Talk to us

Every patient has the right to make a complaint about the treatment or care they have received at St Stephen’s Medical Partnership.

We understand that we may not always get everything right and, by telling us about the problem you have encountered, we will be able to improve our services and patient experience.

 

Who to talk to

Most complaints can be resolved at a local level. Please speak to a member of staff if you have a complaint; our staff are trained to handle complaints.  Alternatively, ask to speak to the complaint’s manager, Judy Langford (Maple View) Vicky Hewitt (St Stephens).

If for any reason you do not want to speak to a member of our staff, then you can request that NHS England investigates your complaint. They will contact us on your behalf:

NHS England

PO BOX 16738

Redditch

B97 9PT

03003 112233

england.contactus@nhs.net

A complaint can be made verbally or in writing.  A complaints form is available from reception or you can download it by clicking the link at the bottom of this section, fill it out and hand into reception. Additionally, you can complain via email to m81001prescriptions@nhs.net (St Stephens medical partnership).

 

The time constraint on bringing a complaint is 12 months from the occurrence giving rise to the complaint, or 12 months from the time you become aware of the matter about which you wish to complain.

The Site Manager will respond to all complaints within three business days.

We will aim to investigate and provide you with the findings as soon as we can and will provide regular updates regarding the investigation of your complaint.

 

Investigating complaints

St Stephen’s Medical Partnership will investigate all complaints effectively and in conjunction with extant legislation and guidance.

 

Confidentiality

St Stephen’s Medical Partnership will ensure that all complaints are investigated with the utmost confidentiality and that any documents are held separately from the patient’s healthcare record.

 

Third party complaints

St Stephen’s Medical Partnership allows a third party to make a complaint on behalf of a patient. The patient must provide consent for them to do so.  A third-party patient complaint form is available from reception.

 

Final response: St Stephen’s Medical Partnership will issue a final formal response to all complainants which will provide full details and the outcome of the complaint. Further information is detailed in our organisation policy.

 

Further action

If you are dissatisfied with the outcome of your complaint from either NHS England or this organisation then you can escalate your complaint to:

Parliamentary Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO)

Milbank Tower

Milbank

London

SW1P 4QP

Tel: 0345 015 4033

www.ombudsman.org.uk

 

Advocacy support

• POhWER support centre can be contacted via 0300 456 2370
• Advocacy People gives advocacy support on 0330 440 9000
• Age UK on 0800 055 6112
• Local Council can give advice on local advocacy services

Please click here to download our complaints form.

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

The average pay for GPs working in St Stephens Surgery in the last financial year 2023/24 was £53,940 before tax and National Insurance.

This is for 2 full-time GP’s, 18 part-time GP’s, and 0 locum GP’s who worked in the practice for more than 6 months.

NHS England requires that the net earnings of doctors engaged in the practice are publicised, and the required disclosure is shown below. However, 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 and should not be used to form any judgment about GP earnings, nor to make any comparison with any other practice.

From 1 April 2014, the practice was required under the terms of the GP contract to ensure all patients aged 75 and over were allocated a Named Accountable GP. From 1 April 2015 this was extended to all registered patients in the practice.

Patients aged 75 and over will continue to be allocated the doctor who knows them best when they reach their 75th birthday. Each patient aged 75 will receive a letter advising them of their named GP and inviting them to attend for an annual health check with a member of the nursing team.

For all patients aged under 75 your Named Accountable GP will be the named doctor you are registered with.

If you wish to be told the name of your Accountable GP, please ask the receptionists when you are next in the surgery.

If you need input from a variety of health professionals, then you can discuss these with your Named Accountable GP if you wish. Alternatively you can discuss these with any of the other doctors in the practice.

Having a named GP does not prevent you seeing any other doctor in the practice and you should continue to book appointments as you normally would.
Your named GP will not be available at all times and if your needs are urgent, you may need to discuss them with an alternative doctor.
If you do wish to express a preference please let the receptionist know and we will try to accommodate your request. If you do not hear back from the practice we can confirm that this change will be made

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St Stephens Medical Partnership uses your information to provide you with healthcare

This practice keeps medical records confidential and complies with the General Data Protection Regulation.

We hold your medical record so that we can provide you with safe care and treatment.

We will also use your information so that this practice can check and review the quality of the care we provide. This helps us to improve our services to you.

Click here to view how we use your information leaflet.

Your patient record is held securely and confidentially on the electronic system at your GP practice. If you require treatment in another NHS healthcare setting such as an Emergency Department or Minor Injury Unit, those treating you would be better able to give you appropriate care if some of the information from the GP practice were available to them.

This information can now be shared electronically via: The Summary Care Record, used nationally across England

The information will be used only by authorised health care professionals directly involved in your care. Your permission will be asked before the information is accessed, unless the clinician is unable to ask you and there is a clinical reason for access.

If you would like to opt out, please ask reception for our opt out form.

A parent or guardian can request to opt out children under 16 but ultimately it is the GP’s decision whether to create the records or not, because of their duty of care to the child. If you are the parent or guardian of a child under 16 and feel that they are able to understand, then you should make this information available to them.

Who Has Access?

Across all health care settings, including urgent care, community care and outpatient departments in England.

Information Source

GP record

Content

• Your current medications
• Any allergies you have
• Any bad reactions you have had to medicines
• Additional information (upon request to your GP)

For more information visit:

www.digital.nhs.uk

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.

This practice is committed to preserving, as far as is practical, the security of data used by our information systems. This means that we will take all reasonable actions to;

Maintain the Confidentiality of all data within the practice by:

• Ensuring that only authorised persons can gain access to our systems
• Not disclosing information to anyone who has no right to see it

Maintain the integrity of all data within the practice by:

• Taking care over input
• Ensuring that all changes are reported and monitored
• Checking that the correct record is on the screen before updating
• Reporting all apparent errors and ensuring that they are resolved

Maintain the availability of all data by:

• Ensuring that all equipment is protected from intruders
• Ensuring that backups are taken at regular, predetermined intervals
• Ensuring that contingency is provided for possible failure or equipment theft and that any such contingency plans are tested and kept up to date

Additionally we will take all reasonable measures to comply with our legal responsibilities under:

• The Data Protection Act (2018)
• The Health and Safety at Work Act (1992)
• The Access to Health Records Act (1990)

We will always respect your privacy, dignity and your religious and cultural beliefs particularly when intimate examinations are advisable – these will only be carried out with your express agreement and you will be offered a chaperone to attend the examination if you so wish.

You may also request a chaperone when making the appointment or on arrival at the surgery (please let the receptionist know) or at any time during the consultation.

You can be assured that anything you discuss with any member of the surgery staff, whether doctor, nurse or receptionist, will remain confidential. Even if you are under 16, nothing will be said to anyone, including parents, other family members, care workers or teachers, without your permission. The only reason why we might want to consider passing on confidential information without your permission would be to protect either you or someone else from serious harm. In this situation, we would always try to discuss this with you first.

If you have any worries or queries about confidentiality, please ask a member of staff.

If you would like to discuss matters of a confidential nature, either with our receptionists or a member of the dispensary team, we have a side room available in reception for this purpose.