Our professional team will ensure you receive the best attention at all times whether you’re attending a specialist clinic or a routine appointment. If you’re new to the area registration is easy and comes with the comfort of discretion and confidentiality assured.

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

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 Health Board 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 let us know.

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.

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION

Information about the General Practioners 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.

ACCESS TO RECORDS

In accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998 – GDPR from May 2015 -and Access to Health Records Act, patients may request to see their medical records. Such requests should be made through the practice manager and may be subject to an administration charge. No information will be released without the patient consent unless we are legally obliged to do so.

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 click here to read the policy.

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

This fair processing notice explains why our practice collects information about you and how that information may be used and shared.

The employees and partners of the practice use electronic and paper records to create and maintain an in-depth history of your NHS medical care at the practice and elsewhere, to help ensure you receive the best possible healthcare.  Anyone who accesses your data within the practice can only do so using a ‘smartcard’ that identifies him/her and what he/she accessed.

We comply with Data Protection Act or General Data Protection Regulations from 25^th May 2018 in ensuring your personal information is as confidential and secure as possible.

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.

All GP practices are required to declare the 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 King George Road Surgery 2020/2021 was £90456 before tax and National Insurance. This is for 2 full time GPs.

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.

At King George Road Surgery we are committed to providing quality care for our patients within a confidential and safe environment.

We pride ourselves in showing courtesy and respect to all our patients regardless of ethnicity, religious beliefs, socio-economic background or the nature of the health problem.

We aim to promote good health and well-being for all patients and to involve patients in decisions regarding their treatment.

We involve allied healthcare professionals in the care of our patients where it is in their best interest.

We ensure that all members of the team have the right skills and training to carry out their duties competently.

From the 1st April 2015, all practice are required to inform ALL patients of their named accountable GP.  This is part of the GMS contract change for 2015 – 2016 that was agreed between BMA’s General Practitioners Committee and NHS Employers.

It means that practices will need to ensure that each patient on their practice list  is assigned a named, accountable GP.

The requirement will be added to the regulations for GMS and PMS practices.

We will work through our patient list and using what is already recorded on the system, the patient will be informed of their ‘Usual GP’.

New patients will be informed who they are registered with.

We hope this will provide and promote a greater continuity of care for this co-hort of patients.

It does not mean that the named GP will take on vicarious liability for the work of other doctors of health professionals.

The named GP will not take on 24 hour responsibility for the patient or make a change to their working hours, the requirement does not imply personal availability for GP’s throughout the working week. The named GP cannot be the only GP to care to that patient.

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. 

People who are resident in the UK have rights relating to access to GP services.

There are limited rights relating to referral on to other professionals.

There are rights relating to access to one’s medical records.

Right to a General Practitioner – People who are resident in the UK have the right to be registered with a GP practice. You can choose which, however, the practice does not have to accept you, but must provide a genuine reason for not doing this.

Treatment from a GP – You are entitled to treatment from a GP at the surgery where you are registered. You can request to see a specific GP however you have no automatic right to be seen by them.

Treatment outside surgery hours – All GPs must make sure that a service is provided for their patients when they are off duty. This service is provided by Care UK, and the phone is automatically diverted to the on call from 6pm – 8.30am Monday – Friday and from 6pm Friday until 8.30am Monday morning.

Home visits – If you are housebound or are too ill to visit the GP practice you can request a home visit.  You cannot insist that a GP visits you at home. A GP will only visit if your medical condition requires it and he/she will also decide how urgently a visit is needed.

Second opinions – You can ask your GP to arrange a second opinion either from a specialist or another GP. This is at the GPs discretion. You have no right to a second opinion. You do have the right to see a GP who is competent to deal with your particular case.

Access to medical reports and health records – You have the right to see most health records held about you, subject to certain safeguards. You are entitled to be informed how these are used, who has access to them and how you can arrange to see them. For more information on this, you can pick up a leaflet from reception or speak to the GP.

Confidentiality – All NHS staff is bound by confidentiality and has signed a confidentiality clause.  Information about your medical history will be kept confidential, and not be released to people who are not involved in your medical care, without your consent ie: insurance reports etc.

PATIENT’S RESPONSIBILITIES

• Recognise that you can make a significant contribution to your own and your family’s good health and wellbeing and take some personal responsibility for it.
• Treat NHS staff other patients with respect.
• Provide accurate information about your health, condition and status.
• Keeping appointments or cancel in reasonable time so that other patients can benefit from the appointment slot.
• Order all repeat medication giving 48hr notice.

The practice operates a zero tolerance on violence and aggression/abuse towards NHS staff.

Our Primary Care Network is committed to protecting and respecting your privacy. This policy explains when and why we collect personal information, how we use it, the conditions under which we may disclose it to others and how we keep it secure.

Our Commitment to Data Privacy

We are committed to protecting your privacy and will only process personal confidential data in accordance with the General Data Protection Act (GDPR).

Our Primary Care Network are the Data Controller under the terms of the General Data Protection Act. We are therefore legally responsible for ensuring that all personal information that we process i.e. hold, obtain, record, use or share about you, is done in compliance with GDPR.

Everyone working for our Primary Care Network has a legal duty to keep information about you confidential. All of our staff receive appropriate training to ensure they are aware of their personal responsibilities and have contractual obligations to uphold confidentiality, enforceable through disciplinary procedures.

Information we hold about you

Throughout your interactions with us we will only collect the data that we require in order to provide you with the service that you are requesting.

Information you give us – Primary Care Network Newsletter

We use the information you give us to:

• send you the publications, newsletters and updates that you have subscribed to
• provide you with the services and the information about our activities and events that you have requested
• administer any user accounts we set up for you
• conduct surveys and process your response to any survey you participate in for research, evaluation and statistical purposes
• analyse and improve the activities and content offered by our Primary Care Network website to provide you with the most user-friendly navigation experience.
• otherwise communicate with you regarding our aims and activities
• ensure we do not send unwanted information to those who have informed us they do not wish to be contacted
• keep a record of your relationship with us
• keep your data up to date
• use IP addresses to identify the location of users, to block disruptive use

Information we collect about you through our website

We may automatically collect the following information about your visit. This information will not identify you, it relates to:

‘Google Analytics’ collects technical information, including your browser type and version, time zone setting, operating system and platform and the pages you visit.

‘Cookies’ are stored whilst you are using this site. We use cookies to recognise your computer when you visit our website to improve the website’s usability. To find out more about cookies, including how to see what cookies have been set and how to manage and delete them, visit www.allaboutcookies.org.

Use of cookies on our website

A cookie is a small file containing a string of characters that is sent to your computer when you visit a website. When you visit the site again, the cookie allows that site to recognise your browser. Cookies may store user preferences and other information.

Cookies provide a convenience feature to save you time, or tell the Web server that you have returned to a specific page. For example, if you personalise pages on our Website, or register for a Subscription Service, a cookie helps us to recall your specific information on subsequent visits. When you return to the same Website, the information you previously provided can be retrieved, so you can easily use the customised features.

Cookies set by the website owner (in this case, our Primary Care Network) are called “first party cookies”. Cookies set by parties other than the website owner are called “third party cookies”. Third party cookies enable third party features or functionality to be provided on or through the website (e.g. interactive content and analytics). The parties that set these third party cookies can recognise your computer both when it visits the website in question and also when it visits certain other websites.

We use first party and third party cookies for several reasons. Some cookies are required for technical reasons in order for our Website to operate, and we refer to these as “essential” or “strictly necessary” cookies. Other cookies also enable us to track and target the interests of our users to enhance the experience on our Website.

You have the right to decide whether to accept or reject cookies. You can exercise your cookie preferences by clicking on the appropriate opt-out links. You can set or amend your web browser controls to accept or refuse cookies. If you choose to reject cookies, you may still use our website though your access to some functionality and areas of our website may be restricted. As the means by which you can refuse cookies through your web browser controls vary from browser-to-browser, you should visit your browser’s help menu for more information.

The specific types of first and third party cookies served through our Websites and the purposes they perform include:

• Strictly necessary cookies. Strictly necessary cookies allow core website functionality such as user login and account management. Because the website cannot be used properly without these cookies, you cannot refuse them. You can block or delete them by changing your browser settings however.

• Performance cookies. Performance cookies are used to see how visitors use the website, eg. analytics cookies. Those cookies cannot be used to directly identify a certain visitor.

• Functionality cookies. Functionality cookies are used to track use of enhanced content, eg. video content from YouTube.

You can change your consent to cookie usage using the Cookies Settings button at the bottom of the website. Click on Show Details for a detailed breakdown of all cookies used.

We may update our cookie policy from time to time in order to reflect, for example, changes to the cookies we use or for other operational, legal or regulatory reasons. Any updates relating to our use of cookies will be published on this web page.

How your information is used

Personal information will only be used for the purpose of which it was originally given by the individual.

Your information will never be used for marketing, research or profiling without your explicit consent.

Your Rights

You have certain legal rights, including a right to have your information processed fairly and lawfully and a right to access any personal confidential data we hold about you.

Right to be informed

You have the right to be informed about the collection and use of your data.

You also have the right to be notified of a data security breach concerning your personal data if it results in physical, material or non-material damage to you such as loss of control over your personal data, discrimination, identity theft or fraud, financial loss or loss of confidentiality of personal data.

Right of access

You have the right to access any of your personal data that is being processed together with supplementary information. If we do hold information about you we will:

• Give you a description of it;
• Tell you why we are holding it;
• Tell you who it could be disclosed to; and
• Let you have a copy of the information in a plain readable format.

There are no fees for making a request. However, if your request is manifestly unfounded or excessive we may charge a reasonable administrative fee or refuse to respond to your request.

Right to be forgotten

You have the right to have your personal data erased. This right is not guaranteed and applies only in certain circumstances.

Right to restrict

You have the right to request the restriction of your personal data from being processed. This will restrict any ongoing processing but not erase any data we hold.

Right to rectification

You have the right to have inaccurate personal data rectified or completed if it is incomplete.

Right to object

You have the right to object to data processing of the information we hold about you, where we are relying on a legitimate interest to do so and you think that your rights and interests outweigh our own and you wish us to stop.

Rights in relation to automated decision making and profiling

We do not make any automated decisions or profiling with your personal data.

How to make a request

Requests must be made in writing to our Primary Care Network. Alternatively you can email us.

The information we will require when you make a request is your name, email address, contact telephone number, name or your practice or company and a description of the request.

We will respond within a reasonable period and no later than one calendar month.

Third Parties

We use a range of third-party data processors to assist us in connection with the services that we provide.

These organisations are subject to the same legal rules and conditions for keeping personal confidential data secure and are underpinned by a contract with us.

Technical service providers – We may share your details with providers we use to provide computing services.

Email software – We may share your details with e-mail software providers to allow us to send email newsletters to you.

Communication services – We may share your details with companies who provide us with communication services such as a customer support.

We do not sell your personal information to any third parties for any purposes.

Processing outside the UK

Third parties we may use may be situated outside the UK.

We will ensure that these companies are committed to ensuring such transfers are compliant with applicable data transfer laws, including GDPR.

Data Retention

Customers – We will retain the information we hold about you along with invoices for a minimum period of six years to enable us to comply with our legal obligations in respect of, for example, the HMRC.

Data Backups

Backup data is encrypted and stored off site.

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

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.