Please click here to read the policy.

We always welcome feedback regarding our services in order for us to make improvements. Please feel free to visit our NHS UK page and leave feedback by clicking the following link: NHS Feedback

Alternatively, if you have a comment or suggestion that you would like to feedback to us directly, please complete our Contact Us form. Please only use this form for comments about the practice and suggestions as to how we can improve our service to you. Medical matters and official complaints cannot be dealt with via this form. If you have a query regarding a medical matter please telephone reception to make an appointment to see the appropriate person.

Following recent activity on Facebook where patients of King George Road posted derogatory comments about some of our staff, we now have the following policy in place.

If any such posts are brought to our attention we will contact the patients involved and invite them in to have a face to face discussion about the issues that they have. This will be viewed as a potential break down in the doctor – patient relationship and may result in you being removed from our list.

However, we would ask that rather than posting derogatory or hurtful comments about any of our staff on social media, if there are any aspects of the service that you are not entirely happy with, please ask to speak to the practice manager about this or put your comments to us in writing giving us the opportunity to respond.

We welcome all feedback, positive and negative as it gives us the opportunity to review the services that we provide and where necessary or appropriate, make any changes or improvements.

Thank You

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.

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 who will deal with your concerns appropriately. Further written information is available regarding the complaints procedure from reception.

Click here to view the Medway Complaints Leaflet

What does consent mean?

Where possible, a clinician must be satisfied that a patient understands and consents to a proposed treatment or investigation.  This will include the nature, purpose, and risks of the procedure, if necessary by the use of drawings, interpreters, videos or other means to ensure that the patient understands, and has enough information to make an “informed choice”.

Implied Consent

Implied consent will be assumed for many routine physical contacts with patients.  Where implied consent is to be assumed by the clinician, in all cases, the following will apply;

• An explanation will be given to the patient what he/she is about to do, and why.
• The explanation will be sufficient for the patient to understand the procedure.
• In all cases where the patient is under 18 years of age a verbal confirmation of consent will be obtained and briefly entered into the medical record.
• Where there is a significant risk to the patient an “Expressed Consent” will be obtained in all cases (See below).

Expressed Consent

Expressed consent (written or verbal) will be obtained for any procedure which carries a risk that the patient is likely to consider as being substantial.  A note will be made in the medical record detailing the discussion about the consent and the risks.  A consent form may be used for the patient to express consent.

• Please use this link to view the Covid Vaccination Programme Privacy Notice.

Please find below details of the practices stance with regards to these points.

Summary Care Record (SCR)

NHS England require practices to enable successful automated uploads of any changes to patient’s summary information, at least on a daily basis, to the summary care record (SCR).Having your Summary Care Record (SCR) available will help anyone treating you without your full medical record. They will have access to information about any medication you may be taking and any drugs that you have a recorded allergy or sensitivity to.

King George Road Surgery confirm that your SCR is automatically updated on at least a daily basis to ensure that your information is as up to date as it can possibly be.

GP to GP Record Transfers

NHS England require practices to utilise the GP2GP facility for the transfer of patient records between practices, when a patient registers or de-registers (not for temporary registration).

With GP to GP record transfers your electronic record is transferred to your new practice much sooner.

King George Road Surgery confirm that GP to GP transfers are already active and we send and receive patient records via this system.

Patient On-line Access to Their GP Record

NHS England require practices to promote and offer the facility to enable patients on-line access to appointments, prescriptions, allergies and adverse reactions.

repeat prescriptions on-line and to view you online medical records. This is done by the Patient On-line Services. If you do not already have a user name and password for this system – please register on our website or enquire at reception.

Data for commissioning and other secondary care purposes

It is already a requirement of the Health and Social Care Act that practices must meet the reasonable data requirements of commissioners and other health and social care organisations through appropriate and safe data sharing for secondary uses, as specified in the technical specification for care data.

At King George Road Surgery we have specific arrangements in place to allow patients to “opt out” of care.data which allows for the removal of data from the practice. This can be done by completing a form and handing it in at reception.

The national data opt-out was introduced on 25 May 2018, enabling patients to opt out from the use of their data for research or planning purposes, in line with the recommendations of the National Data Guardian in her Review of Data Security, Consent and Opt-Outs (click here for more information).

Patients can view or change their national data opt-out choice at any time by using the online service here or by clicking on “Your Health” in the NHS App, and selecting “Choose if data from your health records is shared for research and planning”.

More information is available from the NHS Digital website by clicking here.

How the NHS and care services use your information

Whenever you use a health or care service, such as attending 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 here.  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 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.

Please click here to download our National Opt Out and Privacy Notice. 

There has been some national media coverage about the introduction of the new arrangements under General Practice Data for Planning and Research (GPDPR click here for more information) and the data sharing of patient records.  There is some NHS Digital advice for patients (Click here for more information) about the collection of GP data that may help patient understanding of how the information is shared in a non-identifiable way and will only be used for research.