Access to Records
In accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998 and Access to Health Records Act, patients may request to see their medical records. Such requests should be made through the practice manager and may be subject to an administration charge.
No information will be released without the patient consent unless we are legally obliged to do so.
Complaints
Complaint Procedure
If you have a complaint or concern about the service you have received from the doctors or any of the staff working in this Practice, please let us know. We operate a Practice complaints procedure as part of a NHS system for dealing with complaints. Our complaints system meets national criteria as laid down by the NHS.
How to Complain
We hope that most problems can be sorted out easily and quickly, often at the time they arise and directly with the person concerned. If your problem cannot be resolved in this way and you wish to make a complaint, we would like you to let us know as soon as possible – ideally within a matter of days or at most a few weeks – because this will enable us to establish what happened more easily.
If it is not possible to do this, please let us have details of your complaint:
- Within 12 months of the incident that is the cause of the problem; or
- Within 12 months of discovering that you have a problem.
Complaining on behalf of someone else
Please note that we keep strictly to the rules of patient medical confidentiality. If you are complaining on behalf of someone else, we have to be assured that you have his or her permission to do so. A note signed by the patient concerned will be needed, unless they are incapable (because of illness) of providing this.
What you should do
Ask to speak to, email or make an appointment with the Practice Manager in order to discuss your concerns. She will explain the complaints procedure to you and make sure your concerns are taken seriously and dealt with promptly.
If you wish to put your complaint in writing, address to: Trish Hawitt Palmer, Practice Manager, Acorn Surgery, The Oak Tree Centre, 1 Oak Drive, Huntingdon, PE29 7HN.
Alternatively email [email protected] or telephone 01480 483100.
It will be a great help if you are as specific as possible about your complaint.
Our Commitment to You
We shall generally acknowledge your complaint within three working days and aim to have looked into your complaint within the time scale agreed with you but under normal circumstances within 21 working days. The time taken to investigate your complaint will depend on its complexity and the number of people involved. We shall then be in a position to offer you an explanation, or a meeting if that is more appropriate.
When we look into your complaint, we aim to:
- Find out what happened and what should have happened.
- Make it possible for you to discuss the problem with those concerned if this is your wish.
- Ensure the complaint is resolved to your satisfaction.
- Make sure you receive an apology, where this is appropriate.
- Identify what needs to be done to ensure the problem does not arise again.
Our Principles Are:
- To get it right
- To be patient focussed
- To be open and accountable
- To act fairly and proportionately
- To put things right
- To listen and take issues seriously
- To seek continuous improvement
Complaining to NHS England
We hope that if you have a problem, you will use our Practice complaints procedure to ensure it is resolved. We believe this will give us the best chance of putting right whatever has gone wrong and an opportunity to improve our Practice.
This however does not affect your right to approach NHS England if you feel you cannot raise your complaint with us or you are dissatisfied with the result of our investigation.
In this instance you should contact:
East Anglia Complaints Service: 0113 825 5566
NHS England, Customer Contact Centre, [email protected] 0300 311 22 33 PO Box 16738, Redditch, B97 9PT
If you feel your complaint has not been resolved by NHS England or the Practice, it can be referred to The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman. You may contact them instead of, or as well as, NHS England.
All records will have to be provided to the Ombudsman to assist with the resolution of your complaint. www.ombudsman.org.uk 0345 015 4033 or [email protected] or The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman, Citygate, Mosley Street, Manchester, M2 3HQ
Further Information
For support and help regarding issues with NHS organisations, The Patient Experience Team (PET) provides:
- Advice and support to patients, their families and carers
- Information on NHS services
- Listens to concerns, suggestions or queries
- Help to sort out problems quickly.
If you would like to talk to someone in the PET, the telephone number for Cambridgeshire is 01223 725588 or phone FREEPHONE 0800 279 2535. Alternatively you can write to: Patient Experience Team, Cambridgeshire and Peterborough CCG, Lockton House, Clarendon Road, Cambridge CB2 8FH or email [email protected]
The NHS Complaints Advocacy
For information and help in making a complaint you can contact POhWER who are the NHS Complaints advocacy service. www.pohwer.net Tel: 0300 456 2370, email: [email protected], postal address: POhWER, NHS Complaints Advocacy, PO Box 14043, Birmingham B6 9BL.
Care Quality Commission
The Care Quality Commission (CQC), does not manage individual complaints about GPs and their services. However, you can find out more about making a complaint on their website: http://www.cqc.org.uk/contact-us
Complaints Procedure
acornsurgery
Oak Tree Centre
Oak Drive, Huntingdon
PE29 7HN
TEL: 01480 483100
Confidentiality & Medical Records
The practice complies with data protection and access to medical records legislation.
Identifiable information about you will be shared with others in the following circumstances:
- To provide further medical treatment for you e.g. from district nurses and hospital services.
- To help you get other services e.g. from the social work department. This requires your consent.
- When we have a duty to others e.g. in child protection cases anonymised patient information will also be used at local and national level to help the Health Board and Government plan services e.g. for diabetic care.
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.
Freedom of Information
Information about the General Practioners and the practice required for disclosure under this act can be made available to the public. All requests for such information should be made to the practice manager.
GP Net Earnings
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 at Acorn Surgery in the financial year ended 31 March 2020 was £79,995 before tax and national insurance. This is for 1 full time GP Partner, 2 part time GP Partners and 1 Salaried GP who has worked in the practice for more than 6 months.
Summary Care Record
There are strict laws and regulations to ensure that your health records are kept confidential and can only be accessed by health professionals directly involved in your care. There is some sharing of information as detailed below. You can opt out of any of these at any time if you wish.
NHS Summary Care Record (SCR)
This is an electronic record which contains information about the medicines you take, allergies you suffer from and any bad reactions to medicines you have had. Having this information stored in one place makes it easier for healthcare staff to treat you in an emergency, or when your GP practice is closed.
If you need more time to make your choice you should let your GP Practice know.
For more information talk to the Patient Experience Team on 0800 2792535 or [email protected], visit the Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Integrated Care System website, telephone the dedicated NHS Summary Care Record Information Line on 0300 123 3020, or visit their website, or contact your GP practice staff.
You can choose not to have a Summary Care Record and you can change your mind at any time by informing staff at the Acorn Surgery.
If you do nothing we’ll assume that you are happy with these changes and create a Summary Care Record for you.
Why do I need a Summary Care Record?
Storing information in one place makes it easier for healthcare staff to treat you in an emergency, or when your GP practice is closed.
This information could make a difference to how a doctor decides to care for you, for example which medicines they choose to prescribe for you.
Who can see it?
Only healthcare staff involved in your care can see your Summary Care Record.
How do I know if I have one?
Over half of the population of England now have a Summary Care Record. You can find out whether Summary Care Records have come to your area by looking at our interactive map or by asking your GP
Do I have to have one?
No, it is not compulsory. If you choose to opt out of the scheme, then you will need to complete a form and bring it along to the surgery. You can use the form at the foot of this page.
More Information
For further information visit the NHS Care records website
Violence Policy
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.