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

PATIENT COMPLAINTS PROCEDURE

If you have a complaint or concern about the service that you have received from the doctors or any of the staff working in the Practice, please let us know. We operate a Practice Complaints Procedure as part of the NHS system for dealing with complaints. Our system meets national criteria.

How to Complain

We hope that most problems can be sorted out easily and quickly, often at the time they arise and with the person concerned. If your problem cannot be sorted out in this way and you wish to make a complaint, we would like you to let us know as soon as possible – ideally, within a matter of days or at most a few weeks – because this will enable us to establish what happened more easily.

You should normally make a complaint within twelve months of the event, or within twelve months of becoming aware that you have something to complain about. However, these time limits may be waived if there are good reasons why you could not complain earlier and if we are still able to investigate the complaint fairly and effectively in spite of the delay.

Complaints can be made either orally or in writing to Dr Azim Khan or Practice Manager

What We Will Do

We will acknowledge receipt of your complaint within 7 working days either orally or in writing and will offer to discuss the matter with you.

We will offer you a meeting to agree a timeframe for resolution and to reach an agreement with you on how you wish the complaint to be handled and the likely period for completion of the investigation and response to you. If you would prefer not to accept the offer of a discussion we will determine a specified response period and notify you in writing of that period.

We will aim to investigate and deal with all complaints efficiently and speedily. We will send you a written response with a report on the investigation as soon as reasonably practicable. If we are not able to meet the response deadline we have agreed with you, we will contact you to advise why and negotiate another timescale.

All oral complaints will be recorded in writing by the Practice and you will be provided with a copy of the written record.

When we look into your complaints, we will aim to:

• find out what happened and what went wrong

• advise you what we will do to put the matter right

• make sure you receive an apology where this is appropriate.

• identify what we can do to make sure the problem does not happen again.

We hope that if you have a problem, you will use our Practice Complaints Procedure. We believe this will give us the best chance of putting right whatever has gone wrong and an opportunity to improve the services provided by our Practice.

If you are not content with the outcome of your complaint at local level you can ask the Ombudsman to independently review your case by writing to:

The Parliamentary and Health Services Ombudsman

Millbank Tower

Millbank

London

SW1P 4QP

Or email

Phso.enquiries@ombudsman.org.uk

Or phone: 0345 015 4033

Website: www.ombudsman.org.uk

If You Need Help

If you need assistance in making a complaint you can contact the Independent Complaints Advocacy Service at:

POhWER

www.pohwer.net

tel 0300 020 0093

PO Box 14043, Birmingham B6 9BL

Although the Practice would welcome the opportunity to investigate your complaint, you may prefer to choose to make your complaint to the NHS England , details as follows:

Email:           england.contactus@nhs.net

Contact Number:                            0300 311 2233

Postal address:

NHS England

PO Box 16738

REDDITCH

B97 9PT

Complaining on Behalf of Someone Else

Please note that we keep strictly to the rules of medical confidentiality. If you are complaining on behalf of someone else, we have to know that you have their permission to do so. A letter signed by the person concerned will be needed, unless they are incapable (because of illness) of providing this.

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 wish for the matter to be settled as quickly, and as amicably, as possible.

To pursue a complaint please contact the practice manager who will deal with your concerns appropriately. Further written information is available regarding the complaints procedure from reception.

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.

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.

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.