Accessible information –

The Accessible Information Standard is a requirement that all NHS organisations, including GP practices must follow to make sure that people who have a disability, impairment or sensory loss or their carers are given information in a format they can easily read or understand.

So, we can help and support you we want to know;

• If you need information in a specific format e.g. braille, large print or easy read
• If you need to receive information in a particular way
• if you need someone to support you at appointments e.g. a sign language interpreter or an advocate
• We want to know if you lip read or use a hearing aid or communication tool

Please let us know if you require any type of support so we can record this information and add it to your record.  You can do this by telling our reception team, doctor or nurse the support you need. It is best you do this prior to needing an appointment, so the practice can make the necessary adjustments in advance.

NHS England has more information on the standard which is available in a range of formats including easy read, audio and BSL video with subtitles.  You can see these by clicking the link below:

NHS England » Patients

Healthwatch Sunderland have created a leaflet to explain this

Do you have communication needs? | Healthwatch Sunderland

Reasonable Adjustments

All disabled people have the right to reasonable adjustments. This includes when using healthcare, including GP practices.

We need to make it as easy for disabled people to use health services. This is called making reasonable adjustments.

Reasonable adjustments are changes which mean people with a disability can access the healthcare they need.

Reasonable adjustments are dependent on the person. Everyone has different needs.  Some examples might include:

• making sure there is good access for people who use a wheelchair in the surgery
• providing plain English or easy read appointment letters.
• giving someone a priority appointment if they find it difficult waiting in their GP surgery or hospital.
• offering a longer appointment if someone needs more time with a doctor or nurse to make sure they understand the information they are given.
• having a quiet space available for people waiting for their appointment.
• making sure there is a hearing loop system in consultation rooms
• using a communication chart to support a person with dementia during an appointment.

Please let us know if you require any type adjustment to access your appointments so we can record this information and add it to your record.  You can do this by telling our reception team, doctor or nurse the adjustments you need. It is best you do this prior to needing an appointment, so the practice can make the necessary adjustments in advance.

Accessing someone else’s information

As a parent, family member or carer, you may be able to access services for someone else. We call this having proxy access. We can set this up for you if you are both registered with us.

To requests proxy access:

• collect a proxy access form from reception from 10am to 6pm

Linked profiles in your NHS account

Once proxy access is set up, you can access the other person’s profile in your NHS account, using the NHS App or website.

The NHS website has information about using linked profiles to access services for someone else.

Complaints process/procedures

We make every effort to give the best service possible to everyone who attends our Practice.

However, we are aware that things can go wrong, resulting in a patient feeling that they have a genuine cause for complaint. If this is so, we would like the matter to be settled as quickly, and as amicably, as possible.

To have your complaint investigated, you need to complain within 12 months of the event happening, or as soon as you first become aware of the issue you want to complain about.

The time limit can be extended in special circumstances.

How to make a compliment or complaint

Whether you are happy or unhappy with the care and treatment that you have received, please get in touch and let us know your views.

Receiving compliments and complaints is important to ensuring good quality local healthcare in our Practice – helping us to find out more about what we’re getting right and what we can improve.

We hope this will help you to make your feelings and experiences known to the appropriate people. Should you have a complaint we hope this page will give you more information about what to do, who to contact and what happens next.

How do I raise a concern / informal complaint?

You can speak to any member of staff initially with your complaint. This gives you the opportunity to resolve any concern you may have without it going through a formal process.

Most complaints are best resolved within the practice and these should be made via the Management team.

If you’re considering making a complaint but need help

If you require support to make a complaint Voice Ability can offer both offer both information and support.  They have advocates to support people to make a complaint about the treatment or care that they or a friend or family member have received from an NHS service. This support is available at every stage of the complaints process.

VoiceAbility | Sunderland

Complaint Form

If you wish to raise a Complaint please use the form HERE

Formal Complaint

What we will do

We will contact you about your complaint within three working days and offer to discuss with you the best way to investigate it, including the time scales for a reply. We will aim to offer you an explanation within that time frame. Or a meeting with the people involved.

• Find out what happened and what went wrong
• Invite you to discuss the problem with those involved, if you would like this
• Apologise where this is appropriate
• Identify what we can do to make sure that the problem does not happen again.

If you feel you do not want to contact the surgery directly, then you can contact the NHS integrated care board complaints team on:

Website address: NHS North East and North Cumbria ICB contact us

Email: necsu.pccomplaints@nhs.net

Telephone: 0191 512 8484

In General

If you have a complaint to make, you can either contact the Practice Manager or ask the Receptionist for a copy of our Complaints Procedure. We will endeavour to:

1. acknowledge any letter or Complaints Form within 3 working days of receiving it.
2. deal with the matter as promptly as possible – usually within 20 working days – dependent on the nature of the complaint.

Who can complain

• Complainants may be current or former patients, or their nominated or elected representatives (who have been given consent to act on the patients behalf).
• Patients over the age of 16 whose mental capacity is unimpaired should normally complain themselves or authorise someone to bring a complaint on their behalf.
• Children under the age of 16 can also make their own complaint, if they’re able to do so.

If a patient lacks capacity to make decisions, their representative must be able to demonstrate sufficient interest in the patient’s welfare and be an appropriate person to act on their behalf. This could be a partner, relative or someone appointed under the Mental Capacity Act 2005 with lasting power of attorney.

Appropriate person

In certain circumstances, we need to check that a representative is the appropriate person to make a complaint.

• For example, if the complaint involves a child, we must satisfy ourselves that there are reasonable grounds for the representative to complain, rather than the child concerned.
• If the patient is a child or a patient who lacks capacity, we must also be satisfied that the representative is acting in the patient’s best interests.

If we are not satisfied that the representative is an appropriate person we will not consider the complaint, and will give the representative the reasons for our decision in writing.

Procedure

We have a two stage complaints procedure. We will always try to deal with your complaint quickly however if it is clear that the matter will need a detailed investigation, we will notify you and then keep you updated on our progress.

Stage one – Early, local resolution

• We will try to resolve your complaint within five working days if possible.
• If you are dissatisfied with our response, you can ask us to escalate your complaint to Stage Two.

Stage Two – Investigation

• We will look at your complaint at this stage if you are dissatisfied with our response at Stage One.
• We also escalate some complaints straight to this stage, if it is clear that they are complex or need detailed investigation.
• We will acknowledge your complaint within 3 working days and we will give you our decision as soon as possible. This will be no more that 20 working days unless there is clearly a good reason for needing more time to respond.

Complain to the Ombudsman

If, after receiving our final decision, you remain dissatisfied you may take your complaint to the Ombudsman.

The Ombudsman is independent of the NHS and free to use. It can help resolve your complaint, and tell the NHS how to put things right if it has got them wrong.

The Ombudsman only has legal powers to investigate certain complaints. You must have received a final response from the Practice before the Ombudsman can look at your complaint and it will generally not look into your complaint if it happened more than 12 months ago, unless there are exceptional circumstances.

Phone: 0345 015 4033

• E: email the Ombudsman 

Confidentiality

All complaints will be treated in the strictest confidence.

Where the investigation of the complaint requires consideration of the patient’s medical records, we will inform the patient or person acting on his/her behalf if the investigation will involve disclosure of information contained in those records to a person other than the Practice or an employee of the Practice.

We keep a record of all complaints and copies of all correspondence relating to complaints, but such records will be kept separate from patients’ medical 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.

There is a new Central NHS Computer System called the Summary Care Record (SCR). The Summary Care Record is meant to help emergency doctors and nurses help you when you contact them when the surgery is closed. Initially, it will contain just your medications and allergies.

Later on as the central NHS computer system develops, (known as the ‘Summary Care Record’ – SCR), other staff who work in the NHS will be able to access it along with information from hospitals, out of hours services, and specialists letters that may be added as well.

Your information will be extracted from practices such as ours and held on central NHS databases.

As with all new systems there are pros and cons to think about. When you speak to an emergency doctor you might overlook something that is important and if they have access to your medical record it might avoid mistakes or problems, although even then, you should be asked to give your consent each time a member of NHS Staff wishes to access your record, unless you are medically unable to do so.

On the other hand, you may have strong views about sharing your personal information and wish to keep your information at the level of this practice. Connecting for Health (CfH), the government agency responsible for the Summary Care Record have agreed with doctors’ leaders that new patients registering with this practice should be able to decide whether or not their information is uploaded to the Central NHS Computer System.

For existing patients it is different in that it is assumed that you want your record uploaded to the Central NHS Computer System unless you actively opt out.

This practice is taking part in the National Diabetes Audit (NDA)

The NDA collects information about diabetes care from GP practices and hospitals and is used to help the NHS to improve care for patients with diabetes.

It is managed by the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC), working with Diabetes UK and Public Health England.

The information that the audit collects is controlled by law and strict rules of confidentiality.

The NDA only uses information about your diabetes care that is already recorded, for  example, type of diabetes, latest blood pressure result and results of HbA1c, or eye screening tests. The NDA is not a research project. No extra blood tests, appointments or scans are needed.

You can choose not to take part if you have any concerns

If you do not want your information to be used, please inform the receptionist, your GP or nurse. They will make sure that this is noted on your medical records, so your information is not included. This will not affect your care in any way.

For further information please see http://www.hscic.gov.uk/nda.