Your data matters to the NHS. Information about your health and care can be used to help improve not only your individual care, but can help speed up diagnoses, plan local and regional health services and research new treatments.

The NHS is committed to keeping patient information safe and always being clear about how it is used.

You can choose whether your confidential patient information is used. On 25 May 2018, the national data opt-out programme was introduced, enabling patients to opt-out from the use of their data for research or planning purposes.

Find out how you can opt-out; or find out more about how your information is used.

Here at Priors Field Surgery your doctor or nurse will generally not give you a prescription for medication that is available to buy over-the-counter (OTC) from local pharmacies or supermarkets.

• This covers medicines or treatments for a range of minor health conditions including cough and cold treatments, eye drops, headache tablets, laxatives, sun cream lotions, vitamins and probiotics.

All these medicines are widely available from supermarkets and pharmacies at reasonable cost.

Patients are encouraged to keep a small supply of simple treatments in their own medicine cabinet so they are able to manage minor ailments at home.

By reducing the amount it spends on OTC medicines, the NHS can give priority to treatments for people with more serious conditions, such as cancer, diabetes and mental health problems.

Interpreting services are available to all our patients and we can arrange for an interpreter to attend your appointment with a GP or nurse, if required.

If you need an interpreter, please add this to your consultation request, or ask a member of the Patient Services Team when you book your appointment.

If you have a hearing problem, we have British Sign Language (BSL) interpreters available for clinical appointments.

• BSL is a language in its own right and as with verbal interpreting, our interpreters abide by a strict code of ethics, covering impartiality, accuracy and confidentiality.

All interpreting services used by Priors Field Surgery are procured through the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Integrated Care System.

Priors Field Surgery is part of the Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Integrated Care System (ICS). This ICS is one of the largest in the country covering a patient population of over 990,000 people.

The ICS is responsible for planning and buying local NHS services, such as hospital care and in the community, as well as ensuring that the best possible care and treatment is delivered to patients.

For more information, please visit the Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Integrated Care System website.

The Freedom of Information Act (Scotland) 2002 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.

This scheme is available from reception.

What is a chaperone?

Priors Field Surgery is committed to providing a safe, comfortable environment where patients and staff can be confident that best practice is being followed at all times and the dignity and safety of everyone is of paramount importance.

A chaperone is an adult who is present during an intimate examination of a patient. They are there to protect both the patient and the doctor or clinician from allegations of inappropriate behaviour.

At Priors Field Surgery, we offer chaperones for both male and female patients in the event that you need to be examined.

To request a chaperone, please either ask reception, or mention this to the GP or clinician at the time of your appointment.

Can my partner, relative or friend act as a chaperone?

You can choose to have your partner, relative or friend with you during your examinations. It can be helpful to think about whether you and they will feel comfortable about this. Also, there could be matters that you would prefer to discuss confidentially with your doctor or clinician.

What about my privacy?

The chaperone will have had training about maintaining confidentiality and will also know what is and what is not necessary during this type of examination.

It is our policy to respect the privacy and dignity of our patients. If you would like a chaperone to be present during a physical examination/consultation, or if you would prefer to be examined by a health professional of the same gender as yourself, please let us know and we will do our best to comply with your wishes.

What if I do not want a chaperone present?

The presence of a chaperone should only be with the agreement of both the patient and the doctor or clinician. During intimate examination of a patient of the opposite sex to a doctor, a chaperone should always be present.

If the examining clinician feels that a chaperone should be present and the offer of a chaperone is declined by the patient, the clinician may not wish to continue with the examination.

Chaperones and children

If the examination is to be carried out on a child, a chaperone must be present at all times. This may be a parent or carer, although there may be some circumstances where this is not appropriate. Children cannot be chaperones for adults or be present during the intimate examinations.

Best practice guidelines

Prior to undertaking any clinical examination the health professional should:

· Explain why the examination is needed, giving the patient opportunity to ask questions and discuss concerns.

· Explain what the examination will involve, reassuring the patient if they are likely to experience pain or discomfort.

· Ensure the patient’s consent is obtained before the examination and be prepared to stop if the patient requests. Consent must be documented.

· Offer a chaperone. If the patient does not want a chaperone the health professional must record that the offer was made and declined. If a chaperone is present the health professional should record that fact and make a note of the chaperone’s identity.

· If for justifiable reasons a chaperone cannot be offered the health professional should explain that to the patient, offer to delay the examination or procedure to a later date. The health professional should record the discussion and its outcome.

The practice will ensure that all members of staff receive the level of training necessary for them to fulfil their individual responsibilities identified in this policy.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) makes sure hospitals, care homes, dental and GP surgeries, and all other care services in England provide people with safe, effective, compassionate and high-quality care, and encourages them to make improvements where possible. They do this by inspecting services and publishing the results on their website: www.cqc.org.uk.

You can use the results to help you make better decisions about the care you, or someone you care for, receives.

Our CQC Inspection Our practice is inspected by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to ensure we are meeting essential standards of quality and safety.

We take seriously any threatening, abusive or violent behaviour against any of our staff or patients.

Priors Field Surgery fully supports the NHS Zero Tolerance Policy. The aim of this policy is to tackle the increasing problem of violence against staff working in the NHS. We aim to treat our patients courteously at all times and expect our patients to treat our staff in a similarly respectful way.

Priors Field Surgery staff have the right to care for others without fear of being attacked or abused and we have a zero tolerance policy to any threatening, abusive or violent behaviour against any of our staff or patients.

Patients using threatening or violent behaviour to GPs or any other person on the practice premises may be removed from the patient list with immediate effect.

As data controllers, GPs have fair processing responsibilities under the Data Protection Act and GDPR law 2018. This means ensuring that your personal confidential data (PCD) is handled in ways that are safe, transparent and what you would reasonably expect. Please contact reception for further information on our Privacy Policy.

Priors Field Surgery aims to provide you with the highest quality healthcare. To do this we must keep records about you, your health and the care or treatment that we have provided for you or plan to provide for you.

These records are your ‘health care record’, and may be stored in paper form or on computer and electronic systems and may include personal data.

What is personal data?

Personal data is information about you, such as:

• Basic details – name, address, date of birth, NHS number, contact details, next of kin, etc.
• Sensitive personal data – details about contact we have had with you, e.g. clinical visits, notes and reports about your health, records about any treatment and care you have received, and test results, e.g. blood tests or x-rays.

As a healthcare provider, Priors Field Surgery is permitted to collect, store, use and share this information under Data Protection Legislation, which has a specific section related to healthcare data.

Here are some examples of what we do with your information:

• Refer you to other healthcare providers when you need other services or tests
• Share samples with laboratories for testing (e.g. blood samples)
• Share test results with hospitals or community services
• Allow out of hours GPs or clinicians to look at your health record when you have an appointment
• Send prescriptions to a pharmacy
• Share reports with a coroner
• Receive reports of appointments you have attended elsewhere, such as with the community nurse, or if you have stayed in hospital.

What else do we do with your information?

As well as activities related directly to your care, we also use information in ways which allow us to check that care is safe and provide data for the improvement and planning of services.

The surgery is registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office as a Data Controller.

Priors Field Surgery takes your privacy very seriously. If you have any questions or concerns in relation to the way we manage your personal information, please contact the Practice Manager.

The practice is registered with the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA 2018). Any request for access to notes by a patient, patient’s representative or outside body will be dealt with in accordance with the Act. Please contact the Practice Manager for further information.

Summary Care Record

If you’re registered with a GP surgery, you’ll have a Summary Care Record unless you’ve chosen not to have one. It contains basic information including your allergies, medicines and any reactions you’ve had to medicine in the past. By storing all this information in one place, it makes it easier for healthcare staff to treat you in an emergency, or when your GP practice is closed.

Visit the NHS website for more information on how to access your health records.

GP2GP

GP2GP allows patients’ electronic health records to be transferred directly, securely, and quickly between their old and new practices, when they change GPs.

Find out more about GP2GP on the NHS website.

Your data matters to the NHS

Your health records contain a type of data called confidential patient information. This data can be used to help with research and planning.

You can choose to stop your confidential patient information being used for research and planning. You can also make a choice for someone else like your children under the age of 13.

Your choice will only apply to the health and care system in England. This does not apply to health or care services accessed in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland.

Find out how this data is used and how to opt out.