing of, arrangements for the backup and recovery of data in the event of an adverse event.

The practice will maintain a system of “Significant Event Reporting” through a no-blame culture to capture and address incidents which threaten compliance.

DPA issues will form part of the practice general procedures for the management of Risk.

Specific instructions will be documented within confidentiality and security instructions and will be promoted to all staff.

GDPR The Greyswood Practice

We recognise the need to minimise any adverse environmental effects caused as a result of the surgery’s activities or products, achieving our business objectives in a manner that reflects the changing environmental priorities of our patients and the community.

The practice acknowledges responsibility for and a commitment to protection of the environment at all levels. The practice will comply with applicable environmental regulations, laws and codes of practice whilst committing to continuous improvement of our environmental management performance and the prevention of pollution. We recognise that our key adverse environmental impacts are energy, fuel consumption and waste generation.

Private Work at The Greyswood Practice

We are seeing more of our patients requesting private referrals and investigations or treatment through the private sector, driven in part by long NHS waiting lists. Whilst we are grateful for the support of our private consultant colleagues, and sympathise with the delays in seeking specialist assistance, it may not always be appropriate or possible for us to action these requests.

Please find further information below regarding our position on private work at the Greyswood Practice.

Private blood tests and other investigations

The practice occasionally receives requests from private providers to perform investigations such as blood tests or scans for our patients.

According to the NHS General Medical Services Regulations, which govern the contract between the NHS and GPs, these investigations should only be performed if the GP considers these to be clinically appropriate and part of the standard approach of assessing/ treating the patient as per NHS guidance. The GP must also be able to interpret the results and manage the care of the patient accordingly.

If we feel the proposed investigations lie outside NHS Primary medical services, we will ask you to make alternative arrangements through your private provider.

Private Prescriptions

The practice also receives requests from private providers asking us to prescribe medications they have recommended.

Whenever a GP prescribes a medication, they take over the full responsibility for the drug regardless of whether another doctor recommended it. As a result, we are usually happy to issue prescriptions for medicines that we have experience prescribing.

Although we will always try and accommodate prescription requests, there are instances where we may not be able to prescribe medications recommended by your private provider. Examples include:

• Where the GP or practice does not have the expertise to safely prescribe and/ or monitor a specialist drug.
• Where we have been asked to prescribe a medication which would only be prescribed by a hospital consultant in the NHS. Common examples include ADHD medications, mood stabilisers such as Lithium and immunosuppressant medications such as Methotrexate or Hydroxychloroquine.
• Where there has been insufficient information from the private provider regarding the rationale for using a medication.
• Where the use of the proposed medication is not in line with local or national prescribing guidance.
• Where the proposed medication is not licensed for the medical condition described.

Shared Care Agreements

When patients are stable on a long-term medication initiated by a hospital consultant, their GP may be asked to take over the prescribing responsibility with a written document called a Shared Care Agreement.

Whilst this is commonplace in the NHS, with clear guidelines around which medications are appropriate for ‘shared care’, we occasionally receive these requests from private providers.

The British Medication Association (BMA) guidance is very clear that ‘Shared Care with private providers is not recommended due to the general NHS constitution principle of keeping as clear a separation as possible between private and NHS care. Shared Care is currently set up as an NHS service, and entering into a shared care arrangement may have implications around governance and quality assurance as well as promoting health inequalities.’

When we receive shared care agreements from private providers we will need to refer you to an NHS specialist in the first instance. They will be able to confirm your diagnosis and treatment plan and facilitate an NHS Shared Care Agreement that we are then able to take over.

There are many social media platforms that are widely used by both staff and patients; these include Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Linkedln.

Greyswood Practice has a duty to maintain patient confidentiality and to safeguard vulnerable patients. Please open the Social Media Patient Policy for full statement.

Social Media Patient 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.