Confidentiality

Here at Cheddar Medical Centre we safeguard all confidential information about you and your health. All staff are required to sign a confidentiality document when they start work at the surgery. This is to ensure that they are fully aware of the need to maintain patient confidentiality at all times.

So that we can all work together for your benefit, we may need to share information about you with others in healthcare. We only ever use or pass on information about you if healthcare workers have a genuine need for it and it is in your interest. Wherever possible we will remove personal details that would identify you. 

Patient Information Lealfet - Your Information

Patient Information Leaflet - Consent

How we use Your Information to Provide Your Healthcare

Read our Fair Processing and Privacy Statement

Freedom of Information

The ICO has published a new Model Publication Scheme that all public authorities are required to adopt.

https://ico.org.uk/media/for-organisations/documents/1153/model-publication-scheme.pdf

Chaperone

You have the right to ask for a chaperone for any appointment, read our Chaperone Policy to find out more.

Comments & Complaints

We have our own complaints procedure and, if you need to make a complaint, please address it to the Practice Manager, Mrs Pauline Drummond who will take full details of your concerns and decide how to deal with the problem. Full details of our complaints procedure may be found in our complaints leaflet. 

We would be grateful for any suggestions you may have to improve the services we offer – please direct these to the Practice Manager. 

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.

Rights & Responsibilities

You have a right to expect a high standard of medical care from our practice and we will try at all times to provide the very best care possible within the resources available.

In order to assist you in this we require that you take full responsibility for ensuring that you do not abuse the service. For example, it is your responsibility to ensure that you keep medical appointments and follow the advice given.

You must accept that we require 72 hrs notice to process a prescription request and that a 'normal routine appointment' is likely to be offered within a week of your request. 

You must also accept that our 'emergency' appointments relate to medical urgency, not personal urgency. Please remember this when making appointments with our reception team.

Finally, you must understand that our reception team will ask for explicit information when dealing with a request for a visit or telephone conversation with our GPs. They are part of our team here and are subject to confidentiality agreements. Our GPs demand this information to enable us to safely manage patient risks therefore do not be surprised when this happens.

Very occasionally a practice/patient relationship breaks down completely. In this situation the patient may choose to register with a different practice. We accept this and will process this request as quickly as possible.

Zero Tolerance

The practice has the right to remove any patient from their list. This would generally only follow a warning that had failed to remedy the situation and we would normally give the patient a specific reason for the removal.

Patients who are aggressive, verbally abusive, violent or threaten violence towards GPs or their staff will be reported to the police and will no longer be able to use the services at this practice.

The Kings of Wessex student Information

We are aware that some of our patients believe that they must see a GP to achieve evidence for school when they have been poorly and away from school.

We would like to clarify matters:

• You should only make an appointment to see a GP if there is a medical reason to do so
• You should not make an appointment to prove to school that you have seen a GP to justify an absence from school as the GP is unable to certify any absence
• If you are poorly with ‘normal’ viral illness (sickness & diarrhoea/ cold/ flu etc.) then these are better dealt with by staying at home, drinking lots of fluid and resting, not spreading this infection around to other people

Our advice would be to stock the medicine cabinet with:

• Pain killers
• Anti-diarrhoeal medicine
• Rehydration mixture
• Indigestion remedy
• Cold and flu remedies
• First aid kit with bandages,
• plasters, antiseptic wipes and
• cream, eyewash, medical tape,
• sterile dressing, thermometer

We understand, like the academy does, how important it is for you to attend school and would encourage you to do so.

However we cannot provide certification regarding sickness.

Please find a link below to the letter that our GPs would provide should they be asked for this type of information.

Letter to Schools (certificate) 2014

Your GPs are here to medically treat their patients and it is really important that poorly patients can access this service.

As people live longer, and more serious illnesses are treated outside of hospitals with GPs monitoring the patient’s health directly, the pressure for appointments is growing.

We must ask you to respect this and only see the GP when YOU feel you need to.

The Academy understands that this is our position.

The academy have explained may be students whose attendance is approaching 15% absence or who have a history of non-attendance whereby the school may well direct them to the GP for medical advice. They have explained that is because the school is not aware of any obvious reason for their continued illness and so they would like the student to explore with a GP the reasons for their non-attendance NOT to achieve a certificate for the school.

However the decision to make a GP appointment is your own, and please do not make an appointment if there is no medical reason to see a GP or just to achieve a certification as this is not available - other than the letter above.

Feel free to print this off and use as you see necessary however this will not satisfy the academy regarding your continued absence.