Practice Policies & Patient Information
Chaperone Policy
It is the policy of this Practice to respect the privacy, dignity, religious and cultural beliefs of our patients.
If you feel you would like a chaperone to be present during a physical examination by a doctor or any other health professional you may be consulting at the surgery (or if you prefer to be examined by a doctor or health professional of the same sex as yourself) please let us know and we will do our best to comply with your wishes.
Download our Chaperone Policy here.
Compliments & Complaints
We appreciate your feedback and will use it to evaluate changes and make improvements. Please take a few minutes to give us your feedback or just get in touch with us.
Positive Feedback: We really work hard to provide you with good quality healthcare services and we are human too. If you are happy with our services then please do tell us and tell others too.
Negative Feedback: 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 an NHS system for dealing with complaints. Our complaints system meets national criteria.
Complaints Procedure
Although we always try to offer our patients the best care, despite the increasingly heavy demands made of us, we accept that there may be times when you have comments or complaints to make.
If you are unhappy about any aspect of our service or have constructive suggestions for improvement then please contact our Administration Team at admin.department@nhs.net who will forward your complaint/feedback to our Executive Manager. You can also use our online complaints & feedback form.
We would ask that you let us know of any problems as soon as possible. We hope that most problems can be sorted out easily and quickly, preferably at the time they occur. Information is obtainable from reception.
If you feel you cannot raise your complaint with us, you can contact Patient Advice & Liaison Service (PALS). If you remain unhappy after everything has been done to try to resolve your concern or complaint you have the right to approach the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman:
Millbank Tower,
Millbank,
London,
SW14 4QP
Tel: 0345 015 4033
www.ombudsman.org.uk
You can also contact NHS Birmingham and Solihull CCG’s Patient Experience and Complaints Team:
Call: 0121 203 3313
Email: bsol.complaints@nhs.net
GP Earnings
All GP practices are required to declare the mean earnings (i.e. average pay) for GPs working to
deliver NHS services to patients at each practice.
The average pay for GPs working in St Heliers Medical Practice in the last financial year was
£73,554 before tax and National Insurance. This is for 0 full time GPs, 15 part time GPs and 0
locum GPs who worked in the practice for longer than six months.
Named Accountable GP
All patients registered at the Practice have been allocated a named GP, however all of our GPs will be able to help you when you call our Clinical Support Team to speak to one of our GPs.
National Data Type 1 Opt-out
Information about you and the care you receive is shared, in a secure system, by healthcare staff to support your treatment and care.
It is important that the NHS can use this information to plan and improve services for all patients. The NHS would like to link information from all the different places where you receive care, such as your GP, hospital and community services, to help provide a full picture. This will allow the NHS to compare the care you received in one area against the care you received in another, so the NHS can see what has worked best.
There are two levels of national data sharing of your information.
Type 1 Opt-out
The data held in your GP medical records is shared with other healthcare professionals for the purposes of your individual care. It is also shared with other organisations to support health and care planning and research.
You have a choice. If you are happy for your information to be used in this way you do not have to do anything. If you do not want your personally identifiable patient data to be shared outside of your GP practice for purposes except your own care, you can register an opt-out with your GP practice. This is known as a Type 1 Opt-out.
Type 1 Opt-outs may be discontinued in the future. If this happens then they may be turned into a National Data Opt-out. Your GP practice will tell you if this is going to happen and if you need to do anything. More information about the National Data Opt-out is here: https://www.nhs.uk/your-nhs-data-matters/.
You can use this form to:
- register a Type 1 Opt-out, for yourself or for a dependent (if you are the parent or legal guardian of the patient) (to Opt-out)
- withdraw an existing Type 1 Opt-out, for yourself or a dependent (if you are the parent or legal guardian of the patient) if you have changed your preference (Opt-in)
This decision will not affect individual care and you can change your choice at any time, using the opt-out form.
Type 2 Opt-out
Information at NHS Digital which does not reveal your identity can then also be used by others, such as researchers and those planning health services, to make sure we provide the best care possible for everyone.
You have a choice. If you are happy for your information to be used in this way you do not have to do anything. If you have any concerns or wish to prevent this from happening, please check https://www.nhs.uk/your-nhs-data-matters/manage-your-choice/ for further information on how to make your choice. GP practices are no longer able manage this type of opt-out.
For more information on either type of opt-out click here.
Privacy Policy
St Heliers Medical Practice has a legal duty to explain how we use any personal information we collect about you, as a registered patient, at the practice. Staff at this Practice maintain records about your health and the treatment you receive in electronic and paper format.
What information do we collect about you?
We will collect information such as personal details, including name, address, next of kin, records of appointments, visits, telephone calls, your health records, treatment and medications, test results, X-rays, etc. and any other relevant information to enable us to deliver effective medical care.
Birmingham and Solihull shared care record
St Heliers Medical Practice works with other health and social care organisations to share information that will form part of your Shared Care Record. The Shared Care Record allows health and care professionals involved in your care to view your records to help them understand your needs and make the best decisions with you, and for you. Information we hold about you will be available, to read only, to other health and care professionals in Birmingham and Solihull, Coventry and Warwickshire, and Herefordshire and Worcestershire when they are involved in your health or social care.
For more information on how your data is used on the Shared Care Record and how to exercise your rights please see the full Privacy Notice.
How we will use your information
Your data is collected for the purpose of providing direct patient care; however, we can disclose this information if it is required by law, if you give consent or if it is justified in the public interest. The Practice may be requested to support research; however, we will always gain your consent before sharing your information with medical research databases such as the Clinical Practice Research Datalink and QResearch or others when the law allows.
In order to comply with its legal obligations, this Practice may send data to NHS Digital when directed by the Secretary of State for Health under the Health and Social Care Act 2012. Additionally, this Practice contributes to national clinical audits and will send the data that is required by NHS Digital when the law allows. This may include demographic data, such as date of birth, and information about your health which is recorded in coded form; for example, the clinical code for diabetes or high blood pressure.
Processing your information in this way and obtaining your consent ensures that we comply with Articles 6(1)(c), 6(1)(e) and 9(2)(h) of the GDPR.
Maintaining confidentiality and accessing your records
The Practice is committed to maintaining confidentiality and protecting the information it holds about you. The Practice adhere to the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the NHS Codes of Confidentiality and Security, as well as guidance issued by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). You have a right to access the information the Practice holds about you, and if you would like to access this information, you will need to complete a Subject Access Request (SAR). Please ask at Reception for a SAR form and you will be given further information. Furthermore, should you identify any inaccuracies, you have a right to have the inaccurate data corrected.
Risk stratification
Risk stratification is a mechanism used to identify and subsequently manage those patients deemed as being at high risk of requiring urgent or emergency care. Usually this includes patients with long-term conditions, e.g. cancer. Your information is collected by a number of sources, including St Heliers Medical Practice, this information is processed electronically and given a risk score which is relayed to your GP who can then decide on any necessary actions to ensure that you receive the most appropriate care.
Invoice validation
Your information may be shared if you have received treatment to determine which Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) is responsible for paying for your treatment. This information may include your name, address and treatment date. All of this information is held securely and confidentially, it will not be used for any other purpose or shared with any third parties.
Opt-outs
You have a right to object to your information being shared. Should you wish to opt out of data collection, please contact a member of staff who will be able to explain how you can opt out and prevent the sharing of your information, this is done by registering to opt out online (national data opt-out programme) or if you are unable to do so or do not wish to do so online, by speaking to a member of staff.
Retention periods
In accordance with the NHS Codes of Practice for Records Management, your healthcare records will be retained for 10 years after death or, if a patient emigrates, for 10 years after the date of emigration.
What to do if you have any questions
Should you have any questions about the Practice’s privacy policy or the information the Practice holds about you, you can:
- Contact the Practice’s data controller via email at Karen.richards5@nhs.net – GP practices are data controllers for the data they hold about their patients
- Write to the data controller at St Heliers Medical Practice, 15 St Heliers Road, B31 1QT
- Ask to speak to the Executive Manager
The Data Protection Officer (DPO) for St Heliers Medical Practice is Karen Richards.
Download our Privacy Policy here.
Summary Care Record
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 that 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.
1.Express consent for medication, allergies and adverse reactions only. You wish to share information about medication, allergies and adverse reactions only.
2.Express consent for medication, allergies, adverse reactions and additional information. You wish to share information about medication, allergies and adverse reactions and further medical information that includes: Your significant 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.
3.Express dissent for Summary Care Record (opt out). Select this option, if you DO NOT want any information shared with other healthcare professionals involved in your care.
Please note that it is not compulsory for you to complete the consent form. If you choose not to complete the form, a Summary Care Record containing information about your medication, allergies and adverse reactions and additional further medical information will be created for you as described in point b) above. The sharing of this additional information during the pandemic period will assist healthcare professionals involved in your direct care and has been directed via the Control of Patient Information (COPI) Covid-19 – Notice under Regulation 3(4) of the Health Service Control of Patient Information Regulations 2002.
You can register your choice here: SCR patient consent preference form – NHS England Digital
Zero Tolerance Policy
The NHS operates 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.
Download our Zero Tolerance Policy here.