All patients are entitled to have a chaperone present for any consultation, examination or procedure where they feel one is required. This chaperone may be a family member or friend. Or, you may prefer a formal chaperone to be present, i.e. a trained member of staff.

If you wish to have a chaperone present, please tell the healthcare professional or notify reception in advance.

Your healthcare professional may also require a chaperone to be present for certain consultations.

We respect your right to privacy and keep all your health information confidential and secure. Doctors and staff in the practice are contractually bound to maintain patient confidentiality.

It is important that the NHS keeps accurate and up to date records about your health and treatment so that those treating you can give the best possible care. Confidential patient data may be shared within the practice team, and with other health professionals to whom you are referred for care.

Occasionally patient data may also be required for the broader purposes of health care and audit, research and the provision of health care services. Data disclosure will be kept to the minimum required, and if possible anonymised before disclosure. Confidential and patient identifiable information will not be shared without your explicit consent. In some circumstances we may be required by law to release your details to statutory or other official bodies, for example if a court order is presented, or in the case of public health issues. In other circumstances you may be required to give written consent before information is released – such as for medical reports for insurance, solicitors etc.

Access to your own medical records

Under the Data Protection Act 1998, you have a legal right to apply for access to health information held about you. This includes information held by your GP on computer and in paper form. You do not have to give a reason for your request. You may apply to view your medical records or request a copy. For copies of records and there is no facility for immediate access.

• My Access to My Medical Records
• NHS: How to get your medical records
• NHS: Abbreviations commonly found in medical records

Connecting Your Care: Improving how we use your information

What do we mean by “Connecting Your Care”?

We are working with South West London Health and Care Partnership to improve the way we connect your care across south west London. Soon, healthcare professionals will be able to access your records from other NHS services when you need them to. This will make it quicker and easier for you when you visit your GP or hospital.

At the moment, each care organisation has a different system for managing your records, and there is no way for the information to be shared electronically when it is needed by doctors and nurses.

Connecting your Care means that people involved in your care such as your GP, hospital doctors and nurses, will be able to immediately see important information about you through a secure system, to help them make the best decisions about your care.

In the future, we will also be working with other health and social care providers to share a more detailed care record for you, which will include the treatment you receive from community NHS services, mental health services and social care services. This will allow everyone involved in your care to be able to make the best decisions for your treatment.

Do I have a choice?

If you are happy for your information to be shared in this way, then you don’t need to do anything.

The Connecting your Care system will be phased in over the next few months.

If you do not want your information to be shared, you have the right to opt-out by visiting contacting South West London ICS and completing the opt-out form.

You can also pick up an opt-out form from your GP practice or the Patient Advice and Liaison Services (PALS) at your local hospital.

Want to find out more?

To find out more, you can speak to your GP directly or contact South West London Health and Care Partnership on:

By email: connectingyourcare@swlondon.nhs.uk
By phone: 0203 668 3100
By post: Freepost SWL CONNECTING YOUR CARE

• View the Connecting Care FAQs

It is NHS policy to treat all patients and employees fairly and equally regardless of their gender, sexual orientation, marital status, race, colour, nationality, ethnic or national origin, religion, age or disability.

You can find details of the policy on the NHS Website.

The Freedom of Information Act 2000 aims to produce a culture of openness in public bodies, by providing members of the public with the right to access information held. The main purpose behind this is to show how public money is being used.

GP practices, although not government owned, are considered to be “public bodies” for the purposes of this Act. Therefore, members of the public (not necessarily patients) can request information from them. GP practices are required to make information available via a “publication scheme”. This may be held in paper form or by electronic means. It will include information commonly requested and is available on request. All requests for such information should be made in writing to the practice.

• Freedom of Information Act 2000

NHS England require that the net earnings of doctors engaged in the practice is publicised. However, it should be noted that the prescribed method of calculating earnings is potentially misleading because it takes no account of how much time doctors spend working in the practice and should not be used for any judgement about GP earnings, nor to make any comparisons with other practices.

The average pay for GPs working in Thornton Heath Health Centre in the 2022 financial year was £42,386 before tax and National Insurance. This is for: 1 full time GP, 3 part time GPs and 2 long term locum GPs who worked in the practice for six months or more.

We aim to provide high quality health care in a responsive, supportive, courteous and cost-effective manner.

We aim to:

• Provide a service which puts patient self-empowerment and welfare at the heart of all we do
• Work within the framework of NHS Primary Care Services to provide professional medical, nursing and other services which meet the identified needs of patients
• Promote best practice through utilising specialist expertise within the practice team and externally and encouraging the continuous professional development of all members of the practice team
• Nurture a culture which is innovative, forward looking and adaptable
• Take into account the evidence provided by scientific and medical research in our treatment

Values

Caring for wellbeing in body, mind, spirit and relationships

• Conveying compassion in word and action
• Assessing and responding to needs
• Providing an appropriate range of services
• Maintaining a health promoting environment

Respecting all

• Showing courtesy
• Seeking to understand
• Treating all fairly
• Valuing each person as a unique individual
• Being especially supportive to the vulnerable

Working as a team

• Relating well within the team
• Valuing the contribution of each team member
• Building a mutually supportive environment
• Co-operating with other teams
• Encouraging responsible involvement by our patients

Integrity

• Speaking and acting truthfully
• Being accountable for our actions

Learning and improving

• Adapting to change
• Building on achievements
• Developing our services

• Privacy Notice – National Screening Programmes
• Privacy Notice – Payments
• Privacy Notice – Public Health
• Privacy Notice – Research
• Privacy Notice – Risk Stratification
• Privacy Notice – Safeguarding
• Privacy Notice – Summary Care Record
• Privacy Notice – Care Quality Commission
• Privacy Notice – Direct Care – Connecting your Care
• Privacy Notice – Direct Care – Emergencies
• Privacy Notice – Direct Care – Routine Care and Referrals
• Privacy Notice – NHS Digital
• Privacy Notice – How we use your Health Records

As part of our ongoing development, we would like to learn from you. We like to hear about what we are doing well and we also want to hear about what we are not doing so well. Please feel free to give us your feedback.

We aim to provide a professional, friendly and courteous service to all our patients. We hope that any problems can be sorted out quickly and easily, preferably at the time they arise and with the person concerned. If you wish to make a complaint we would ask that you do this in writing and address it for the complaints manager’s attention. If you wish to complain on another person’s behalf you will need their written permission to do so.

If you have a complaint about another service within the NHS, for example a hospital, you will need to direct it to the complaints department of the relevant service.

We comply with the NHS Complaints Procedure.

• Please view our Complaints Leaflet.

Your Summary Care Record contains important information from the record held by your GP practice and includes details of any medicines you are taking, any allergies you suffer from and any bad reactions to medicines that you have previously experienced. Healthcare staff will have access to this information, so that they can provide safer care, whenever or wherever you need it, anywhere in England.

Your Summary Care Record also includes your name, address, date of birth and your unique NHS Number to help identify you correctly. As part of a mandatory national programme each GP Practice had to make a summary care record for each patient by March 2015 (unless the patient has already opted out).

You can choose to opt out of this scheme at any time. If you wish to opt out of the Summary Care Record scheme please contact reception for a copy of our opt-out form.

For more information read the Summary Care Record patient information.