Chaperones
Chaperones can be made available upon request. Please see Reception for more information.
Complaints Procedure
Talk To Us
Every patient has the right to make a complaint about the treatment or care they have received at Hampton Medical Centre.
We understand that we may not always get everything right and, by telling us about the problem you have encountered, we will be able our services and patient experience.
Who To Talk To
Most complaints can be resolved at a local level. Please speak to member of staff if you have a complaint; our staff are trained to handle complaints. Alternatively, ask to speak to the complaints manager, Anisha Amin, Practice Manager.
Time Frame For Complaints
The time constraint on bringing a complaint is 12 months form the occurrence giving rise to the complaint, or 12 months from the time you become aware of the matter about which you wish to complain.
The complaints manager, Anish Amin will respond to all complaints within three business days.
We will aim to investigate and provide you with the findings as soon as we can and will provide regular updates regarding the investigation of your complaint.
Investigating Complaints
Hampton Medical Centre will investigate all complaints effectively and in conjunction with extant legislation and guidance.
Confidentiality
Hampton Medical Centre will ensure that all complaints are investigated with the utmost confidentiality and that any documents are held separately from the patient’s healthcare record.
Third Party Complaints
Hampton Medical Centre allow a third party to make a complaint on behalf of a patient. The patient must provide consent for them todo so. A third party patient complaint form is available from reception.
Final Response
Hampton Medical Centre will issue a final formal response to all complainants which will provide full details and the outcome of the complaint. Further information is detailed in our organisation policy.
Further Action
If you’re dissatisfied with the outcome of your complaint from either NHS England of this organisation then you can escalate your complaint to:
Parliamentary Health Service
Ombudsman (PHSO)
Milbank Tower
Milbank
London
SW1P 4QP
Tel: 0345 015 4033
www.ombudsman.org.uk
Advocacy Support
- POhWER Support Centre can be contacted via 0300 456 2370
- SeAp Advocacy gives advocacy support on 0330440 9000
- Age UK on 0800 055 6112
- Local Council can give advice on local advocacy services
GDPR
Important information about our privacy policy
Hampton Medical Centre fully supports the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) that will be enforced as of 25th May 2018.
We take our responsibility to protect your personal data extremely seriously and are updating our policies to reflect the new GDPR regulations.
You can find further information below.
Processors of personal data
In order to deliver the best possible service, the practice contracts Processors to process personal data, including patient data on our behalf.
When we use a Processor to process personal data we will always have an appropriate legal agreement in place to ensure that they keep the data secure, that they do not use or share information other than in accordance with our instructions and that they are operating appropriately.
Examples of functions that may be carried out by a Processor include:
- Companies that provide IT services & support, including our core clinical systems; systems which manage patient facing services (such as our website and service accessible through the same); data hosting service providers; systems which facilitate appointment bookings or electronic prescription services and document management services.
- Delivery services (for example if we were to arrange for delivery of any medicines to you).
- Payment providers (if for example you were paying for a prescription or a service such as travel vaccinations).
Thank you for taking the time to review these changes and we look forward to continuing our work with our patients.
Our Privacy Commandments
- Design for privacy and be accountable
- Protect communications and sensitive data
- Only collect necessary data
- Obtain and manage permissions
- Be open about data collection and use
- Know your data and manage it diligently
- Don’t share data without proper controls
- Enable access to data, erasure and portability
- Protect against unauthorised use
- Acquire parental controls
Our Primary Care Network
This section is currently under construction.
Patient Confidentiality
We follow strict confidentiality protocol.
Only the practice staff have access to patient records.
No information is divulged, except to respective patients or relatives and other bonafide parties, with patients consent.
Population Health Management Data Platform (Optum Pathfinder)
Population Health Management (PHM) Privacy Notice
Under data protection law we must tell you about how we use your personal information. This includes the personal information that we share with other organisations and why we do so. Our main GP practice privacy notice is on our website. This additional privacy notice provides details about Population Health Management.
What is Population Health Management (PHM)?
PHM is aimed at improving the health of both local and national populations. It is about improving the physical and mental health outcomes and wellbeing of people and making sure that access to services is fair, timely, and equal. It helps to reduce the occurrence of ill health and looks at all the wider factors that affect health and care.
PHM is an approach being implemented across the NHS and this Practice. Population Health Management requires health and social care, to work together with communities and partner agencies, for example, GP practices, community service providers, hospitals and other health and social care providers. Organisations will share and combine de-identified information (where information identifying you has been removed) with each other in order to get a view of health and services for the population in a particular area. This information sharing is subject to robust security arrangements and risk assessments.
How will my Personal Information be used?
The information needed for PHM will include information about your health and social care. Information about you and your care will be used in a format that does not directly identify you, which we refer to within this privacy notice as pseudonymised. This information will be combined and anything that can identify you (like your name or NHS Number) will be removed and replaced with a unique code. This means that the people working with the data will only see the code and cannot see which patient the information relates to. The information will be used for a number of health and social care related activities such as:
• Identifying groups of patients that could benefit from direct interventions
• improving the quality and standards of care provided
• research into the development of new treatments
• preventing illness and diseases
• monitoring safety
• planning services
Who will my personal information be shared with?
Your GP, other health or care providers, Local Councils within NE London and the NHS NEL Integrated Care Board may send the information they hold on their systems to each other. All of these organisations are legally obliged to protect your information and maintain confidentiality in the same way that your GP or hospital provider is.
Is using my personal data in this way lawful?
Health Care Providers are permitted by data protection law to use information where it is “necessary for medical purposes”. This includes caring for you directly as well as management of health services more generally. The legal basis for sharing your information is GDPR Article 6 (1) (e) “Processing is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in the controller.”
Sharing and using your information in this way helps to provide better health and care for you, your family and future generations. Confidential patient information about your health and care is only used where allowed by law and in this case, anonymised data is used so that you cannot be identified.
Can I object to my data being used as part of this programme?
Yes. You have the right to opt out of sharing your personal data being used in this way. You can do this in two ways:
1. Opt out of all sharing of your data for other uses outside your GP Practice. This is called a Type 1 opt out and you should request this directly to us, your GP practice. This will be applied not only to this programme but to any others we take part in.
2. National Data Opt-out (opting out of NHS Digital sharing your data). You can find out more about and register a National Data Opt-out, or change your choice on nhs.uk/your-nhs-data-matters or by calling 0300 3035678.
This applies to identifiable patient data about your health which is called confidential patient information. If you don’t want your confidential patient information to be shared with other organisations for purposes except your own care – either GP data, or other data it holds, such as hospital data – you can register a National Data Opt-out.
If you have registered a National Data Opt-out, NHS Digital won’t share any confidential patient information about you with other organisations, unless there is an exemption to this, such as where there is a legal requirement or where it is in the public interest to do so, such as helping to manage contagious diseases like coronavirus. You can find out more about exemptions on the NHS website.
Privacy Notice – Template Transparency Statement
How the NHS and care services use your information
Hampton Medical Centre is one of many organisations working in the health and care system to improve health care for patients.
Whenever you use a health or care service, such as attending Surgery for a consultation, Accident & Emergency or using Community Care services, important information about you is collected in a patient record for that service. Collecting this information helps to ensure you get the best possible care and treatment.
The information collected about you when you use these services can also be used and provided to other organisations for purposes beyond your individual care, for instance to help with:
- improving the quality and standards of care provided
- research into the development of new treatments
- preventing illness and diseases
- monitoring safety
- planning services
This may only take place when there is a clear legal basis to use this information. All these uses help to provide better health and care for you, your family and future generations. Confidential patient information about your health and care is only used like this where allowed by law.
Most of the time, anonymised data is used for research and planning so that you cannot be identified in which case your confidential patient information isn’t needed.
You have a choice about whether you want your confidential patient information to be used in this way. If you are happy with this use of information you do not need to do anything. If you do choose to opt out your confidential patient information will still be used to support your individual care.
To find out more or to register your choice to opt out, please visit www.nhs.uk/your-nhs-data-matters. On this web page you will:
- See what is meant by confidential patient information
- Find examples of when confidential patient information is used for individual care and examples of when it is used for purposes beyond individual care
- Find out more about the benefits of sharing data
- Understand more about who uses the data
- Find out how your data is protected
- Be able to access the system to view, set or change your opt-out setting
- Find the contact telephone number if you want to know any more or to set/change your opt-out by phone
- See the situations where the opt-out will not apply
You can also find out more about how patient information is used at:
https://www.hra.nhs.uk/information-about-patients/ (which covers health and care research); and
https://understandingpatientdata.org.uk/what-you-need-know (which covers how and why patient information is used, the safeguards and how decisions are made)
You can select your opt-out by going here: https://www.nhs.uk/your-nhs-data-matters/
You can change your mind about your choice at any time.
Data being used or shared for purposes beyond individual care does not include your data being shared with insurance companies or used for marketing purposes and data would only be used in this way with your specific agreement.
Health and care organisations have until 2020 to put systems and processes in place so they can be compliant with the national data opt-out and apply your choice to any confidential patient information they use or share for purposes beyond your individual care. Our organisation is currently’ compliant with the national data opt-out policy.
Translation Service
Language Line Available. For more information please ask at Reception.
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. The staff understand that ill patients do not always act in a reasonable manner and will take this into consideration when trying to deal with a misunderstanding or complaint.
However, aggressive behaviour, be it violent or abusive, verbal or physical, will not be tolerated and may result in you being removed from the Practice list and, in extreme cases, the Police being contacted.
Unacceptable Behaviour
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:
- Violence (towards members of staff and/or other patients)
- Excessive noise e.g., recurrent loud or intrusive conversation or shouting
- Threatening or abusive language involving swearing or offensive remarks
- Derogatory remarks regarding protected characteristics (e.g., racist, sexist, or homophobic behaviour)
- Making inflammatory statements e.g. “You are incompetent and should be sacked”
- Derogatory, abusive, or insulting comments made about staff online or in the media
- Harassing, abusing, or threatening staff on their personal social networks
- Malicious allegations relating to members of staff, other patients, or visitors
- Offensive sexual gestures or behaviours
- Abusing alcohol or drugs on practice premises
- Drug dealing on practice premises
- Willful damage to practice property or threats to damage practice property
- Threats, threatening behaviour or intimidation
- Theft
- Abuse of practice processes/policy
We ask you to treat our GPs and our staff courteously at all times. If such behaviour is witnessed, then patients will receive a formal warning asking them to reflect on their approach towards staff and patients, and the opportunity to alter their behaviour going forward. If this does not occur then we may be forced to consider other options available to the Practice.
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. This may include isolated or persistent behaviour, such as listed above.
When a relationship 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 GP surgery. In these circumstances, the Patient will receive a letter outlining the situation and advising them they are to be removed from the Practice list.
An exception to this is on immediate removal on the grounds of violence (e.g. when the Police are involved) where patients will be referred to the Special Allocation Scheme.
Removing Other Members of a Household
In rare cases, it may be necessary to terminate our responsibility to other members of the family or the entire household following the removal of an individual.
Where there may be a possibility that this person may attend surgery for the care of another, or that a visit is required to a residence where they may be present, this may make it too difficult for the Practice to continue to look after other patients. If by keeping the family or household registered with the Practice this may put staff at risk of further violence or threatening behaviour, then we will be forced to request the deduction of other patients because of their actions.
If this decision is made, then all affected parties will be informed and the reasoning why this difficult choice has had to be made.