Your Privacy

We are committed to protecting your privacy.

You can access our website without giving us any information about yourself.

But sometimes we do need information to provide services that you request, and this statement of privacy explains data collection and use in those situations.

Please see our new Privacy Policy

In general, you can visit our web site without telling us who you are and without revealing any information about yourself.

However there may be occasions when you choose to give us personal information, for example, when you choose to contact us or request information from us. We will ask you when we need information that personally identifies you or allows us to contact you.

We collect the personal data that you may volunteer while using our services.

We do not collect information about our visitors from other sources, such as public records or bodies, or private organisations. We do not collect or use personal data for any purpose other than that indicated below:

• To send you confirmation of requests that you have made to us
• To send you information when you request it.

We intend to protect the quality and integrity of your personally identifiable information and we have implemented appropriate technical and organisational measures to do so. We ensure that your personal data will not be disclosed to State institutions and authorities except if required by law or other regulation.

Our website may contain links to other websites of interest. However, once you have used these links to leave our site, you should be aware that we don’t have any control over the other website.

Therefore, we cannot be responsible for the protection and privacy of any information which you provide whilst visiting these sites.

Please be reassured that all staff are bound by a confidentiality agreement to ensure your information is not shared.

Freedom Of Information

Introduction

This Publication Scheme is a complete guide to the information routinely made available to the public by the Emsworth Medical Practice.

How much does it cost?

The publications are all free unless otherwise indicated – see ‘Cost of Information’

How is the information made available?

The information within each Class is either downloadable from the practice website at http://www.emsworthmedical.co.uk or available in hard copy from the Practice Manager. Requests for information need to be made to the Practice Manager in writing.

Your rights to information

  • The Freedom of Information Act 2000 recognises that members of the public have the right to know how public services are organised and run, how much they cost and how the decisions are made.
  • From January 1st 2005 it will oblige the Emsworth Medical Practice to respond to requests about information that it holds, and is recorded in any format and it will create a right of access to that information. These rights are subject to some exemptions that have to be taken into consideration before deciding what information it can release.
  • In addition to accessing the information identified in the Publication Scheme, you are entitled to request information about the Emsworth Medical Practice under the NHS Openness Code 1995.
  • Under the Data Protection Act 1998, you are also entitled to access your clinical records or any other personal information held about you and you can contact the Practice Manager to do this.

Feedback

If you have any comments about the operation of the Publication Scheme, or how we have dealt with your request for information from the Scheme, please write to the Practice Manager

CLASSES OF INFORMATION

Our commitment to publish information excludes any information that can be legitimately withheld under the exemptions set out in the NHS Openness Code or Freedom of Information Act 2000. The main reasons for exemptions are the protection of commercial interests and personal information under the Data Protection Act 1998. This applies to all Classes within the Publication Scheme. The information on this Scheme is grouped into the following broad categories:

1. Who we are
The Emsworth Medical Practice  provides services in accordance with a personal medical services contract held with the NHS England.   A map of the practice area is available on the Surgery web site.
Key Personnel: These are shown on the Practice web site.

2. Our Services
The range of services, opening hours, out-of-hours services and contact numbers are available from either the web site or from the Surgery Practice Leaflet.

3. Financial and funding information
The Emsworth Medical Practice receives money from Hampshire, Southampton & Isle of Wight CCG, in exchange for services provided for patients.
Information on the total income received from the NHS may be obtained from the Practice Manager.

4. Regular publications and information for the public
The following published information is available:
– Practice Leaflet
– Bi-annual Information sheet – Quack
– Numerous clinical guidance leaflets

5. Complaints
The Emsworth Medical Practice follows the NHS complaints procedure; a copy of the procedure is available from the Practice Manager.

6. Policies and procedures
General policies and procedures in use within the practice include, but are not restricted to, data protection, confidentiality, prescribing and prescription, and health and safety.

7. This Publication Scheme
Cost of Information
For the most part, we will charge you only for hard copies or copying onto media (e.g. CD ROM). Charges are as follows:[a) Via the Emsworth Medical Practice Web Site – no charge.
For those without Internet access, a single print-out, as on the website, would be available by post from the Practice Manager – the practice charges 33p per sheet plus a postage and packing charge. Also, requests for copies of archived documents, which are no longer accessible or available on the web, will attract an additional charge for their retrieval. We will let you know the cost, which will need to be paid in advance.
b) Leaflets and brochures – free of charge for leaflets or booklets on, for example, services we offer to the public.

Copyright


Material available through this Publication Scheme is subject to the Emsworth Medical Practice’s copyright unless otherwise indicated. Unless expressly indicated to the contrary, it may be reproduced free of charge in any format or medium provided it is done so accurately in a manner that will not mislead. Where items are re-published or copied to others, you must identify the source and acknowledge copyright status. This permit does not extend to third party material, accessed through the scheme. For HMSO Guidance Notes see www.hmso.gov.uk/guides.htm

Accessibility Statement

Emsworth Medical Practice is committed to making its website accessible, in accordance with the Public Sector Bodies Websites  Accessibility Regulations 2018.

This accessibility statement applies to our website.

Compliance status

This website is partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1  AA standard, due to the non-compliance listed below.

Software included in the site provides a toolbar for accessibility shown in high contrast red to the left of the screen:

Accessibility Toolbar allows sitewide

  • Resize font (increase/decrease)
  • Grayscale
  • Negative Contrast
  • High Contrast
  • Light Background
  • Links Underline
  • Readable Font
  • Link to Sitemap / Feedback / Help pages

Accessibility Features:

  • Enable skip to content

Remember Your Choice

Save your accessibility preferences automatically

Non-accessible content

The content listed below is non-accessible for the following reason(s):

(a) non-compliance with the accessibility regulations

  • The structure of all the pages throughout the site may affect users using assistive technology.
  • You cannot modify the line height or spacing of text.
  • Some of our online forms are difficult to navigate using just a keyboard.
  • Some form elements are missing descriptions.
  • You cannot skip to the main content when using a screen reader.
  • Some heading elements are not consistent.
  • Readable quick links not active on some pages
  • PDF files attached  may not be accessible to some reader software

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared on 30.01.2024.

Feedback and contact information

Please contact us at Emsworth Surgery for the attention of the IT Manager to advise of any difficulties accessing the website.

Telephone 01243 378812

Enforcement procedure

The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) is responsible for enforcing the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018 (the ‘accessibility regulations’).

If you’re not happy with how we respond to your complaint, contact the Equality Advisory and Support Service (EASS).

EMSWORTH MEDICAL PRACTICE  – PATIENT COMPLAINTS PROCEDURE

If you have a complaint or concern about the service that you have received from the doctors or any of the staff working in the Practice, please let us know.  We operate a Practice Complaints Procedure as part of the NHS system for dealing with complaints.  Our system meets national criteria.

How to Complain

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

You should normally make a complaint within twelve months of the event, or within twelve months of becoming aware that you have something to complain about. However, these time limits may be waived if there are good reasons why you could not complain earlier and if we are still able to investigate the complaint fairly and effectively in spite of the delay.

Complaints can be made either orally or in writing to Mrs Sally Prior, our Complaints Manager.

What We Will Do

We will acknowledge receipt of your complaint within 3 working days either orally or in writing and will offer to discuss the matter with you.

We will offer you a meeting with complaints lead, Dr Andrew Slingsby, to agree a timeframe for resolution and to reach an agreement with you on how you wish the complaint to be handled and the likely period for completion of the investigation and response to you.  If you would prefer not to accept the offer of a discussion we will determine a specified response period and notify you in writing of that period.

We will aim to investigate and deal with all complaints efficiently and speedily.  We will send you a written response with a report on the investigation as soon as reasonably practicable.  If we are not able to meet the response deadline we have agreed with you, we will contact you to advise why and negotiate another timescale.

All oral complaints will be recorded in writing by the Practice and you will be provided with a copy of the written record.

When we look into your complaints, we will aim to:

  • Find out what happened and what went wrong
  • Advise you what we will do to put the matter right
  • 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

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

Integrated Care Board

From the 1st July 2023, the way patients make a complaint about Primary Care services to the commissioner is changing.  Rather than contacting NHS England, they will contact their local integrated care board (ICB).   Our ICB is Hampshire and Isle of Wight

They are committed to ensuring that NHS services across Hampshire, the Isle of Wight, Portsmouth and Southampton are as good as they can be, and value feedback on your experiences.  Your comments, concerns, compliments or complaints about any of the services are welcomed.  They recognise the value that feedback can provide in planning for the future and in improving services.

The NHS can sometimes be complicated to understand, if you feel you need support, the Patient Experience Service can help you to guide your way through the NHS complaints procedure, assist with your concern and advise on any queries you may have regarding any services commissioned, or share any details of organisations that can support you.

Please email: hiowicb-hsi.patientexperience@nhs.net

Ombudsman

We hope that if you have a problem, you will use our Practice Complaints Procedure.  We believe this will give us the best chance of putting right whatever has gone wrong and an opportunity to improve the services provided by our Practice. If you are not content with the outcome of your complaint at local level you have the right to ask the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) to review your complaint. The PHSO is not obliged to investigate every complaint, they will normally review a complaint once it has been through the local resolution stage.   Contact details for the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman are as follows:

Telephone: 0345 015 4033

Visit: www.ombudsman.org.uk

Completing the Annual Statement for Infection Prevention and Control (Primary Care)

It is a requirement of The Health and Social Care Act 2008 Code of Practice on the prevention and control of infections and related guidance that the Infection Prevention and Control Lead produces an annual statement with regard to compliance with good practice on infection prevention and control and makes it available for anyone who wishes to see it, including patients and regulatory authorities.

As best practice, the Annual Statement should be published on the Practice website.

The Annual Statement should provide a short review of any:

· known infection transmission event and actions arising from this;

· audits undertaken and subsequent actions;

· risk assessments undertaken for prevention and control of infection;

· training received by staff; and

· review and update of policies, procedures and guidance.

Below is a suggested template for the Annual Statement compiled from national guidance and examples of best practice found on the internet. Practices can (and should) adapt the template and add further detail/headings/examples but the five key headings (above) must be included. If the practice are unable to complete one or more of the five key headings, it is likely that the practice are not compliant with the health and Social Care Act.

Infection Control Annual Statement

Purpose

This annual statement will be generated each year in February in accordance with the requirements of The Health and Social Care Act 2008 Code of Practice on the prevention and control of infections and related guidance. It summarises:

· Any infection transmission incidents and any action taken (these will have been reported in accordance with our Significant Event procedure)

· Details of any infection control audits undertaken and actions undertaken

· Details of any risk assessments undertaken for prevention and control of infection

· Details of staff training

· Any review and update of policies, procedures and guidelines

Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) Lead

The Emsworth Medical Practice has a lead for Infection Prevention and Control: Alexandra Kershaw

The IPC Lead is supported by:

Alexandra Kershaw has attended an IPC Lead training course regularly each year and keeps updated on infection prevention practice.

Infection transmission incidents (Significant Events)

Significant events (which may involve examples of good practice as well as challenging events) are investigated in detail to see what can be learnt and to indicate changes that might lead to future improvements. All significant events are reviewed in the quarterly nurse and practice meetings and learning is cascaded to all relevant staff.

In the past year there have been no significant events raised that related to infection control.

Infection Prevention Audit and Actions

The Annual Infection Prevention and Control audit was completed by Alexandra Kershaw in May 2023

As a result of the audit, the following things have been changed in Emsworth Medical Practice:

· Completed annual statement and uploaded to the website.

· Dust found on curtain rails, fed back to the cleaning company and they now do a monthly audit of their cleaning practice.

· Face masks in store room out of date and swabs in clinican trolleys out of date – disposed of.

· Curtains out of date in clinical rooms – creating folders in each of the treatment rooms to sign of to monitor IPC adherence

An audit on Minor Surgery was undertaken by Alexandra Kershaw in Jan 2024.

No infections were reported for patients who had had minor surgery at the Emsworth Medical Practice.

As a result of the audit, the following things have been changed:

· Update Joint injcetion policy

· Disseminate the policy among the GPs undertaking the minor surgery

An audit on hand washing was undertaken in [insert date]. This was discussed at the practice / staff / partner meeting.

The Emsworth Medical Practice plan to undertake the following audits in 2024:

· Annual Infection Prevention and Control audit

· Minor Surgery outcomes audit

· Domestic Cleaning audit

· Hand hygiene/asepsis audit

· Waste Management Audit

· Vaccine cold chain audit

· Sharps bin audit

Risk Assessments

Risk assessments are carried out so that best practice can be established and then followed. In the last year the following risk assessments were carried out / reviewed:

Legionella (Water) Risk Assessment: The practice has conducted/reviewed its water safety risk assessment to ensure that the water supply does not pose a risk to patients, visitors or staff.

Immunisation: As a practice we ensure that all of our staff are up to date with their Hepatitis B immunisations and offered any occupational health vaccinations applicable to their role (i.e. MMR, Seasonal Flu). We take part in the National Immunisation campaigns for patients and offer vaccinations in house and via home visits to our patient population.

Other examples:

Curtains: The NHS Cleaning Specifications state the curtains should be cleaned or if using disposable curtains, replaced every 6 months. To this effect we use disposable curtains and ensure they are changed every 6 months. The window blinds are very low risk and therefore do not require a particular cleaning regime other than regular vacuuming to prevent build-up of dust. The modesty curtains although handled by clinicians are never handled by patients and clinicians have been reminded to always remove gloves and clean hands after an examination and before touching the curtains. All curtains are regularly reviewed and changed if visibly soiled.

Toys: We have no toys in the practice.

Cleaning specifications, frequencies and cleanliness: We have a cleaning specification and frequency policy which our cleaners and staff work to. An assessment of cleanliness is conducted by the cleaning team and logged. This includes all aspects in the surgery including cleanliness of equipment.

Hand washing sinks: The practice has clinical hand washing sinks in every room for staff to use. Some of our sinks at our Westbourne site do not meet the latest standards for sinks but we have removed plugs, covered overflows and reminded staff to turn of taps that are not ‘hands free’ with paper towels to keep patients safe. We have also replaced our liquid soap with wall mounted soap dispensers to ensure cleanliness.

Training

All our staff receive annual training in infection prevention and control via the e-learning platform e-learning for health.

Policies

All Infection Prevention and Control related policies are in date for this year.

Policies relating to Infection Prevention and Control are available to all staff and are reviewed and updated annually, and all are amended on an on-going basis as current advice, guidance and legislation changes. Infection Control policies are circulated amongst staff for reading and discussed at meetings on an annual basis they are accessable on our shared H- drive.

Responsibility

It is the responsibility of each individual to be familiar with this Statement and their roles and responsibilities under this.

Review date

Feb 2025

Responsibility for Review

The Infection Prevention and Control Lead and the Kate Hope (Practice manager) are responsible for reviewing and producing the Annual Statement.

Alexandra Kershaw

IPC lead and ANP

For and on behalf of the Emsworth Medical Practice

Violence or Abusive Behaviour

Emsworth Medical Practice operates a Zero Tolerance Policy.

We take seriously any threatening, abusive or violent behaviour against doctors, staff or patients. If a patient is violent or abusive, they will be warned to stop their behaviour.

If they persist, we may exercise our right to take action to have them removed, immediately if necessary, from our list of patients.

The police may also be informed.

Medical Students

Emsworth Medical Practice is passionate about training and teaching Medical Students.

We feel that teaching encourages us to share our knowledge and they constantly ensure we are up to date!

Student Feedback continues to show that they gain so much from you sharing your medical history with them. It is felt to be one of the best places to learn medicine!

We hope that you will be happy to be seen by a student or with a student present but it is your right to ask to be seen by your doctor and the student will be happy to step out.

It is important for you to advise us if you do not wish to be seen by a student. Please advise the receptionist or the doctor and even mid way through a consultation you may still ask the student to leave.

If you are booked into a surgery with a student you will always be seen and reviewed by a GP.

It is possible that during the consultation the doctor will ask the student many questions which may relate to you or any conditions that are being considered.

If you have any questions at any time please interupt and ask! It is your appointment and you are the most important part of any learning!

Disclaimer

Every effort is taken to ensure that the information published on this website is accurate and informative.

This website is provided for information only. It is not intended to replace a consultation with an appropriately qualified medical practitioner. Neither the Practice nor any of its sub-contractors can accept responsibility for any loss, damage or injury that arises from the use of this website.

Links are provided for information and convenience only. We cannot accept responsibility for the sites linked to, or the information found there. A link does not imply an endorsement of a site; likewise, not linking to a particular site does not imply lack of endorsement.

We make every effort to ensure that this website is available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. However, we cannot guarantee uninterrupted access to this website, or the sites to which it links. We accept no responsibility for any damages arising from the loss of use of this information.