Practice Policies & Patient Information

CQC General Information

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) regulates all health and adult social care services in England, including those provided by the NHS, local authorities, private companies or voluntary organisation. It also protects the interests of people detained under the Mental Health Act.

The CQC makes sure that essential standards of quality and safety are being met where care is provided, from hospitals to private care homes. It has a wide range of enforcement powers to take action on behalf of people who use services if services are unacceptably poor.
The CQC’s aim is to make sure better care is provided for everyone, whether that’s in hospital, in care homes, in people’s own homes or elsewhere. Read more about CQCs vision and values

Involving people

The CQC makes sure that the voices of people who use health and adult social care services are heard by asking people to share their experiences of care services. It makes sure that users’ views are at the heart of its reports and reviews. In some cases patients and their carers work alongside inspectors to provide a user’s view of services.

Registration

By law all NHS providers (such as hospitals and ambulance services) must register with the CQC to show they are protecting people from the risk of infection. The registration system applies to NHS provider trusts (acute, ambulance, mental health and primary care) and the NHS Blood and Transplant Authority.
From October l 2010 all health and adult social care providers must be registered and licensed with the CQC to show they are meeting essential standards of quality and safety. Without registration, providers will not be allowed to operate.

Enforcement

The CQC has been given a range of legal powers and duties. It will take action if providers don’t meet essential standards of quality and safety, or if there is reason to think that people’s basic rights or safety are at risk.
The CQC can be flexible about how and when to use its enforcement powers, such as fines and public warnings. It can apply specific conditions in response to serious risks. For example, it can demand that a hospital ward or service is closed until the provider meets safety requirements or is suspended. It can take a service off the register if absolutely necessary.

Improvement

The CQC also carries out periodic and special reviews in order to improve health and social care in the UK.
The CQC’s priority is to improve the public’s experience of health and social care.

Declarations of Interest

Disclosure of Earnings

All GP practices are required to declare the mean earnings (e.g. average pay) for GPs working to deliver NHS services to patients at each practice.

The average pay for GPs working at the Northgate Surgery in the last financial year was £100,470 before tax and National Insurance contributions. This is for 3 full time GPs and 7 part-time GPs who worked in the practice for more than six months.

National Data Opt out

The national data opt-out is a new service that allows people to opt out of their confidential patient information being used for research and planning. The NHS wants to make sure you and your family have the best care now and in the future. Your health and adult social care information supports your individual care. It also helps us to research, plan and improve health and care services in England.

There are very strict rules on how this data can and cannot be used, and you have clear data rights. We are committed to keeping patient information safe and will always be clear on how it is used.

You can choose whether or not your confidential patient information is used for research and planning.

You have a choice.

If you don’t want your confidential patient information to be used for research and planning, you can opt out of this. If you do opt out, there are some specific situations where your data may still be used. Data that does not identify you may still also be used.

Your confidential patient information will still be used to support your individual care. Any preference you set using this service will not change this.

If you opt out, your decision will only apply within the health and care system in England. Your opt-out will not apply to your health data where you have accessed health or care services outside of England, such as in Scotland and Wales.

You can find out more on the NHS England https://digital.nhs.uk/national-data-opt-out

Key information summary

Important things to remember are:

your data can be used to help research and planning
you don’t have to do anything if you are happy for this to continue
your decision will not affect your own individual care in any way
you can change your mind any time in the future

Opt Out Online

You must have an email address or phone number registered with an NHS service to continue online. Ask your GP Practice for help if you need to confirm your contact information is up to date.

To continue you will need:

to be aged 13 or over
access to your email or mobile phone
your NHS number
follow the link to https://digital.nhs.uk/national-data-opt-out and select ‘manage your choices’ and follow the instructions.

Opt Out by Phone

Contact the NHS Digital Contact Centre to verify your identity and discuss your data sharing choices. We may be able to guide you through the service or set a choice on your behalf.

Call: 0300 303 5678

Open: 9am to 5pm Monday to Friday (excluding bank holidays)

Opt Out by Post

https://assets.nhs.uk/prod/documents/Non-Digital_Opt-Out_Form_V14.pdf

Opt Out for Someone Else

You can also set a choice on behalf of another individual by proxy. For example, a parent may want to set a choice on behalf of their child.

https://assets.nhs.uk/prod/documents/Non-Digital_Proxy_Opt-Out_Form_V16.pdf

Accessible resources

Watch a British Sign Language video of the Your Data Matters to the NHS patient handout.

Listen to an audio version of the Your Data Matters to the NHS patient handout.

Order a braille version of the Your Data Matters to the NHS patient handout.

Patients’ Charter

Our Patients’ Charter is a modern device to help ensure the maintenance of our traditional good service and its future enhancement.

We commit ourselves to a level of service you can reasonably expect and advise how you can help.

We hope we will often exceed the standard set. If, occasionally, we do not achieve it, you are entitled to know why.

It does not cover everything and may seem obvious in parts. It makes a start in the use of up-to-date methods of quality control and clarifies our provision of care.

Under Our Patients’ Charter You can expect:

To be greeted in a friendly and courteous manner
That the premises will be clean, tidy and comfortable and that easy access for disabled and elderly patients will be provided
Our staff will wear name badges so that you can identify the person you are speaking to
To be offered an urgent appointment with an unspecified Doctor the same day.
The Doctors aim to see you within 30 minutes of your appointment time. Should there be a delay an explanation will be given.
A repeat prescription to be ready for collection after 2 working days. (Saturday and Sunday not included)

Patients Have Responsibilities Too

To treat Doctors and staff in a reasonable and courteous manner, we operate a zero tolerance policy towards violence or aggression. If this is not adhered to patients will be removed from our list.
To make every effort to be punctual for your appointment and cancel if you are unable to attend. We operate a very strict policy on missed appointments. If you miss 2 appointment it is likely that you will be asked to leave our list.
To book more than 1 appointment if you have more than one problem or if you wish other members of your family to be seen
To call before 11.00am if you require the G.P. to make a home visit
To make sure the Doctor knows how to find your home
To inform us of any change of address
Accompany children aged less than 16 years when they are consulting with a health care professional
Ensure that your family is fully immunised

Practice Policies

Policy on Failure to Attend Pre-Booked Appointments

If a patient fails to attend a pre-booked appointment on three or more occasions in a six month period, a warning letter will be sent to the patient, advising them that a further occurrence within six months could risk removal from the practice. If a further non-attendance occurs within six months, a final warning letter will be sent informing them that if they miss any further appointments, they will be discussed at the next Practice meeting and the likely outcome will be that they will be removed from the Practice list. Following agreement with the Partners, if they are to be removed, the Practice Manager will write to the patient and explain the reasons for removal. The term ‘appointment’ includes face to face AND telephone appointments.

Warning letters are valid for a period of 12 months.

If a patient wishes to appeal the outcome of removal from the Practice list due to missed appointments, they need to email/send a letter to the attention of the Practice Manager and explain the reasons why they wish to appeal. This will be discussed at a Partners meeting and the outcome will be given to the patient as soon as possible. If the appeal has been granted and the patient then misses one further appointment within the initial six months after the appeal, then the patient will be removed from the Practice list with no option for further appeal.

Confidentiality & Medical Records

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 Governm

g the appeal, it is agreed for ent 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 to the Administration Department 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.

Complaints

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.

If you wish to pursue an informal or formal complaint one of the Management team will be happy to talk to you – the Practice Manager, Rebecca Clegg can be contacted on 01977 703635 or email northgate.surgery4@nhs.net who will deal with your concerns appropriately. Further written information is available regarding the complaints procedure from reception, or click here.

Violence Policy

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.

Privacy Notice

Please click here to view our Privacy Notice. To view the children’s notice please click here.

Conflicts of Interests Policy

Each year we publish on our website details of any conflicts of interests staff who are in a position of authority might have. Please see below details for each relevant person

Dr Vega	Dr Riddett	Dr Ibrahim
Dr Kemshell	Dr Clark	Dr Brennan
Dr Seddon	Dr Baldwin	Dr Wong
ACP Jayne Thomas	Charlotte Barter (Assist Practice Mgr)	Rebecca Clegg (Practice Mgr)
COMING SOON	COMING SOON	COMING SOON

To view the Conflict of Interest Policy for Northgate Surgery please click here.

Pharmacists and Pharmacy Technicians

We have qualified pharmacists and pharmacy technicians working in the practice to support safe, effective and cost-effective prescribing. These healthcare professionals are all registered with the General Pharmaceutical Council and are a valuable resource in helping us maintain the best patient care around prescribing. In order to administer direct patient care, these professionals require access to patients’ clinical records. Each individual works in accordance with the Data Protection Act and Caldicott guidelines and have signed a confidentiality agreement.

Shared Care Policy

Understanding Shared Care – NHS, Right to Choose and Private Providers

What is shared care?

Shared care is a term used within the NHS to describe the situation where a specialist doctor wishes to pass some of the patient’s care, such as prescription of medication, over to their general practitioner (GP). This is something that any specialist can request, but the guidance for all medications is that this may only be done if the GP agrees. The GP will need to consider several factors to decide if this is safe before they can agree.

The GP has a responsibility to ensure they can safely manage any medications they prescribe. So, whilst shared care can be convenient, it is not automatic. Your GP will make this decision carefully based on their competence, your specific case, the protocols for using that medication both locally and nationally and their current workload capacity. If shared care is not possible, prescribing your medication and all related monitoring will remain under the care of your specialist and their team.

All shared care agreements are voluntary and, even where agreements are in place within NHS, Practices can decline shared care requests on clinical and capacity grounds. When this is the case, the responsibility for the patient’s care and ongoing prescribing remains the responsibility of the private provider.

Due to capacity issues, from the 1^st December 2024 Northgate Surgery will not be able to participate in any shared care arrangements with private providers.

Alternative NHS Provider

If we are asked to refer to an alternative NHS provider, we would expect the provider to be appropriately accredited and practising in line with UK best practice and willing to follow our locally agreed protocols for shared care.

We would expect the local commissioning team and ICB to provide assurance that the alternative NHS provider is appropriately accredited and that they are willing to work to locally agreed protocols. Therefore, if a patient asks for a referral to an ‘alternative’ NHS provider and the Practice is not familiar with the provider we may wish to seek assurance from the ICB that the provider has been appropriate approved and contracted. In such circumstance you may wish to consider an alternative.

Right to choose provider

In the current climate it is understandable that some patients are considering ‘right to choose’ providers and are requesting referral to independent providers who hold an NHS contract outside of the Wakefield ICB. Some providers are advertising NHS assessment and shorter waiting times.

Patients choosing such services should be mindful that some services will only diagnose and will not prescribe or provide the secondary care part of a shared care arrangement. Please note Northgate Surgery will not be able to enter into a shared care agreement with such providers and this will need to be considered by the patient.

We would expect the local commissioner to provide assurance that the Right to Choose provider is appropriately accredited and is willing to work to locally agreed protocols. If the Practice is not familiar with the provider, we may wish to seek assurance from the ICB that the provider has been appropriate approved and contracted. In such circumstance you may wish to consider an alternative.

Private providers

We understand that some people will chose to access health care privately, which is a choice you are entitled to make. However, there are a few things that you need to be aware of before making this decision.

Patient referrals from a GP for private service

Sometimes, after a private consultation, the private specialist may suggest that you are referred to an NHS service.

Please note that private providers can make referrals to NHS services, without referral back to the GP, whenever the patient would be eligible for NHS referral. Any patients referred should be treated based on clinical need. For further information you can read the NHS England guidance around consultant-to-consultant referrals within the NHS.

If we receive private requests for referral to an NHS service, we will kindly ask the private provider to make the referral themselves.

If a private provider requests more information from a general practice, this can be provided, following the patient’s consent, and the cost of preparing the report can be charged to the private provider.

Organising tests requested by private Providers.

If general practices receive requests from private providers to arrange tests or investigations, it is important to note that complying with such requests – regardless of the GP’s management and treatment of the patient – is outside the scope of NHS primary medical services.

Our contract states that a GP should only carry out investigations and prescribe medication for a patient where the GP is the responsible doctor, and it is necessary for the care of the patient. This means that the GP has had the full consultation with the patient themselves and has agreed, with the patient the investigations that are needed.

We regret that we don’t have the resources or capacity to be able to arrange investigations for patients who have been seen in a private clinic. We advise it is your responsibility to also arrange these privately as part of your package of private care.

Prescribing medication requested by a private Provider.

The practice may not be able to issue you with an NHS prescription following a private consultation for the following reasons:

If the practice considers that there is not a clear clinical indication for the prescription, and that in the same circumstance an NHS patient would not be offered this treatment.
If the private doctor recommends a new or experimental treatment or recommends prescribing a medication which only a hospital specialist can prescribe in Wakefield.
If the medication is not provided within the NHS
If the medication is prescribed for an off-license indication.
If the medication is of a very specialised nature requiring ongoing monitoring, we may be unable to accept responsibility for the prescription. This includes medication that we can prescribe on the NHS but requires what is known as a Shared Care Agreement
Without such a Shared Care Agreement in place with an NHS provider of care we are unable to safely prescribe and monitor certain medication. This would include but is not limited to what are known as Disease Modifying Drugs, IVF associated medications and those to treat ADHD.

Therefore, if the practice is not in a position to take responsibility for a private prescription your private provider will have to continue to do so. This will include any taking, monitoring, and analysing of any required tests to ensure you are receiving the best care.

Caring for patients who have had private treatment abroad.

If you choose to have treatment abroad, the practice will take no responsibility for your aftercare and further treatment, unless you require urgent or emergency care.

Summary Care Record

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 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 or the HSCIC Website

Download the opt out form >>>>

Text Message Reminders

You can now register to receive information by text message on your phone regarding appointments and health care.

If you wish to register for this messaging service please fill out the consent form.

New Data Protection Regulations from May 2018 (GDPR)

Under the new data protection regulations introduced from 25th May 2018, we will continue to contact patients via text messages regarding the delivery of care if they have provided consent to do so.

If practices are sending messages about recommended treatment for the management of a specific health issue, then this is defined as providing appropriate care for patients, not marketing purposes.

If you would like ot opt out of any future contact via text messaging, then please complete the form and indicate in the marked section.

Training

The practice is a training practice and therefore has a GP registrar working in the surgery as a trainee, usually for a period of six months but occasionally for 12 months. Dr Vega and Dr Kemshell, Dr McGraw, Dr Brennan and Dr Clark are responsible for their progress. We also have campus clinics medical students, intercalated students and Trainee Physician’s Assistants. You will be notified and asked for consent if a student is to be present during your consultation.