The Windmill Surgery is located near the historic market town of Wymondham. The surgery premises has its own dispensary and car parking facilities. Patients can be dropped off within a few feet of the door. A wheelchair is normally available on each site for assistance.

Would you like to wait outside for your appointment?

We now offer a buzzer call system if you would like to wait outside/in the car for your appointment. Simply take a buzzer and it will alert you when it is time for your appointment.

All patients are entitled to have a chaperone present for any consultation.

Please let us know at the time of requesting an appointment or speak to your GP. If you would like to request an appointment, please visit our Consulting Room.

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 NHS 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 Contact the Practice online.

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.

Each of our surgeries has disabled parking, and in each case, patients can be dropped off within a few feet of the door. A wheelchair is normally available on each site for assistance.

Information about the GPs 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.

There are seven classes of information:

• Who we are and what we do
• What we spend and how we spend it
• What our priorities are and how we are doing
• How we make decisions
• Our policies and procedures
• Lists and registers
• Services the practice offers

For more information, please review the Information Commissioner’s Office guide on the https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/guide-to-freedom-of-information/what-is-the-foi-act/.

Introduction The Freedom of Information Act 2000 requires all public authorities to adopt and maintain a publication scheme.

In 2008, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) introduced a single generic model publication scheme, for adoption by all public authorities that are subject to the FoIA.

The model publication scheme commits a public authority to “produce and publish the method by which the specific information will be available so that it can be easily identified and accessed by members of the public”. This is a very general scheme based on the principle that all public authorities need to recognise the public interest in the transparency of the services provided and paid for by the general public. It is a commitment to make information easily available to the public.

General Practitioners (GPs), providing primary medical services under most contracts with the NHS in England and Wales and with HSC Northern Ireland, are public authorities in respect of information relating to those services.

The Freedom of Information Act gives the public the right to ask for certain information held by public authorities, such as the NHS (and including GP practices), and allows members of the public to see information about how public services are developed and delivered.

The Practice and The Freedom of Information Act In line with the FoIA, and our status as a GP surgery, we operate a publication scheme providing information about the Practice and the services that we provide. Information covered by this scheme is only about the general medical services that we provide under contract to the National Health Service.

You can view our Publication Scheme page.

Your Information

The Coastal Partnership takes privacy seriously and we want to provide you with information about your rights, who we share your information with and how we keep it secure.

Please use the links below to find more information about the practice and data protection:

• Transparency
• CCTV
• Telephone Recording
• Case Finding (ECLIPSE)
• Norfolk Sharing

All GP Practices are required to declare the mean earnings (e.g. average pay) for GPs working to deliver GP services to patients at each Practice.

The average pay for GPs working at The Coastal Partnership in the last financial year was £86,582 before tax and National Insurance. This is for 7 full time GPs, 16 part time GPs and 2 locum GPs who worked in the Practice for more than six months.

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 another Practice

Named GP Policy

Under the terms of our contract, we are required by the Government to allocate all patients a Named Accountable GP (“Named GP”). Patients will be assigned to you based on your last (family) name If you do not know your Named GP, simply contact our reception staff at your normal surgery.

New patients will be allocated a Named GP at the time of their registration with the Practice.

Having a Named GP does not prevent you seeing any other doctor in your surgery, and of course, your Named GP may not be available all of the time. So, if your needs are urgent, you may need to discuss them with another doctor and/or make an appointment with them instead.

Your Named GP will have overall responsibility for the care and support that our Practice provides to you. They will also work with other relevant healthcare professionals, who are involved in your care, to ensure that your care package meets your individual needs.

Your Named GP will:

• Take lead responsibility for ensuring that all appropriate services required under the contract with the Practice are delivered to you.
• Where required, based on their professional judgement, work with relevant associated health and social care professionals to deliver a multidisciplinary care package that meets your needs.
• Ensure that your physical and psychological needs are recognised and responded to by the relevant clinicians in the Practice.

Your Named GP will not:

• Take on vicarious responsibility for the work of other doctors or healthcare professionals.
• Take on 24-hour responsibility for you, or have to change their working hours. Thus, this requirement does not imply personal availability to GPs throughout the working week.
• Be the only clinician who will provide you with care.

You may, if you wish, change your Named GP to a GP of your choice (at the same surgery), and this can be accomplished by contacting our reception staff at your normal surgery. However, please remember that changing your Named GP will not affect the care that you receive.

Examinations for special purposes (e.g. insurance, fitness to undertake sports, HGV, PSV, and seat belt exemptions), reports for private health insurance, private certificates and some vaccinations, are not provided under the National Health Service and are undertaken outside normal surgery hours.

The fees charged are based on the British Medical Association (BMA) suggested scales and our reception staff will be happy to advise you about them.

The Coastal Partnership is passionate about providing high quality NHS care and putting patients first.

To underpin this, we have established a set of Core Values:

Patients first

Our first priority is to our patients, providing them with excellent, safe and timely care.

Quality

We work hard to improve the quality of our services, learning from our successes and mistakes, and avoiding blame.

Integrity

We are open, honest, empathetic and respectful, avoiding discrimination at all times.

Safe and Efficient

We provide safe clinical care to every patient, in a timely fashion. We keep our administrative actions and processes simple.

Communicating and Listening

We communicate clearly and listen well, whilst employing the highest standards of confidentiality.

Teamwork

We recognise the importance of good teamwork, within our own teams and across organisational boundaries.

Our privacy and fair processing notice explains why we collect information about you and how that information may be used to deliver your direct care and manage the local health and social care system.

The notice reflects:

• What information we collect about you.
• How and why we use that information.
• How we retain your information and keep it secure.
• Who we share your information with and why we do this.

The notice also explains your rights in relation to consent to use your information, the right to control who can see your data, and how to seek advice and support if you feel that your information has not been used appropriately.

Confidentiality, information and data sharing

We take your confidentiality, your personal information and the protection of your medical record very seriously. This applies to the NHS, every organisation and everybody involved in your care.

NHS data collection: all patients are automatically included

This national initiative, developed by NHS England and managed by NHS Digital, is designed to collect patient identifiable data from different healthcare providers (such as GPs, hospitals and community services) and bring it all together in one place. The purpose of this is intended to help the NHS design and develop future health care services and provided joined up information with regard to how patients are treated and managed between different NHS organisations. Anonymised data (data that cannot identify you) may also be used for research purposes.

NHS and NHS Digital: Your Data Matters provides information which we would recommend that our patients read. You can also call their helpline on 0300 303 5678.

All patients are by default opted into this data extract but patients do have a choice. If you want to opt out, after reading the information from the NHS and NHS Digital, please click here. GP surgeries can no longer set your personal opt out preferences.

You can also read these helpful resources:

• Your Data Matters to the NHS
• Guidance for National Data Opt Out for Black and Minority Ethnic Communities

Summary care record

Summary care record (SCR) is an electronic record of important information about a patient’s health and contains information about current medications, allergies and any bad reactions to medicines. Additional information may be added over time if a patient gives their consent.

Summary care records are especially useful if you visit a different doctor or hospital in the evening, in an emergency or at the weekend, or if you are away from home.

You can also phone the summary care record information line on 0300 123 3020.

The Practice is participating in the summary care record and patients who have not opted out will currently have a summary care record. If you choose to opt out of the scheme, you will need to complete the Summary Care Record Opt Out form. You can change your preference at any time.

You have the right to confidentiality. Your medical condition will not be discussed outside this Practice except to other relevant healthcare professionals, when necessary. If you wish to know any test results you must telephone in person. Staff will not give out test results to friends, relatives or partners. If you wish another person to collect your test results, we must have this in writing at the time the test is taken. Please be prepared to answer any relevant security questions.

Enhanced data sharing model (EDSM)

The medical record computer system that we use across our Practice is called SystmOne and is widely used in this area and across England. This system gives the facility to share your electronic healthcare record with other health providers involved in your care, using the enhanced data sharing model (EDSM). Your medical health record includes your medical history, details about your medication and any allergies that you may have.

You can choose whether to share these full medical details with other healthcare providers (for example district nurses or walk-in centres).

Many other healthcare organisations use SystmOne, including other GP Practices, out of hours services, children’s services, community services and hospitals.

Sharing your health record will help us deliver the very best level of care for you.

Within this data sharing model, you have two choices that allow you to control how your record is shared. You can change these choices at any time. If you wish to opt out, please ask reception.

Sharing out

This controls whether the information we hold about you as a GP Practice can be shared with other NHS sanctioned care services where you are receiving care.

Sharing in

This controls whether you agree for us to view information you have agreed to share out at other NHS sanctioned care services where you are receiving care.

Example

Imagine you are receiving care from three services: your GP, a district nurse and a smoking clinic. You want us and the district nurse to share information with each other and you want both of them to know your progress at the smoking clinic.

However, you don’t want the smoking clinic to see any of your other medical information.

Your sharing choices at each place would be:

• We can share in and out.
• The district nurse can share in and out.
• The smoking clinic cannot share in, so cannot see the GP or the district nurse information above but can share out, therefore sharing their information with us and the district nurse to both be able to view.

Exceptions

• In very exceptional circumstances your information may be shared without your permission, for example if your life is at risk.
• A parent can give consent to share a child’s record. This will be recorded as ‘consent not asked’ and ‘parental consent given’ noted as the reason why the record was shared.
• Vaccinations will be shared regardless of whether there is a consent to share or not.

Phone calls

To assist with training and quality, we may record any phone call, made to or from the Practice.

Feedback

We appreciate all feedback, whether positive or negative, and do our best to use it to improve our services. Please submit feedback or if you’re interested in being more involved, you can find out more about joining the Patient Reference Group.

We welcome your views and constructive suggestions which will help us improve our service to you.

Practice Complaints Procedure

We operate a Practice Complaints Procedure as part of the NHS system for dealing with complaints. Our procedure meets national criteria. Complaint Forms are available from our Reception Staff, explaining the process and includes a form to complete.

If you feel you need to complain we hope that most problems can be sorted out easily and quickly, preferably at the time they arise and with the person concerned. If your problem cannot be resolved in this way and you wish to make a more formal complaint, we would like you to let us know as soon as possible, ideally within a matter of days, or at the most a few weeks, as this will enable us to establish what happened more easily.

Complaints can be sent to the Complaints Team in the following ways:

Emailed to – nwicb.complaints.coastalpartnership@nhs.net

Posted to the following address – Complaints Team, The Windmill Surgery, London Rd, Wymondham NR18 0AF

Alternatively, you may ask for an appointment with the Practice Manager in order to discuss your concerns who will explain the complaints procedure to you and will ensure your concerns are dealt with promptly.

It will be a great help if you are as specific as possible about your complaint.

Mechanism for dealing with a complaint

We shall aim to acknowledge your complaint within 3 working days. We will endeavour to find out the circumstances surrounding your complaint. We can then agree a plan on how your complaint will be dealt with and the timescales involved. We shall then be in a position to offer you an explanation, or a meeting with the Practice Manager.

Who do I contact?

We hope that if you have a concern you will use our Practice complaints procedure. We believe this will give us the best chance of correcting whatever has gone wrong and an opportunity to improve our Practice.

If you have a genuine concern about a staff member or regulated activity carried on by this Practice, then you can contact the Care Quality Commission on 0300 061 6161, or alternatively, visit the CQC website.

You can also speak to NHS England who will take up the complaint on your behalf. They can be contacted on 0300 311 2233 or email england.contactus@nhs.net.

If the Practice or NHS England response does not resolve your complaint, you can contact the NHS Ombudsman. They can be contacted on 0345 015 4033 or via their website.

PALS (Patient Advice and Liaison Service) are also there to assist with advice, support and information on health related matters for patients, their families and carers.

There is a 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. Over time it will build to include information about other health issues considered important to your wellbeing.

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 asking the surgery directly.

Enhanced Summary Care Record

If you wanted to ‘enhance’ your record it would include the following information:

• Significant medical history (past and present)
• Reason for medication
• Anticipatory care information (important in the management of long term conditions)
• Communication preferences
• End of life care information
• Immunisations

You can opt in for an enhanced summary care record at any time.

Children Under The Age Of 16

Patients under 16 years will have an enhanced summary care record created for them unless their GP surgery is advised otherwise. If you are the parent or guardian of a child under 16 then you should make this information available to them if they are old enough to decide for themselves if they want a summary care record.

Whatever you decide, you can change your mind at any time.

If you are a family member or carer of a person and you have concerns that they may not have the mental capability to make this decision, please contact the practice.

Information about your health and care helps us to improve your individual care, speed up diagnosis, plan your local services and research new treatments. The NHS is committed to keeping patient information safe and always being clear about how it is used.

How your data is used

Your health and care information is used to improve your individual care. It is also used to help us research new treatments, decide where to put GP clinics and plan for the number of doctors and nurses in your local hospital. Wherever possible we try to use data that does not identify you, but sometimes it is necessary to use your confidential patient information.

What is confidential patient information?

Confidential patient information identifies you and says something about your health, care or treatment. You would expect this information to be kept private.

Information that only identifies you like your name and address is not confidential patient information and may still be used. For example, to contact you if your GP practice is merging with another.

Who can use your confidential patient information for research and planning?

It is used by the NHS, local authorities, university and hospital researchers, medical colleges and pharmaceutical companies researching new treatments.

Making your data opt out choice

You can choose to opt out of sharing your confidential patient information for research and planning. There may still be times when your confidential patient information is used. For example, during an epidemic where there might be a risk to you or to other people’s health. You can also still consent to take part in a specific research project.

Will Choosing This Opt Out Affect Your Care and Treatment?

No, choosing to opt out will not affect how information is used to support your care and treatment. You will still be invited for screening services, such as screenings for bowel cancer.

What should you do next?

You do not need to do anything if you are happy about how your confidential patient information is used.

To find out more about the benefits of data sharing, how data is protected, or to make or change your opt out choice, visit the NHS website.