Practice Policies & Patient Information
Care Data
Information about you and the care you receive is shared, in a secure system, by healthcare staff to support your treatment and care.
It is important that we, the NHS, can use this information to plan and improve services for all patients. We would like to link information from all the different places where you receive care, such as your GP, hospital and community service, to help us provide a full picture. This will allow us to compare the care you received in one area against the care you received in another, so we can see what has worked best.
Information such as your postcode and NHS number, but not your name, will be used to link your records in a secure system, so your identity is protected. Information which does not reveal your identity can then be used by others, such as researchers and those planning health services, to make sure we provide the best care possible for everyone.
You have a choice. If you are happy for your information to be used in this way you do not have to do anything. If you have any concerns or wish to prevent this from happening, please speak to practice staff or download the opt out form below, complete it and return it to the practice
We need to make sure that you know this is happening and the choices you have.
How information about you helps us to provide better care
Care Data – Frequently Asked Questions
Opt Out Form – Download, complete and return to the practice
You can find out more on the NHS England Care Data website.
Comments & Complaints
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 contact the practice manager and she will deal with your concerns appropriately. Further written information is available on the complaints procedure from reception.
We are continually striving to improve our service. Any helpful suggestions would be much appreciated and a suggestion box is located in the waiting area.
The Health Service Ombudsman in England
The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman website contains detailed information on raising a complaint about any aspect of the NHS in England. There is also a leaflet explaining the procedure of bringing a complaint to the ombudsman.
Confidentiality
All practice staff are trained in information security and confidentiality. There are strict rules in place to make sure your information is safe, whether it is on paper or computer files. Everyone working for the NHS has a legal duty to keep information about you confidential.
Anyone who received information from your Doctor is under a legal obligation to keep it confidential. Your Doctor needs information about you to be able to treat you, or decide if they need to see you again.
It may be shared with other organisations involved in your care should it be necessary, for example
- To help protect the health of the public generally. A GP is required by law to notify the Government of diseases such as meningitis and measles.
- To investigate complaints of legal claims (with your consent).
- To pass on information which we must do by law, such as to notify a birth or death.
- For research purposes (with your consent)
Your information may be used in anonymous form (this means details which would identify you are removed e.g.:
- To carry out other health research by use of statistics
- To plan for the future—this includes sending information to other NHS organisations and Dept. of Health.
Your Doctor will only ever pass on information about you if it is in your interest with regard to your health, or it is thought to be in the best interest of safeguarding your child.
The Practice is registered with the Information Commission with the Data Protection Act 1988.
CQC Report
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) are the independent regulator of health and adult social care in England.
The CQC make sure health and social care services provide people with safe, effective, compassionate, high-quality care and encourage them to improve.
They monitor, inspect and regulate services to make sure they meet fundamental standards of quality and safety and publish what is found, including performance ratings to help people choose care.
Our GP Practice has recently undergone a CQC inspection and the results are now freely available on the CQC Website. You can access the report below.
The Greenway Medical Practice was inspected by the Care Quality Commission on Tuesday 31st May 2016. Their report concluded that the practice is ‘GOOD’ at providing a Safe, Effective, Caring, Responsive and Well led service to our patients.
GDPR & Privacy
GDPR Policy
What is GDPR?
GDPR stands for General Data Protection Regulations and is a new piece of legislation that will supersede the Data Protection Act. It will not only apply to the UK and EU; it covers anywhere in the world in which data about EU citizens is processed.
The GDPR is similar to the Data Protection Act (DPA) 1998 (which the practice already complies with), but strengthens many of the DPA’s principles.
The main changes are:
- Practices must comply with subject access requests.
- Where we need your consent to process data, this consent must be freely given, specific, informed and unambiguous.
- There are new, special protections for patient data.
- The Information Commissioner’s Office must be notified within 72 hours of a data breach.
- Higher fines for data breaches – up to 20 million euros.
Further details about how we use your information can be found in our Patient Privacy Notice:
PRIVACY NOTICE v.2.0 June 2023
Privacy Notice for National COVID-19 and Flu Vaccination Programmes
NHS England has established a centralised service for the management of both the COVID-19 and seasonal flu vaccination programmes. This service is supported by a central system, the Immunisation Management System.
When you attend for your Covid-19 vaccination a record will be made that you have been vaccinated and when. Normally, vaccinations are undertaken in GP settings. However, the delivery of the Covid-19 vaccine is being undertaken in a variety of care settings.
NHS England is responsible for processing your personal data for the
purposes of the national vaccination programme. To find out more, you can
access the NHS England privacy notice at: NHS England » NHS England’s privacy notice.
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 in The Greenway Medical Practice in the last financial year was £64,422 before tax and National Insurance. This is for 2 full time GPs and 3 part time GPs who worked in the practice for more than six months.
Updated 29th March 2023
Patient Charter
Our Patient Charter
In July 2015 NHS England published The NHS Constitution, a document which outlines the rights, expectations and obligations of patients and staff.
The following lists set out what our patients can expect from our Practice, and what we expect from our patients in return.
You can expect us to:
- Treat you with respect and dignity at all times
- Protect your privacy and maintain confidentiality at all times
- Provide a safe and clean environment for you to be treated
- Provide the most appropriate care for your needs, which may include signposting you to other specialists as well as GPs (i.e. nurses, healthcare assistants, pharmacists or health and wellbeing practitioners)
- Listen, advise and signpost patients to appropriate services
- Provide a mixture of telephone consultations and face to face appointments, both on the day and bookable in advance with GPs and nurse practitioners
- Offer appointments in advance for practice nurses and healthcare assistants
- Aim to deal with medically urgent problems on the same day
- Provide a variety of options to book an appointment such as by telephone, face to face or online
- Provide multiple ways of ordering prescriptions including online, face to face, prescriptions box outside the surgery
We expect you to:
- Follow guidance on booking appointments, as documented in our new patient registration pack and on our website
- Contact the surgery as early as possible to arrange an appointment if you are feeling unwell
- Contact the surgery before 11am if a home visit is required
- Attend your appointments on time or let us know if you are unable to attend
- Treat our staff with respect – we will not tolerate any abusive or aggressive behaviour
- Consider whether other options are appropriate before contacting the surgery, i.e. self-care, online information, pharmacist
- Call the surgery for appointments, urgent medication or if you are waiting for an appointment and your health deteriorates rather than attending A&E, unless life is at risk
- Be patient during busy times and remember that if the clinic is running late, it may be you that needs extra time on your next visit
- Order your repeat prescriptions in a timely manner, allowing a minimum of 2 working days for requests to be processed
- Help us to maintain our records by informing us if you change your address or telephone number
Removal of Patients from the List
As GPs we also have the right to ask a patient on our list to find another Doctor’s surgery. We would only do this in exceptional circumstances and only after considerable discussion between all the partners (and the Practice Manager if appropriate).
Broadly speaking, our reason for requesting somebody to find another Doctor to look after them would be if we felt that the relationship between the patient and the doctor had broken down to such an extent that the mutual trust which is essential in all our dealings with patients, has been lost on either side.
We never remove patients from our list on the grounds of age or because their treatment is “too expensive”.
Examples of situations in which we may consider asking a patient to find a new Doctor include:
- Aggressive behaviour, threats of or actual violence.
- Repeatedly not attending appointments without cancelling them.
- Evidence of prescriptions being altered by a patient (which is illegal).
- Evidence of Statements of Fitness to work being altered by a patient (which is illegal)
We would always do our best to discuss any problems with the patient concerned before reaching the point of asking them to find another Doctor.
Violence or threats to any member of the team
We are never prepared to tolerate violence, or threats of violence, or verbal abuse to any member of our team. In the event of actual violence within the surgery building, we would always inform the Police immediately. We would always press charges in this situation.
Threats of violence for whatever reason, are extremely frightening for our staff and other patients who may witness them. For this reason we feel that such behaviour is unacceptable, and a reason to ask someone to find a new Doctor immediately or be registered with the Safe Haven Service in Huddersfield.
Summary Care Record
There is a new Central NHS Computer System called the Summary Care Record (SCR). It 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.
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