The practice 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.

All patients are entitled to have a chaperone present for any consultation, examination or procedure where they feel one is required. You may have a family member or friend present to provide support and comfort but they do not fulfil the role of a chaperone.

Wherever possible we would ask you to make this request at the time of booking your appointment so that arrangements can be made and your appointment is not delayed in any way. Where this is not possible we will endeavour to provide a formal chaperone at the time of request. However occasionally it may be necessary to reschedule your appointment.

Your healthcare professional may also require a chaperone to be present for certain consultations in accordance with our chaperone policy.

If you have any questions or comments regarding this please ask to speak to the practice manager.

We aim to provide a high quality service and are very interested in hearing any constructive comments you may have.

The practice has an approved complaints procedure and we always welcome the opportunity of dealing with any part of our service that may be causing you concern. Please contact our practice manager by letter, telephone or in person to take advantage of this service.

We aim to provide a high quality service and are very interested in hearing any constructive comments you may have.

Should you require support making a complaint there is an Outside Advocacy Service (Worcester based) leaflets for which are available on request.

NHS England can advise you about your complaint on behalf of the Herefordshire Clinical Commissioning Group.  The service is free of charge and may be contacted at:

Post:  NHS England PO Box 16738, Redditch, B97 9PT

Telephone: 0300 311 2233 ( Mon – Fri 8am to 6pm excluding Bank Holidays)

Email:  England.contactus@nhs.net

All patients’ records and information will be handled in the strictest of confidence in accordance with NHS regulations and codes of practice. We respect your right to privacy and keep all your health information confidential and secure. This information is only available to those involved in your care. For this reason staff may refuse to release information, particularly over the telephone, to a relative. This may occasionally appear unreasonable but it is hoped it will be recognised as being in the best interest of the patient.

The practice is registered under the Data Protection Act 1998. A charge will be made for information requested under the terms of act.

The practice is registered under the terms of the Act. A charge may be required for information released within the Publication Scheme will be made.

Freedom of Information Act Leaflet

Cradley surgery GDPR Privacy Notice September 2023

Cradley Surgery Covid 19 Privacy Notice August 2023

Cradley Surgery Subject Access Request Policy October 2022

Gifts and Hospitality Policy

The practice is a member of the Medical Research Council’s General Practice Research Framework – a national group of general practices interested in research in many topics. If the practice takes part in a study we may pass anonymised information from your medical records or our practice computer to the researchers coordinating the study. If we do, the information will not be able to be linked back to you in any way and will be used only for research which has been approved by an Ethics Committee. We may also write to you to ask whether you or your children would consider helping with some research. If we contact you, you would be free to refuse to help at this point without your medical care for the practice being affected in any way.

From 1st April 2015, in line with new regulations, all patients have a named GP. Please ask at reception if you wish to know who your named GP is. You can of course continue to book to see any GP you wish.

If you have a preference as to who your named GP is please let us know and we will make all reasonable efforts to accommodate your wishes.

The named GP will take lead responsibility for the coordination of services required and will ensure these are delivered to you where required, based on the clinical judgement of the GP.

We aim to treat our patients courteously at all times and expect our patients to treat our staff in a similarly respectful way. We take seriously any threatening, abusive or violent behaviour against any of our staff, patients or property. If a patient is violent or abusive, they will be warned to stop their behaviour. If they persist, we may exercise our right to take action to have them removed, immediately if necessary, from our list of patients. Instances of violent behaviour will be referred to the Herefordshire Primary Care Trust Violent Patients Scheme, with access to healthcare services being severely compromised as a result.