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 in the first instance send in an email to swanlow.surgery@nhs.net and somebody will contact you within 3 days of receiving this email.

If you don’t want to complain directly to Swanlow Medical Centre you can direct your complaint to NHS Cheshire & Merseyside and they can be contacted on 0800 132 996 or email enquiries@cheshireandmerseyside.nhs.uk or in writing to Patient Experience Team, No 1 Lakeside, 920 Centre Park Square, Warrington, WA1 1QY

The Health Service Ombudsman

The Health Service Ombudsman has published a booklet that describes the ‘six principles for remedy’ in relation to complaints handling and involves:

1. Getting it right
2. Being customer focused
3. Being open and accountable
4. Acting fairly and proportionately
5. Putting things right
6. Seeking continuous improvements

If you remain unhappy after everything has been done to try to resolve your concern or complaint you have the right to approach the Ombudsman.
Tel: 0345 015 4033
Email: phso.enquiries@ombudsman.org.uk
Write: Millbank Tower, Millbank, London SW1P 4QP.

The new Data Protection rules General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) come into effect from 25th May 2018.  The GDPR is something all GP’s are working towards and you may see a few changes to the information you are given.  In essence the GDPR ensures that Information Governance and Information Security are at the forefront of any decisions that we make, ensuring your data and information is secure at all times.  We want to reassure patients that that we have always taken Data Protection and Confidentiality extremely seriously and will continue to do so.

Please see our Privacy Notice here :
Practice Privacy Notice

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.

GDPR Leaflet for Patients

Children’s GDPR Privacy Leaflet

COPI Notices
Notice under Regulation 3(4) of the Health Service (Control of Patient Information) Regulation 2002

Notice under Regulation 3(4) of the Health Service (Control of Patient Information) Regulation 2002

This leaflet briefly explains why the doctor’s surgery collects information about you, and how that information may
be used.
The health care professionals who provide you with care maintain records about your health and any treatment or
care you have received previously (e.g. NHS Trust, GP Surgery, Walk-in clinic, etc.). These records help to provide you
with the best possible healthcare.
Records may be held in electronic or manual (written down) format, and may include the following information;
 Details about you, such as address and next of kin
 Any contact the surgery has had with you, such as appointments, clinic visits, emergency appointments, etc.
 Notes and reports about your health
 Details about your treatment and care
 Results of investigations, such as laboratory tests, x-rays, etc.
 Relevant information from other health professionals, relatives or those who care for you and know you well
To ensure you receive the best possible care, your records are used to facilitate the care you receive. Information
held about you may be used to help protect the health of the public and to help us manage the NHS. Information
may be used for clinical audit to monitor the quality of the service provided. Where we do this, we take strict
measures to ensure that individual patients cannot be identified.
Some of this information will be held centrally and used for statistical purposes. Where we do this, we take strict
measures to ensure that individual patients cannot be identified.
Sometimes your information may be requested to be used for research purposes – the surgery will always
endeavour to gain your consent before releasing the information.
Should you have any concerns about how your information is managed at the surgery please contact the Practice
Manager to discuss how the disclosure of your personal information can be limited.
How do we maintain the confidentiality of your records?
Every member of staff who works for an NHS organisation has a legal obligation to keep information about you
confidential. Anyone who receives information from an NHS organisation has a legal duty to keep it confidential.
We maintain our duty of confidentiality to you at all times. We will only ever use or pass on information about you if
others involved in your care have a genuine need for it. We will not disclose your information to any third party
without your permission unless there are exceptional circumstances (i.e. life or death situations), or where the law
requires information to be passed on.
Who are our partner organisations?
We may also have to share your information, subject to strict agreements on how it will be used, with the following
organisations;
 NHS Trusts / Specialist Trusts / Independent Contractors such as dentists, opticians, pharmacists
 Private Sector Providers / Voluntary Sector Providers
 Ambulance Trusts / Clinical Commissioning Groups /Social Care Services
 Local Authorities / Education Services / Fire and Rescue Services / Police / Other ‘data processors’
Access to your Information
You have a right under the Data Protection Act 1998 to access/view what information the surgery holds about you,
and to have it amended or removed should it be inaccurate. This is known as ‘the right of subject access’. If you
would like to make a ‘subject access request’, please contact the practice manager in writing.
If you would like further information about how we use your information, or if you do not want us to use your
information in this way, please contact the Practice Manager

As part of a new contractual requirement for 2015-16, all patients registered at a
GP practice are to be allocated a named accountable GP.

What does ‘accountable’ mean?
The new contract requires the named accountable GP to be responsible for the
co-ordination of all appropriate services required under the contract and ensure
they are delivered to each of those patients where required, on the patients
behalf.

However, this does not mean that they will be the only GP or clinician who will
provide care to that patient. This GP may be a partner or a salaried GP.
Will GP practices write to patients to inform them of their named GP?
No. However, practices are required to inform patients of their named GP at the
next appropriate interaction.

Can patients choose their own named GP?
In the first instance, patients will simply be allocated a named GP. However, if a
patient requests a particular GP, reasonable effort will be made to accommodate
their preference.

Do patients have to see their named GP when they book an appointment?
No. Patients can and should feel free to choose to see any GP or nurse in the
practice in line with current arrangements. However, if their preferred choice of
GP is not available, an alternative will be offered.
All patients registered at Swanlow Medical Centre have a named accountable GP

The NHS employs over a million staff in thousands of locations. It is a large and complex organisation providing a broad range of services. It is not surprising that sometimes you or a loved one may feel bewildered or concerned when using the NHS. And this can be at times when you are feeling at your most vulnerable and anxious.

So, what should you do if you want on the spot help when using the health service? The NHS expects all members of staff to listen and respond to you to the best of their ability. But sometimes, you may wish to talk to someone employed especially to help you. The Patient Advice and Liaison Service, known as PALS, has been introduced to ensure that the NHS listens to patients, their relatives, carers and friends, and answers their questions and resolves their concerns as quickly as possible.

PALS also helps the NHS to improve services by listening to what matters to patients and their loved ones and making changes, when appropriate.

What does PALS do?

In particular, PALS will:

• Provide you with information about the NHS and help you with any other health-related enquiry
• Help resolve concerns or problems when you are using the NHS
• Provide information about the NHS complaints procedure and how to get independent help if you decide you may want to make a complaint
• Provide you with information and help introduce you to agencies and support groups outside the NHS
• Inform you about how you can get more involved in your own healthcare and the NHS locally
• Improve the NHS by listening to your concerns, suggestions and experiences and ensuring that people who design and manage services are aware of the issues you raise
• Provide an early warning system for NHS Trusts and monitoring bodies by identifying problems or gaps in services and reporting them.

Find out more

If you would like more information about PALS, the functions it is intended to provide and the standards it should strive to achieve , follow this link.

“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 in Swanlow Medical Centre in the 2022/2023 financial year was £83,104 before tax and National Insurance. This is for 10 part time GPs and 1 locum GP who worked in the practice for more than 6 months.’

Patients at this practice are entitled to:

• Be provided with services in a courteous, civil and co-operative manner
• A clear explanation of and advice on the patient’s medical condition an any proposed treatment
• A referral for specialist medical opinion or other second opinion in appropriate circumstances
• Receive information via the practice notice board / web site / newsletter of any relevant health promotion exercise and preventative medicine initiatives
•  Absolute confidentiality of medical records maintained by the practice subject to any provisions for disclosure imposed or allowed by law
• Access their own personal health records in accordance with the Data Protection Act. Please write to your Doctor if you wish to view your records.
• Have any formal complaint against the practice investigated and dealt with fairly and according to the practice Complaints Procedure
• Request (either in writing or verbally) to be seen by a particular Doctor. We shall endeavour to comply with this request, but need not do so if the preferred Doctor is not able to or has reasonable grounds for refusing

Patient Online Services Practice Statement of Intent

This information is based on guidance that has been provided to us by the British Medical Association and it was developed by the Association of Cheshire and Merseyside Local Medical Committees.

The aftercare for weight loss surgery is of a specialist nature so for patients who have had NHS bariatric surgery, it is provided by a local weight loss surgery service, not their GP practice.  However, NHS Cheshire and Merseyside does not commission or fund a service to provide aftercare for patients who have had weight loss surgery in the private sector or abroad.  This means that we are unable to provide aftercare for weight loss surgery ourselves and we are unable to refer you for this elsewhere in the NHS.

The NHS has published guidance on going abroad for medical treatment and the British Obesity and Metabolic Surgery Society strongly advises UK residents to be cautious when considering weight loss surgery abroad.  If the service providing your weight loss surgery is not providing you with the necessary aftercare, it may be possible for you to purchase this from a UK private hospital or clinic.

We understand that patients do not make the decision to have surgery in the private sector or abroad lightly.  Although NHS aftercare is not available to patients who have had surgery privately or abroad, please be assured that NHS emergency services are available should any emergency treatment be required because of any issues arising from your weight loss surgery.