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 Southwark 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.

Useful Links:

PALS (Reg hospital Complaints): https://www.nhs.uk/nhs-services/hospitals/what-is-pals-patient-advice-and-liaison-service

Complaints Advocacy VoiceAbility (NHS Support writing complaints):  https://www.voiceability.org/about-advocacy/types-of-advocacy/nhs-complaints-advocacy

Disclaimer: NHS England requires that the net earnings of doctors engaged in the practice is published, 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, or to make any comparison with any other practice.

All GP Practices are required to declare mean earnings (i.e. average pay) for GPs working to deliver NHS services to patients at each practice. The average pay for GPs working in the practice of Albion Street Group Practice in the last financial year was £51,612 before tax and National Insurance.

This is for 8 full time GPs and 4 part time GPs who worked in the practice for more than six months.

The NHS South East London Integrated Care Board is an NHS statutory organisation. They bring together partners involved in planning and providing NHS services, working together to meet the health needs of the population within south east London and deliver the Integrated Care Partnership’s strategy. They are responsible for allocating NHS resource to deliver this plan.

• Address: 160 Tooley Street, London, SE1 2TZ
• Email: [email protected]
• Website: NHS South East London Integrated Care Board website.

We work in partnership with the NIHR (National Institute for Health Research) Clinical Research Network who carry out important research. Our research is funded by public bodies and charities.

Research is an important part of healthcare. It is used to learn more about certain illnesses and to identify the most effective way of treating patients.

National Institute for Health Research website.

Albion Street Group Practice is committed to giving the best possible service and welcomes feedback from patients and visitors.

All feedback is taken seriously and used to improve services for patients. The care of patients raising concerns will not be affected in any way and will continue to be our highest priority.

Please let us have your comments both positive and negative by completing a Friends and Family Test.

Your comments will help us to maintain our high standard of service.

Giving another person access to your GP online services

Did you know that you can choose to give another person access to your GP online services on your behalf? You don’t need to know how to use these services or have a computer yourself to give another person access.

Who can have access?

You choose who you want to give access to. This could be your carer, partner, parent or another family member. You can also give access to more than one person. Giving access to another person is your choice. No-one can go to your GP surgery and ask for access to your online services without your permission.

You also choose which online services you want each person to use. These are booking appointments, ordering repeat prescriptions and looking at your GP record. You decide whether to let them use one, two or all of the services on your behalf.

Why you may want to give another person access

You may wish to allow another person to use your online services for different reasons. For example:

• You are very unwell or just need help managing your health
• You have a long term condition ,for example diabetes, heart disease, asthma or high blood pressure and would like support with checking test results, ordering repeat prescriptions and understanding your treatment
• You are finding it more difficult to look after yourself, for example due to memory issues or speech difficulties
• You have learning difficulties and want someone else to help you understand your health
• You have a carer who can help you manage your health
• You may be planning for the future or choosing someone to hold lasting power of attorney for health and social care for you
• You are a young person and would like your parent or guardian to look after your health. Some surgeries only allow this for children under the age of 12
• You work away from home or are just busy and need help with booking appointments or ordering repeat prescriptions.
• You are not comfortable with using computers, smart phones, or tablets

Benefits

Before giving another person access, you should think about what the benefits will be for you. If you cannot think of any, then you should think very carefully whether allowing them access is the right thing to do. Some of the benefits are:

• You have peace of mind that someone is supporting you with managing your health
• The person you choose can help you make sure the information your surgery has about you is correct, for example your medication and allergies.
• You know that someone else understands your medical information and can provide information when you are unable to. This could be when you are unconscious or too unwell to speak or when you need help explaining or understanding something
• You can benefit from the convenience of using GP online services even if you do not use a computer or do not have access to the internet
• One member of the family can book appointments for everyone in the household and make sure the appointments fit with your family activities

If you have a carer, using GP online services can save them time allowing them to spend more time looking after your needs.

How it works

The recommended and safest way to give another person access to your online services is for them to have their own username and password. If you use online services yourself, you should not share your username and password with anyone. If you share your username and password, your surgery cannot tell whether you or someone else accessed your online services. This may be a problem if someone else misuses your login details and your surgery has to look into this.

How to sign up

The steps below show how you can give another person access:

1. You contact your surgery to let them know you would like to give your chosen person access to your GP online services.You may also choose to register for online services for yourself if you do not already use them
2. The Practice will give your chosen person a short form to fill in. You will also need to sign to confirm you agree with the information on the form. You can also choose whether you only want them to book appointments or order prescriptions or use all the services on your behalf. It is up to you
3. Your chosen person will need to show your surgery their photo ID and proof of address, for example, a passport or photo driving licence and a bank statement or council tax statement. If they don’t have the required ID, speak to staff at the surgery, who may be able to help confirm their identity in another way
4. Staff at the Practice will make a decision on whether to give your chosen person access to your GP online services. If we decide not to give them access, we will discuss their reasons with you
5. The staff will give your chosen person their own username and password to use to login to your GP online services.

Parent or Legal Guardian Requesting Proxy Access for Child.

1. Legal parent or guardian to bring proof such as the child’s birth certificate or legal court papers, as well as proof of own ID.
2. All children aged 11yrs or above, will need to understand what proxy means and will also have to sign the proxy forms.

Things to consider before giving another person access

• Is there any information in your records you would not like anyone to see or know about?
• Can you trust the person to keep your information safe and not share it with others or use it without your permission?
• Is any one forcing you into sharing your online services with them or do you think someone could force you to share it with them? If so, we would advise that you do not give them access. If you have any concerns that someone has access to your online records without your permission, speak to your surgery and they can change your password or stop your online services
• How long would you like your chosen person to have access for? This can be for a short time, for example when you are suffering from a certain illness and you need support with managing your health during that time. It can also be ongoing so they can help you for a long period of time. You can discuss this with the Practice.

Lasting power of attorney for health and welfare or court appointed deputy

When a person is unable to make decisions for themselves, another person, usually a partner or close family member can be given legal responsibility over decisions concerning their life by the courts. This is called Health and Welfare Lasting Power of Attorney. A person with lasting power of attorney can ask the patient’s surgery for access to their online services. The GP will make a decision whether this should be allowed.

If you know that you would never want a particular person to have access to your online services if you become unable to make your own decisions, you should tell your GP and they will never share them with that person.

Why your surgery may refuse to give your chosen person access

On rare occasions, your GP could refuse to allow your chosen person to use GP online services on your behalf. If this happens, your GP will discuss their reasons with you. Some of the reasons your GP could have are:

• Your GP does not think it is in your best interest for your chosen person to use these services on your behalf
• You or your chosen people have misused online services in the past
• The Practice is concerned that your chosen person will not keep your information safe
• The Practice suspects someone is forcing you to give them permission to use your online services
• You are not able to make decisions for yourself.

Why your surgery can stop the service

• We believe your chosen person is forcing you to share your GP records with them or with another person.
• Your chosen person has misused your GP information
• You are no longer able to understand or remember that you gave your chosen person permission to use online services on your behalf
• You have told the Practice in the past that if you become unable to make decisions for yourself, you do not wish for your chosen person or anyone to have permission to your online services
• You have died.

How you can stop the service

You can choose to take away access to your GP online services from your chosen person at any time.To end the service, you need to let your surgery know you would like them to switch off online access for your chosen person and give them the reason.Your surgery will then stop the service and your chosen person will not be able to use their login details to look at your information.

Why you may want to stop access

Some of the reasons you can choose to end the service are:

• You only needed your chosen person to support you for a short time, for example when you were suffering from a certain illness and you needed help with managing your health during that time
• You want to give this responsibility to another person, for example, if you have a new carer or personal assistant
• Your relationship with your chosen person has broken down
• Your chosen person has misused information in your GP records, for example, they have collected medication in your name or they have shared your private information with someone without your permission.

Please contact the practice to sign up for proxy access.

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.

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.