If you have a complaint or concern about the service you have received from the doctors or any of the staff working in this GP surgery, please let us know. This includes Primary Care Network staff working as part of our GP surgery. We operate a complaints procedure as part of an NHS system for dealing with complaints. Our complaints system meets national criteria.

How to complain

We hope that most problems can be sorted out easily and quickly when they arise and with the person concerned. For example, by requesting a face-to-face meeting to discuss your concerns.

If your problem cannot be sorted out this way and you wish to make a complaint, we would like you to let us know as soon as possible. By making your complaint quickly, it is easier for us to establish what happened. If it is not possible to do that, please let us have details of your complaint:

• Within 6 months of the incident that caused the problem; or
• Within 6 months of discovering that you have a problem, provided this is within 12 months of the incident.

Complaints should be addressed to the GP surgery team verbally or in writing [PRACTICE TO ADD SPECIFIC CONTACT DETAILS]. Alternatively, you may ask for an appointment with the GP surgery to discuss your concerns. They will explain the complaints procedure to you and make sure your concerns are dealt with promptly. Please be as specific as possible about your complaint.

What we will do

We will acknowledge your complaint within three working days. We will aim to have investigated your complaint within ten working days of the date you raised it with us. We will then offer you an explanation or a meeting with the people involved, if you would like this. When we investigate your complaint, we will aim to:

• Find out what happened and what went wrong.
• Make it possible for you to discuss what happened with those concerned, if you would like this.
• Make sure you receive an apology, where this is appropriate.
• Identify what we can do to make sure the problem does not happen again.

Complaining on behalf of someone else

We take medical confidentiality seriously. If you are complaining on behalf of someone else, we must know that you have their permission to do so. A note signed by the person concerned will be needed unless they are incapable (because of illness) of providing this.

Complaining to NHS England

We hope that you will use our Practice Complaints Procedure if you are unhappy. We believe this will give us the best chance of putting right whatever has gone wrong and an opportunity to improve our GP surgery.

However, if you feel you cannot raise the complaint with us directly, please contact NHS England. You can find more information on how to make a complaint at https://www.england.nhs.uk/contact-us/complaint/complaining-to-nhse/.

Unhappy with the outcome of your complaint?

If you are not happy with the way your complaint has been dealt with by the GP surgery and NHS England and would like to take the matter further, you can contact the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO). The PHSO makes final decisions on unresolved complaints about the NHS in England. It is an independent service which is free for everyone to use.

To take your complaint to the Ombudsman, visit the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman website or call 0345 015 4033

Need help making a complaint?

If you want help making a complaint, Healthwatch Hounslow can help you find independent NHS complaints advocacy services in your area.

Alternatively, POhWER is a charity that helps people to be involved in decisions being made about their care. Call POhWER’s support centre on 0300 456 2370 for advice.

NHS England require that the net earnings of doctors engaged in the practice is publicised, and the required disclosure is 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 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 Abbey Medical Practice during the year ended 30th April 2021 was £73,788 before tax and national insurance. This is for 0 full time GPs, 5 part time GPs and 0 locum GPs who worked in the practice for more than 6 months.

This information was provided by our Accountants

In accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998 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.

Information about the General Practitioners 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.

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. T  hese members of staff are bound by the same rules of confidentiality as the medical staff.

For Information only – All practices are required by the Government and under the terms of our latest GP contracts to allocate all patients a Named Accountable GP.  The practice has a record of this and if you wish to know the name of your Accountable GP, please ask at reception.  This does not affect you in any way and you can still see any member of the practice team.

Abbey Medical Practice Data Protection Policy 2020

Abbey Medical Practice Confidentiality and Consent Policy

Information about you and the care you receive is shared in a secure system by healthcare staff to support your treatment and care.

It is important that we, the NHS, can use this information to plan and improve services for all patients.  We would like to link information from all the different places where you receive care, such as your GP, hospital and community service, to help us provide a full picture.    This will allow us to compare the care you received in one area against the care you received in another, so we can see what has worked best.

Information such as your postcode and NHS number, but not your name, will be used to link your records in a secure system, so your identity is protected.   Information which does not reveal your identity can then be used by others, such as researchers and those planning health services, to make sure we provide the best care possible for everyone.

You have a choice.   If you are happy for your information to be used in this way you do not have to do anything.    If you have any concerns or wish to prevent this from happening, please call the dedicated patient information line on 0300 456 3531 or or download a copy of the leaflet “How information about you helps us to provide better care” below.    We wish to ensure that you know this is happening and the choices you have.      An opt out form is also provided for your convenience.

Care Data Dissent Form

Care Data – FAQ’s

Care Data Leaflet

How information about you helps us to provide better care

 You can also find out more on the NHS England Care Data website

Zero Tolerance Policy