What is a Chaperone?

Unity 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 safety of everyone is of paramount importance

Some examinations and treatments, in particular where they involve intimate body parts and states of undress, can make patients feel vulnerable and distressed.

A chaperone is to protect both patients and staff from abuse or allegations of abuse and to assist patients to make an informed choice about their examinations and consultations.   chaperone may assist in supporting and reassuring a patient during an examination or procedure.

The healthcare professional may also require a chaperone to be present for certain consultations in accordance with the practice chaperones policy.

What to expect?
You can request a chaperone be present during any examination or procedure that you feel uncomfortable with. Expect the role of the chaperone to be clearly explained to you and the person introduced to you by the health care professional who is to undertake the examination or procedure.

Who can be a chaperone?
All clinical and non-clinical staff have received chaperone training.

Arranging a chaperone
If you would like to arrange a chaperone in advance please inform the receptionist when you book your appointment. If during your consultation the clinician feels a chaperone is needed, they will attempt to arrange this, if possible during the consultation. In the unlikely event a chaperone cannot be arranged you may be asked to arrange another appointment.

What is the chaperones responsibility?

• At this organisation, chaperones will adhere to the GMC guidance which states chaperones will:

   

• Be sensitive and respect the patient’s dignity and confidentiality
• Reassure the patient if they show signs of distress or discomfort
• Be familiar with the procedures involved in a routine intimate examination
• Stay for the whole examination and be able to see what the doctor is doing, if practical
• Be prepared to raise concerns if they are concerned about the doctor’s behaviour or actions
•  

  The CQC advises that for most patients and procedures, respect, explanation, consent and privacy are all that are needed. These take precedence over the need for a chaperone. A chaperone does not remove the need for adequate explanation and courtesy. Neither can a chaperone provide full assurance that the procedure or examination is conducted appropriately.

• Can a family member act as a chaperone?
  As per the GMC guidance, relatives or friends of the patient are not considered to be an impartial observer so would not usually be a suitable chaperone but staff at this organisation should comply with a reasonable request to have such a person present in addition to the chaperone.

  Can I refuse a chaperone?
  If the clinician does not want to proceed with the examination without a chaperone but the patient has refused a chaperone, the clinician must clearly explain why they want a chaperone present. The GMC states that ultimately the patient’s clinical needs must take precedence. The clinician may wish to consider referring the patient to a colleague who would be willing to examine them without a chaperone as long as a delay would not adversely affect the patient’s health.

   

  Any discussion about chaperones and the outcome should be recorded in the patient’s medical record, and in particular:

   

  • Who the chaperone was
  • Their title
  • That the offer was made and declined

Practice Complaints Procedure

Patient feedback is important to us as it helps us to improve the service we provide to patients. We take patient complaints seriously and will attempt to address your concerns to your satisfaction.

How do I make a complaint?

If you wish to complain please contact the Practice Manager (Mr James McCourt) either in person, by phone or in writing:

• Tel: 0115 9877604
• Address: Unity Surgery, 318 Westdale Lane, Mapperley, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, NG3 6EU
• Online: Complaints Form.

If you are complaining on behalf of someone else, the practice needs to know that you have their permission to do so.

What Happens Next?

The complaint will be acknowledged within 3 working days.  The practice will respond, after investigation, within the timeframe specified to you at the acknowledgement stage of the process.  Some complaints may take longer to address but you will be informed of a response time.  If this cannot be met, the practice will keep you informed.

Please be assured making a complaint will not adversely affect your ongoing healthcare at the practice. We will deal with you fairly, compassionately and will endeavour to resolve the situation to a satisfactory conclusion.

Wherever possible, we aim to learn from complaints and take action to avoid similar occurrences.

How do I complain to someone Independent?

GP Practices would prefer to have the opportunity to answer complaints ourselves in the first instance. However, you may pass your complaint directly to:

Patient Experience Team
Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Integrated Care Board
Sir John Robinson House
Sir John Robinson Way
Arnold
Nottingham
NG5 6DA

Tel: 0115 8839570
Email: nnicb-nn.patientexperience@nhs.net

If you would like further information please follow the link to the ICB website: Patient Experience and Complaints – NHS Nottingham and Nottinghamshire ICB

However, please note, patients cannot raise the same complaint with the practice and ICB.

Is there a time limit?

A complaint must be made within 12 months of the date of the incident that caused the problem or the date of discovering the problem.

Please remember, the quicker you complain, the easier it will be to investigate the facts.

If you are not satisfied with the outcome?

You can contact the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) on 0345 015 4033.

For more information see their website www.ombudsman.org.uk.

Other useful contacts

POhWER, NHS Complaints Advocacy, on 0300 456 2370.  For more information see their website www.pohwer.net.

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.

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.

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.

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

Privacy Notice

The Practice acts in an open and transparent way with clear, honest and effective communication with patients, their families and carers throughout their care and treatment, including when things go wrong.

The Practice recognises the importance of the following attributes and strives to implement them at all times.

• Openness – Enabling concerns and complaints to be raised freely without fear, and questions asked to be answered.

• Transparency – Allowing information about the truth, about performance and outcomes to be shared with staff, people who use the service, the public and regulators.

• Candour – Any person who uses the service and who is harmed by the provision of a service provider is informed of the fact and an appropriate remedy offered, regardless of whether a complaint has been made, or a question asked about it.

• Apology – An ‘apology’ is an expression of sorrow or regret in respect of a notifiable safety incident. It is not an admission of guilt.

• Appropriate Written Records – Records are complete, legible, accurate and up to date. Every effort must be made to ensure records are updated without any delays.

• Cancelling Treatment – where planned treatment is not carried out as a direct result of the notifiable safety incident.

Our commitment to continual improvement of patient care

• As part of the Digital First National programme of work, GP Practices are required to record accurate data about patient interaction, especially within consultations.  To assist with this administrative task, the practice is using a new technology known as Heidi AI.The primary purposes include improving clinical documentation, aiding healthcare professionals in note taking, and generating consult summaries. Heidi technology enables clinicians to focus on patients during the consultation, contributing to improved patient care. It also acts as a valuable tool for medical practitioners, saving them hours of administrative time per week.

How does it work? 

• Heidi works by transcribing speech into text from a healthcare encounter such as conversations between clinicians and patients or by clinicians dictating their clinical findings, impression and/or management plans before, during and after the healthcare encounter. The clinician can also add additional contextual notes about the healthcare encounter.

What are the benefits of Heidi Health to me, a patient? 

• This system is designed to alleviate the administrative burden on healthcare professionals, allowing them to focus more on patient care rather than paperwork. The Heidi Scribe will leverage natural language processing (NLP), speech recognition technology, and machine learning algorithms to understand and interpret complex medical dialogue, identify key health information, and categorise data into the appropriate sections of an Electronic Health Record (EHR).Your consent will be sought for consultations that are transcribed using the Heidi AI tool.  Heidi also uses aggregated de-identified information from these consults to improve its models and outputs, ultimately improving both patient care and clinician experience.

How is my data managed? 

• Security and privacy of your data is of upmost importance. Stringent UK compliance frameworks are adhered to by Heidi Health, ensuring secure and confidential handling of your personal information. Heidi Health complies with NHS standards (DTAC, DSPT, DCB0129), the Data Protection Act, and GDPR.
• Hosting of your data within the UK is in compliance with local protection regulations, thereby enhancing security.
• Audio recordings are generated simultaneously at the time of the appointment, meaning no recordings are ever stored. The generated notes are then deleted, ensuring privacy and security.
• All data that identifies you stays within the practice and its servers which are UK based, no identifiable data is used by the Heidi tool for machine learning. Heidi AI will not make decisions about your care, it only transcribes verbal interactions with the practice, with your consent.

To see further information on Heidi Health please click here.  

To provide professional, accessible, high quality, comprehensive healthcare services that inspires confidence in our patients and our community.

Vision

• We aim to provide the best possible outcomes for our patients in a safe and welcoming environment. Our Clinical and Non-Clinical Teams are approachable, respectful and patient-centred.
• We aim to be at the forefront of modern general practice, offering a wide range of services and facilities.
• Our aim for our future is to be a Centre of Excellence for teaching and training of medical students and GP Registrars
• We aim to use technology smartly to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of our administration, appointment systems and all patient contact.
• We will continue to invest in our staff, diversifying and developing our skills and knowledge base to ensure that we have a highly skilled, resilient, and adaptable work force to meet the needs of our patients and communities.
• We will seek to collaborate and work more streamlined and in more cost effective ways. In a hope to strengthen relationships within our PCN practices ,building community links and responding to local, regional and national initiatives

Our Values

We are accountable:

We ensure we take responsibility for our actions.

We are fair:

We are consistent in the way we deal with people, both patients and staff, we act courteously, show consideration, compassion and understanding valuing each person as an individual.

We are professional:

We strive to achieve a high level of medical care for our patients, and we are responsive to their needs and the needs of their families and communities.

All our teams continue with their professional learning and follow local and national guidelines.

Our success is built upon the excellent teamwork and dedication of all our staff here at Unity Surgery

We are innovative:

We are always actively looking for ways to improve. This is in service delivery and in ensuring our staff have the support they need on a daily basis.

We listen to our patients and value our patient group.

We aim use all available resources provided to us and embrace emerging technologies.

We are caring:

We put our patients and our teams at the heart of all that we do.

We celebrate peoples’ differences and provide equality of opportunity for all without discrimination.

Shared care is a process whereby responsibility for a patient’s medication and/or monitoring is shared between a GP and consultant. In such a situation, the consultant will assess a patient’s suitability for the medication, perform any necessary baseline investigations and counsel the patient fully on the medication, before prescribing the medication and adjusting the dose until the patient is stable.

Once the patient is stable, the consultant then writes to the GP to ask them to consider shared care. If the GP accepts, they then take over the prescribing and monitoring of the patient, notifying the consultant should any problems arise. The patient must remain under the care of the consultant. For shared care to be valid, there must also be a written agreement on the duties and responsibilities of each party.

The whole process of shared care is to facilitate appropriate clinical oversight and to maintain patient safety, all in the patient’s best interests.

Having said the above, it must be noted that shared care is entirely voluntary for GPs and GPs are NOT obliged to enter into shared care, for whatever reason.

In general, we do not participate in shared care arrangements with private providers or NHS providers whom only have a short term contract with the NHS which may not be renewed leaving the patient without a secondary care provider. Specifically, we will not consider shared care arrangements if ANY of the following conditions apply (most of these describe situations that are, by definition, not shared care):

• There is no written shared care agreement – NOT SHARED CARE
• There is a shared care agreement, but it does not match the equivalent NHS shared care agreement for the same cohort of patients – NO EQUIVALENCE
• The private provider is an assessment or diagnosis only service, that is, it does not prescribe medication at all – NOT SHARED CARE
• The provided has not completed an appropriate assessment of patient’s suitability for the medication, performed baseline investigations or provided counselling for the medication (for example, information on side effects, interactions) – NOT SHARED CARE
• The provider has not initiated the patient on medication and/or has not adjusted dosage accordingly and/or has not stabilised the patient on the medication – NOT SHARED CARE
• The provider has discharged the patient back to sole GP care – NOT SHARED CARE
• The medication being recommended is one that falls outside the GP’s knowledge, experience or competence to prescribe – CANNOT PRESCRIBE
• The provider is recommending use of medication that falls outside its licensed indications (for instance, it is being used for a different age group or different reason from the manufacturer’s recommendations)
• The monitoring needed is more frequently than 3 monthly – THIS SUGGESTS A NON STABLE SITUATION WHICH IS SAFER MANAGED BY THE SPECIALIST
• There is no named consultant who is a specialist in their field of medicine – WE CANNOT ACCEPT SHARED CARE

The reason why we do not consider prescribing medication in any of the above situations is that there is no proper specialist oversight and consequently patient safety is potentially at risk. Whilst it may seem convenient (and cheaper) to ‘get a prescription from the GP’, we will not enter into any arrangement that has the potential to put a patient at risk.

If you are being referred to a private provider or a NHS provider on a short term NHS contract (i.e. not a service provided by a NHS hospital), you will need to understand the implications of how we deal with medication requests, including shared care requests, and test requests from private providers.

There is a new Central NHS Computer System called the Summary Care Record (SCR). It is an electronic record which contains information about the medicines you take, allergies you suffer from and any bad reactions to medicines you have had.

Why do I need a Summary Care Record?

Storing information in one place makes it easier for healthcare staff to treat you in an emergency, or when your GP practice is closed.

This information could make a difference to how a doctor decides to care for you, for example which medicines they choose to prescribe for you.

Who can see it?

Only healthcare staff involved in your care can see your Summary Care Record.

How do I know if I have one?

Over half of the population of England now have a Summary Care Record. You can find out whether Summary Care Records have come to your area by looking at our interactive map or by asking your GP

Do I have to have one?

No, it is not compulsory. If you choose to opt out of the scheme, then you will need to complete a form and bring it along to the surgery. You can use the form at the foot of this page.

More Information

For further information visit the NHS Care records website

We support Nottingham Medical School by undertaking sessions of training for medical students from time to time.

Students will only be present at your consultation with your consent. Most will be in their last year of training and your input is invaluable. However, if you do not wish a student to be present please let reception personnel know on arrival.

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.