We have been asked provide you with access to your full medical record from 1st November 2023 via the NHS app and/or the NHS website if you have a suitable NHS login.

We are supportive of providing you with access to your record, but we wish to do this safely. We have an obligation under GDPR to safeguard the information we hold about you and have carried out a Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) to make sure we are able to legally honour our data safeguarding obligations

We believe, and are supported by the BMA, that there are insufficient safeguards in place so we will not be automatically allowing patients access to their records after 1st November 2023.

Everyone will have access to their medication history and allergies and will be able to order their repeat prescriptions (subject to you having NHS login).

If you should require access to your full record where you will be able to see everything, including the notes which have been written by doctors, nurses and others involved in your care at the GP surgery and elsewhere, we ask you to complete the application form below so your request can be assessed by your GP. Remember, you will only see your records from the date of your application, access will not typically be available for historic patient records.

If you already had access to your medical records before the 1st November 2023 you will still have this – your records have already been reviewed. However, you may see a message on your record 1364731000000104 “Enhanced review indicated before granting access to own health record”– please ignore this as your review has already been undertaken and access allowed.

Customer service formWe 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.

We aim to offer all patients a friendly and efficient service and hope you will be pleased with the service that you receive, however if, as a patient, you are unhappy about any of the services or care that we have provided, we have a concerns procedure to ensure that all concerns are dealt with rapidly and efficiently for the benefit of all parties concerned.

A concern may be defined as a grievance raised by a dissatisfied user of the services provided by the practice. Concerns may relate to the quality of the care, professional competence, administrative and support services provided and may be of a clinical or non-clinical nature.

Internal Complaints Procedure

There are three ways in which patients can register a concern.

Informal Discussion
Patients are able contact any member of the team to discuss any concerns that they have about their experience in the practice or any suggestions of improvement who will then report the incident to the Practice Manager, who will record it in the practice file.

Formal Concerns
If the patient is unhappy with the outcome of an informal discussion, or from the outset would like their concern investigated more fully, they can use the practice complaints procedure which is aimed at dealing with complaints quickly and in a friendly and non-threatening way. They can contact the Practice Manager and she will record full details of the complaint and attempt to resolve it in an appropriate manner.

Concerns should be sent in writing to the Practice Manager, Daniel Mee by post: Eden Surgery, Cavendish Rd, Ilkeston, DE7 5AN or via the below online form. We aim to acknowledge this within 48 hours.

Or alternatively you can contact NHS England on Tel: 03003 112233 or [email protected].

Concerns about clinical matters will be investigated by the Practice Manager and the Clinical Team. Administrative concerns will normally be investigated by the Practice Manager.

A full response in writing, setting out the conclusion of the investigation and action, if any, taken in respect of it, is to be made within 20 working days on receipt of the complaint, unless the investigation is still in progress, in which case correspondence explaining the reasons for the delay, will be sent to the complainant

A register and the records of all concerns will be kept and stored and are subject to regular audit but with regard for patient confidentiality. The register of concerns should include information on whether or not the complaint was upheld, the results of the investigation, the resolution of the complaint and the action taken.

We would hope that we would be able address any concerns within our practice, but should anyone feel that we have not dealt with their concerns appropriately or to their satisfaction, then they do also have the right to contact the Ombudsman if they so wish for further investigation. The contact details are:

The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman

Citygate,

51 Mosley St,

Manchester

M2 3HQ

Tel: 0345 015 4033

Website: www.ombudsman.org.uk

Locked blue folderThe 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.

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.

GPDPR Extract

Click here to download our Eden Surgery GDPR Privacy Notice v2.8 May 2023

The current NHS Digital (NHSD) extract of GP data for Research purposes (known as the GPDPR) has been delayed due to NHSD wishing to review the way in which this data will be collected, to conduct more public involvement and information about the plans and change the way in which patients can opt out of the extract of their GP data.

Currently the only way to opt out is to complete a Type 1 opt out form and return this to the practice by the 1^st September (this can be found further down on this webpage).  However, this extract will not be taken until the NHSD have changed the way it will take the data and respect the patient’s choice for using their data.  NHSD are introducing the following changes to the opt out process which will mean that patients will be able to change their opt-out status at any time:-

• Patients do not need to register a Type 1 opt-out by 1st September to ensure their GP data will not be uploaded.
• NHS Digital will create the technical means to allow GP data that has previously been uploaded to the system via the GPDPR collection to be deleted when someone registers a Type 1 opt-out.
• The plan to retire Type 1 opt-outs will be deferred for at least 12 months while we get the new arrangements up and running and will not be implemented without consultation with the RCGP, the BMA and the National Data Guardian.

This means that you can opt out at any time in the future and NHSD will delete data that they already have taken for research purposes, the deadline of the 01/09/2020 has been delayed until a new system of opt out is developed.  Hopefully, this will be a simple centralised approach via the NHS app or NHS website to avoid paper form and administration work for your GP.

We will update you when we know more about the NHSD plans to change how you can control who has access to your data.

Click here for a Type one Opt-Out Form

The average pay for GPs working in the Eden Medical Practice in the last financial year was £54,765 before tax and national insurance.  This is for 3 part time GPs who worked in the practice for more than six months

It should be noted that the prescribed method for calculating earnings is potentially misleading because it takes no account of how much time doctors spend working in the practice, it should not be used to form any judgement about GP earnings, nor to make a comparison with any other practice.

In view of the fact that there are few hard and fast guidelines in place we must issue a disclaimer against any actions which may or may not be taken with regard to the publication of this information

We’d love to have a Patient Participation Group (PPG) to help improve the quality of service that we provide – if you would be interested please email [email protected] with your name and contact details

Most services that the NHS provides to people are free of charge, but there are some exceptions to this e.g., prescription charges.  Sometimes a charge must be made to cover some of the costs as the service isn’t covered by the funding GP’s receive from the NHS for example, medical reports for insurance companies, private health insurance claims and other letters and forms that need completing that require the GP to review the patient’s medical records.

The contract GP’s have with the NHS covers medical services to patients, but GP’s also do a lot of non-medial work as well which is not funded examples of non-NHS services for which GP’s can charge their patients include but not limited to:

• Holiday cancellation forms
• Private medical insurance forms
• Some travel vaccinations
• Letters requested by or on behalf of, the patient.

The time the GP spends completing forms and preparing reports takes the GP away from direct medical care.  In addition, non-NHS work must be undertaken outside of NHS contracted time.  GP’s have a very high workload which can add up to them working 60 hours plus a week and paperwork, such as, filling insurance forms in and writing medical reports for insurance companies adds to this workload.

When a GP signs a certificate or completes a report it is a condition of their medical registration that they only sign what they know to be true.  Therefore, to complete a very simple form the GP must review the patients entire medical record. Inaccuracy in a report can have serious consequences for a GP with the General Medical Council or even the Police.

How are charges decided?

The British Medical Association (BMA) is the registered Trade Union for doctors, it recommends that GPs tell patients in advance if they will be charged for any work.

Erewash Health Practices, follow the guidelines set by the BMA using their fees calculator.  The fees calculator takes into consideration how much time it takes the GP to complete the work to ensure the cost covers the work undertaken.  Our charges have recently been reviewed for the first time in 5 years.

New charges from 1 July 2024

*The Practice reserves the right to amend the fees , based on the complexity of the work

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.