Practice Policies & Patient Information

Access to Medical Records

Accessible Information Standards (AIS)

AIS applies to people who use a service and have information or communication needs because of a:

· Disability

· Impairment

· Sensory Loss

It covers the needs of people who are deaf/Deaf, blind, or deafblind, or who have a learning disability. This includes interpretation or translation for people whose first language is British Sign Language.

It does not cover these needs for other languages.

It can also be used to support people who have aphasia, autism or a mental health condition which affects their ability to communicate.

It is important to the practice that we meet the individual needs of our patients and establish if information from us needs to be delivered in a different way.

We may know that a patient is deaf, but what we don’t know is how this patient communicates; do they use British Sign Language (BSL); do they need an interpreter present; do they prefer to lip read; do they use a notebook? We cannot make assumptions about the needs of our patients.

We ask all of our new patients to inform us of any communication needs when they register with us, but our existing patients also need to be aware of this information. Therefore, we ask our existing patients to let us know if there is any particular information about your communication needs you think we should be aware of.

If you, or someone you know who is a patient, feels there is a need we need to know about, please complete an Accessible Information Standards patient form by clicking here and either bring it in to the surgery.

Chaperone Policy

Comments & Complaints

If you are not happy with any aspect of the service received in Balance Street you may put your complaint in writing to the Practice Manager. Please download a copy of our Complaints Policy, Complaints Leaflet or our Patient Complaint Form.

If you are not satisfied with the way that your complaint has been dealt with by Balance Street Practice, or NHS England, you may contact the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman:

NHS England North Midlands Complaints Service
NHS England
PO Box 16738
Redditch
B97 9PT

Telephone: 0300 311 22 33
Telephone: 0345 015 4033

CQC Report 2021

Disclaimer

1. Accuracy
Our Practice internet site is intended primarily to provide information about our Practice and Services. We have taken care to ensure that all information provided is accurate and valid. However, the Practice accepts no responsibility for use of the information provided. The advice for patients is as comprehensive and accurate as possible, but it can only be of a general nature and should not be used as a substitute for a consultation with a medical professional.

2. Medical Information on the Web
The internet can be a useful resource for researching medical conditions. It also has inherent weaknesses that you should be aware of. If you use the internet for medical research or information, please be aware of the following points:
Always look for a balanced view – do not rely on advice from one site and seek a balanced viewpoint.
Remember that anyone can publish anything on the internet. Make sure that the authors’ names and their qualifications are included – anonymous information may not be sourced accurately.
Be aware that advertising might influence the site contents – check for commercial sponsorship or advertising which might influence the information on the site.
Check that the website is updated regularly.
Be cautious of online diagnoses or consultations.
Check the websites Privacy and Confidentiality Policy.
Be aware that website information or advice sourced from outside the UK might describe treatments not available in the UK.

3. Suitability and Availability
We cannot guarantee that:
this website will meet your requirements,
that it will be of satisfactory quality,
that it will be fit for your particular purpose,
that it will not infringe the rights of third parties, or
that it will be secure.
Further, we cannot guarantee uninterrupted access to our website, or the sites to which it links. We accept no responsibility for any damages arising from the loss of use of this information.

4. Online Consultations
If you decide to use our online advice or consultation features you must be aware that without a physical examination we may decline to give advice and may ask you to attend the surgery for an appointment.

5. Links to Other Websites
All links from our Practice Website to any other websites are provided for information and convenience only. We cannot accept responsibility for sites linked to, or the information found there. A link does not imply an endorsement of a site; likewise, not linking to a particular site does not imply lack of endorsement.

6. Data Collection
Please be aware that we collect contact details of those who wish to communicate with us via e-mail, collect aggregated (non-personal) information about which pages visitors to our website choose to access, and collect information volunteered by visitors to our website (such as survey information and/or site registrations). The information we collect is used to improve the content of our web pages and the quality of our service.

7. Hosting, Networks and Data Storage
Please be aware that our website uses Third Party Service Providers, Vendors and Hosting Partners to provide the necessary hardware, software, networking, storage, and related technology required to support our website.

East Staffordshire Primary Care Network

GDPR Practice Privacy Policy

GP Earnings

Disclaimer: NHS England require that the new earnings of doctors engaged in the practice is publicised, and the required disclosure us 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 judgement about GP earnings, nor to make any comparison with any other practice.

All GP practices are required to declare their 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 the surgery in the last financial year was £89,553 before tax and national insurance.

This is for the following who worked in the practice for more than 6 months – 4 full time GPs and 4 Salaried GP.

ICB

Patient Privacy Notice

Practice Charter

Practice Charter

Members of staff will act courteously towards you and treat you with respect.
We offer an appointment system. Our aim is to see each patient at the time designated. You will not be kept waiting for more than 20 minutes after your appointment time without an explanation from the staff.
You are entitled to complete confidentiality.
Constructive criticism will be welcomed in an effort to improve our service.
You have the right to see your patient records, subject to legal limitations, by appointment only.
Members of staff will wear a uniform and name badge in order to identify themselves to you.

Patients Responsibilities

Be courteous and polite to staff at all times
Arrive on time for all appointments
Cancel appointments as soon as possible
Book one appointment for each patient who wishes to be seen.
Let the Practice know of any changes in personal details, ie telephone number/address.
Telephone for results between 12.30 pm and 3.00 pm only.
Do not ask for information about anyone other than yourself.

Physical violence and verbal abuse are a growing concern. GPs, Practice Nurses and other practice staff have the right to care for others without fear of being attacked or abused. We ask that you treat your GP and Practice staff properly — without violence or abuse.

Violent and abusive patients will be reported to the Police and removed from the surgery’s list.

Supplementary Privacy Policy

Zero Tolerance

The Practice takes it very seriously if a member of staff or one of the doctors or nursing team is treated in an abusive or violent way.

The Practice supports the government’s ‘Zero Tolerance’ campaign for Health Service Staff. This states that GPs and their staff have a right to care for others without fear of being attacked or abused. To successfully provide these services a mutual respect between all the staff and patients has to be in place. All our staff aim to be polite, helpful, and sensitive to all patients’ individual needs and circumstances. They would respectfully remind patients that very often staff could be confronted with a multitude of varying and sometimes difficult tasks and situations, all at the same time.

However, aggressive behaviour, be it violent or abusive, will not be tolerated and may result in you being removed from the Practice list and, in extreme cases, the Police being contacted.

In order for the practice to maintain good relations with their patients the practice would like to ask all its patients to read and take note of the occasional types of behaviour that would be found unacceptable:

Using bad language or swearing at practice staff
Any physical violence towards any member of the Primary Health Care Team or other patients, such as pushing or shoving
Verbal abuse towards the staff in any form including verbally insulting the staff
Racial abuse and sexual harassment will not be tolerated within this practice
Persistent or unrealistic demands that cause stress to staff will not be accepted. Requests will be met wherever possible and explanations given when they cannot
Causing damage/stealing from the Practice’s premises, staff or patients
Obtaining drugs and/or medical services fraudulently

We ask you to treat your GPs and their staff courteously at all times.

Removal from the practice list

A good patient-doctor relationship, based on mutual respect and trust, is the cornerstone of good patient care. The removal of patients from our list is an exceptional and rare event and is a last resort in an impaired patient-practice relationship. When trust has irretrievably broken down, it is in the patient’s interest, just as much as that of the practice, that they should find a new practice. An exception to this is on immediate removal on the grounds of violence e.g. when the Police are involved.

Removing other members of the household

In rare cases, however, because of the possible need to visit patients at home it may be necessary to terminate responsibility for other members of the family or the entire household. The prospect of visiting patients where a relative who is no longer a patient of the practice by virtue of their unacceptable behaviour resides, or being regularly confronted by the removed patient, may make it too difficult for the practice to continue to look after the whole family. This is particularly likely where the patient has been removed because of violence or threatening behaviour and keeping the other family members could put doctors or their staff at risk.