Practice Policies & Patient Information

From 4th October 2023 you will be able to see your medical records on line from that date onwards.

For more information on this please visit: NHS: How to get your medical records

Make sure you agree with the following sentences before accessing your record.

• Forgotten history – There may be something you have forgotten about in your record that you might find upsetting.
• Abnormal Results or Bad News – If your GP has given you access to test results or letters, you may see something that you find upsetting. This may occur before you have spoken to your doctor or while the surgery is closed and you cannot contact them.
• Choosing to share your Information with Someone – It’s up to you if you share your information with other- perhaps family members or carers. It’s your choice, but also your responsibility to keep the information safe and secure.
• Coercion – If you think you may be pressured into revealing details from your patient record to someone else against your will, it is best that you so not register for access at this time.
• Misunderstood information – Your medical record is designed to be used by clinical professionals to ensure that you receive the best possible care. Some of the information within your medical record may be highly technical, written by specialists and not easily understood. If you require further clarification, please contact the surgery for a clearer explanation.
• Information about someone else – If you spot something in the record that is not about you or notice any other errors, please log out of the system immediately and contact the practice as soon as possible.

1. I have read and understood the information provided by the practice

2. I understand that I will automatically see any new information (prospective records) that is added to my healthcare record.

3. I understand how to keep my online GP services and the information they contain about me secure

4. If I choose to share my information with anyone else, this is at my own risk

5. If I suspect that my account has been accessed by someone without my agreement, I will contact the practice as soon as possible

6. If I see information in my record that is not about me or is inaccurate, I will contact the practice as soon as possible

7. If I think that I may come under pressure to give access to someone else unwillingly, I will contact the practice as soon as possible. If the patient struggles to agree with any of these statements or raises any concerns, recommend that the patient makes an appointment with an appointed person in the practice to discuss their concerns before signing them up for GP online services. You can include the statements in an application form.

Understanding some of the medical terms you may see in your notes – in the first instance please visit NHS: Abbreviations you may find in your health records.

Understanding your laboratory test results – please visit labtestsonline.org.uk.

For further information about the medication you are taking visit patient.info/medicine.

We strive to ensure your details are accurate and up to date. If you are concerned that information in your online record is inaccurate, please contact the practice. Your concern will be passed to a member of the clinical team to review. This is an extremely busy time and it may take up to 28 days to review your concern, so please don’t contact us unless at least 28 days have passed since your request. The practice will contact you directly by SMS once your request has been reviewed with an update.

Medical Reports

Our practice has decided to outsource our medical reporting work to an NHS Digital accredited company called MediData. MediData will be processing your medical report via eMR and providing online access via their secure encrypted portal. If you wish to contact MediData directly, please email mdmc@medi2data.com or call on 03333 055774.

Medical reports and examinations can be obtained from your doctor, but as this is not supported by the NHS there will be a charge, to be paid before completion. We suggest you download the NHS App, please watch this film for further information: NHS Digital: NHS App Film.

The partners and staff are here to help you and hope that you are happy with the services we provide.  We welcome your feedback; we love to know when we get it right and understand that sometimes we don’t and you need to tell us.

If you have a complaint please contact the practice manager in the first instance. You can do this in writing, by telephone, or in person. Please see our Contact Us page for the address information.

We will do our best to listen, and settle any complaints as quickly as possible.

If, after your complaint has be investigated and you have received a response, you remain unhappy you can complain to NHS England. You can also take your complaint to the NHS Ombudsman. The NHS Ombudsman is completely independent of both the NHS and the Government.  The details of both of the these organisations are given below:

• NHS England, PO Box 16738, Redditch, B97 9PT
• NHS Ombudsman, Millbank Tower, Millbank, London SW1P 4QP
• email: OHSC.enquiries@ombudsman.gsi.gov.uk
• website: www.ombudsman.org.uk

For further information about how we deal with your complaints, see our complaints leaflet:

• Battersea Fields: Complaints Leaflet

The practice complies with the Data Protection Act 2018.  All information about patients is confidential: from the most sensitive diagnosis, to the fact of having visited the surgery or being registered at the practice. All patients can expect that their personal information will not be disclosed without their permission except in the most exceptional of circumstances, when somebody is at grave risk of serious harm.

All members of the primary health care team (from reception to doctors) in the course of their duties will have access to your medical records. They all adhere to the highest standards of maintaining confidentiality.

As our reception area is a little public, if you wish to discuss something of a confidential nature please mention it to one of the receptionists who will make arrangements for you to have the necessary privacy.

Under 16s

The duty of confidentiality owed to a person under 16 is as great as the duty owed to any other person. Young people aged under 16 years can choose to see health professionals, without informing their parents or carers. If a GP considers that the young person is competent to make decisions about their health, then the GP can give advice, prescribe and treat the young person without seeking further consent.

However, in terms of good practice, health professionals will encourage young people to discuss issues with a parent or carer. As with older people, sometimes the law requires us to report information to appropriate authorities in order to protect young people or members of the public.

Useful Websites

• Confidentiality NHS Code of Practice
• Confidentiality and Mental Health
• Confidentiality Guidance

The Freedom of Information Act creates a right of access to recorded information and obliges a public authority to: 

• Have a publication scheme in place 
• Allow public access to information held by public authorities

The act covers any recorded organisational information such as reports, policies or strategies, that is held by a public authority in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and by UK-wide public authorities based in Scotland, however it does not cover personal information such as patient records which are covered by the Data Protection Act. 

Public authorities include government departments, local authorities, the NHS, state schools and police forces. 

The act is enforced by the Information Commissioner who regulates both the Freedom of Information Act and the Data Protection Act 2018. 

The Surgery Publication Scheme

A publication scheme requires an authority to make information available to the public as part of its normal business activities. The scheme lists information under seven broad classes, which are: 

• Who we are and what we do 
• What we spend and how we spend it 
• What our priorities are and how we are doing it 
• How we make decisions 
• Our policies and procedures 
• Lists and registers 
• The services we offer 

You can request our publication scheme leaflet at the surgery. 

Who Can Request Information?

Under the Act, any individual, anywhere in the world, is able to make a request to a practice for information. An applicant is entitled to be informed in writing, by the practice, whether the practice holds information of the description specified in the request and if that is the case, have the information communicated to him. An individual can request information, regardless of whether he/she is the subject of the information or affected by its use.  

How Should Requests be Made?

Requests must: 

• Be made in writing (this can be electronically e.g. email/fax).
• State the name of the applicant and an address for correspondence .
• Describe the information requested. 

What Cannot be Requested?

Personal data about staff and patients covered under Data Protection Act. 

For more information see these websites: 

• Legislation GOV.UK 
• Information Commissioners Office 

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 Battersea Fields Practice in the last financial year was £26,670 before tax and National Insurance.

This is for 3 Full Time GPs, 12 Part Time GPs and 3 locum GPs who worked in the practice for more than six months.

Infection Prevention & Control (IPC)  – Annual Statement Report (November 2024)

Battersea Fields Practice is committed to providing effective infection, prevention and control procedures to minimise the risk of infection to patients, visitors and staff. Battersea Fields Practice regularly audits the premises and equipment to ensure that proper standards of hygiene and cleanliness are being met.

Purpose

This annual statement will be generated each year in April in accordance with The Health and Social Care Act 2008: code of practice on the prevention and control of infection and related guidance and details the practice’s compliance with guidelines on infection control and cleanliness. This statement should be made available for anyone who wishes to see it, including patients and regulatory authorities. The report will be published on the practice website and will summarise:

1. Infection transmission incidents and any action taken (these are reported in accordance with our significant event procedure)
2. IPC audits undertaken and subsequent actions implemented
3. Risk assessments undertaken and any actions taken for prevention and control of infection
4. Staff training
5. Review and update of IPC policies, procedures and guidelines
6. Antimicrobial prescribing and stewardship

The IPC Lead is Louise Greig and the IPC Deputy is Emily Bradshaw. They are supported by Karim Marotana (Deputy Practice Manager) and Isata Fullah (Business and Development Manager). All staff at Battersea Fields Practice help to support the IPC lead in maintaining high standards of infection prevention and cleanliness.

1. Infection transmission incidents:
   • Since April 2024, there have been no significant events raised that related to infection control or any complaints made regarding cleanliness or infection control.
   • All IPC incidents are reported to the IPC Lead and/or the Management Team. All staff are aware that any incidents should be recorded as a “significant event”. These are reviewed and discussed at the monthly significant event meeting to establish what can be learnt and to identify actions to to minimise risk and lead to future improvements.

2. IPC Audits undertaken:

External IPC Audit:

• The last external audit was carried out by NHS England – London Public Health Infection Control Team at the Austin Road Site on 20^th November 2023 receiving a score of 96.9% compliance, and at the Thessaly Road Site on 12^th December 2023 receiving a score of 99.2% compliance.

• The Care Quality Commission (CQC) carried out a monitoring call on 10^th August 2023 which was followed up by a full inspection and audit from 17^th October 2023 to 19^th October 2023. We received a rating of “Good” in all domains including infection prevention control.

Internal IPC Audits

• Annual Infection Control Audit (Austin Road and Thessaly Road) completed on 1^st April 2024. Next due April 2025.
• National Standards of Healthcare Cleanliness Cleaning Audit score sheet – In PROGRESS
• National Standards of Healthcare Cleanliness Efficacy Checklist – IN PROGRESS
• Hand hygiene compliance completed monthly
• PPE compliance completed monthly – IN PROGRESS
• Aseptic Technique compliance completed annually – IN PROGRESS

3. Risk assessments undertaken and any actions taken for prevention and control of infection

• Regular risk assessments are carried out so that any infection control risk is identified and minimised to as low as reasonably practicable.

• Annually                 Annual infection control audit (Austin Road and Thessaly Road)
• Annually IPC Annual statement
• Annually Review of infection control policy
• 3 monthly                 Audit of reception, waiting area and patient toilets
• Bi-monthly Audit clinical rooms
• 3 Monthly                 Audit of the cleanliness of the building
• Monthly Legionella testing
• Monthly PPE Audit
• Monthly Hand hygiene Audit
• Annually Sharps risk assessment
• Annually Blood borne viruses risk assessment
• Annually Hand Washing presentation delivered at whole team meeting
• Ongoing Staff Immunisations (hepatitis B, MMR, tetanus)
• Ongoing Infection control training and updates for all staff monitored
• Annually COSHH risk assessment

• Findings from the above audits and risk assessments are documented on Teamnet and actions required to improve IPC are implanted if reasonably practical to do so.
• Areas identified during audits:
  • Ensure all chairs in clinical areas are wipe-able
  • Latex free gloves readily available for all clinicians
  • Appropriate sharps bins in all clinical rooms
  • Ensure couch roll is stored off the floor
  • Ensure curtains in clinical rooms are changed as required

4. Staff Training:

• All staff as part of their induction are required to complete IPC training via Practice Index. This is completed on induction and updated every year for clinical staff (tier 2) and every 2 years for non-clinical staff (tier 1). The management team monitors staff training is up to date.

5. Review and update of IPC policies, procedures and guidelines

• Details of the relevant external organisations and individuals relating to IPC are kept up-to-date in our IPC Policy which is reviewed annually.

6. Antimicrobial prescribing and stewardship

• Managing Partner Dr Jenni Ellingham leads on antimicrobial stewardship and is responsible for advising clinicians and liaising with the pharmacy team to reduce the risks of inadequate, inappropriate, and adverse effects of antimicrobial treatment.

Policies relating to IPC are available to all staff via Teamnet and in Shared Files. They are reviewed and updated as per current advice, guidance, and legislation changes.

Review

The IPC lead Louise Greig and the Managing Partner (Dr Jenni Ellingham) are responsible for reviewing and producing the annual statement. This annual statement will be updated on 12.11.2025.

This statement has been drawn up by IPC Lead Louise Greig and signed by

MJEllingham

Dr Jenni Ellingham

Managing Partner

For and on behalf of Battersea Fields Practice

New policy concerning repeat medications and medication reviews

Below is a summary of the new practice policy to come into action on 1st October.  Please continue to read to understand the reasons behind this, in terms of patient safety and providing good clinical care.

From 1st October 2023, patients who request their repeat medications who have an ‘overdue’ medication review will have their tablets reduced to 28 days until they book a review.  if they continue to request without a review or booking for review they will have tablets reduced to 2 weeks.  this will continue at this number until their appointment is booked or they have had a review.

Why is there a need for a regular medication review?

• For all patients with medications on repeat there is a need for a clinician (GP or Clinical Pharmacist within the practice) to ‘review’ their medications at least annually. It can also be more frequent than this if clinically needed.
• The purpose of a medication review is several fold, but most importantly it is to check that the medications are being issued safely and are effective in treating your condition.
• Your “Medication review’ will, therefore, involve an assessment of your condition, for example, is your blood pressure controlled? How is your mood or pain? Is your diabetes controlled? Do you need any extra medications for your heart?
• The medication review will also need to include some measurements and tests if appropriate – these may be blood tests, checking your weight or performing some questionnaires etc.
• Sometimes the doctor or Pharmacist will be able to do a ‘medication review’ without seeing you – they will look at recent consultations, test results and perhaps information from the hospital. They will then update your review date appropriately.

How do I know when my ‘medication review’ is due?

There are several ways to know:

• It should be on the right side of your prescription paper when you pick it up from the pharmacy. It should be below your list of repeat medications – if these are printed out.
• You can also ask your pharmacist when you collect your medications – it will be on their system.
• If you have an up-to-date mobile number on your medication records you will receive a text in the month before your review is due informing you that you need to book an appointment

Why is there a new policy?

• After recent review of our prescribing, we have found there are a lot of patients who have ‘overdue medication reviews’ and this represents a safety issue to them and also that they may not be receiving the best care possible
• Patients are often reminded in several different ways – via text, message sent to pharmacist or sometimes calls, however, the policy represents a uniform and systematic way for all patients. Patients will be sent a message 1 month before their review date, they will be sent further messages if they continue to request medications reminding them to book a review – at the same time their tablet number will be reduced as above.
• The policy has been discussed with the Patient Participation Group (PPG) who is in agreement that it is good way to proceed
• The policy will be reviewed over time – it will be monitored to see if and what changes need to be made.

Your Data Matters to the NHS

Information about your health and care helps us to improve your individual care, speed up diagnosis, plan your local services and research new treatments. The NHS is committed to keeping patient information safe and always being clear about how it is used.

How your data is used

Information about your individual care such as treatment and diagnoses is collected about you whenever you use health and care services. It is also used to help us and other organisations for research and planning such as research into new treatments, deciding where to put GP clinics and planning for the number of doctors and nurses in your local hospital.  It is only used in this way when there is a clear legal basis to use the information to help improve health and care for you, your family and future generations.

Wherever possible we try to use data that does not identify you, but sometimes it is necessary to use your confidential patient information.

You have a choice

If you do not want your confidential patient information to be used for research and planning, you can choose to opt out securely online or through a telephone service. You can change your mind about your choice at any time.

You do not need to do anything if you are happy about how your information is used.

Will choosing this opt-out affect your care and treatment?

No, choosing to opt out will not affect how information is used to support your care and treatment. You will still be invited for screening services, such as screenings for bowel cancer.

What do you need to do?

If you are happy for your confidential patient information to be used for research and planning, you do not need to do anything.

To find out more about the benefits of data sharing, how data is protected, or to make/change your opt-out choice visit the NHS.uk Your NHS Data Matters page.

We aim to provide our patients with the best quality care available. Our charter is a statement of what you can expect from this practice and what we feel we can expect from you.

• All patients will be treated equally. We do not discriminate on the grounds of gender, gender identity, race, disability, sexual orientation, religion or age.
• Our premises will be clean and comfortable and have facilities for the disabled.
• All patients will be greeted in a friendly manner and be treated with courtesy by everyone in the practice.
• Patient confidentiality may be expected at all times.
• Patients should realise that home visits are made at the doctor’s discretion.
• Requests for night visits should only be made for emergencies.
• Many problems can be solved by advice alone, therefore patients should not always expect a prescription at every consultation.
• We ask that patients treat the doctors and staff with courtesy and respect.
• Patients must inform the practice staff of any alterations in their circumstances, such as change of surname, address or telephone number, even if it is ex-directory.

With These Rights Come Responsibilities

• We ask that patients attend their appointments at the arranged time. If they cannot attend they will inform the surgery immediately.
• We expect that patients will understand that appointments are for one person only. Additional appointments will be made if more than one person needs to be seen.
• Patients are responsible for their own health and the health of their children and should cooperate with the practice in endeavouring to keep themselves healthy.
• We ask that requests for help or advice for non-urgent matters be made during surgery hours.
• Home visits should only be requested for patients who are seriously ill. It is important to bear in mind that most medical problems are dealt with more effectively in the clinical setting of a well-equipped surgery.

NHS Digital is the secure haven for NHS patient data, a single secure repository where data collected from all branches of the NHS is processed.

NHS Digital have the power under the Health and Social Care Act 2012 (section 259) to issue a Data Provision Notice.

Recently a Data Provision Notice was issued for Research and Planning. This Data Provision Notice is valid from 1^st September 2021.

Data Controller

Battersea Fields Practice
3 Austin Rd
SW11 5JP

Data Protection Controller

Umar Sabat
Data Protection Officer
Dpo.swl@nhs.net

Purpose of Processing

To provide the Secretary of State and others with information and reports on the status, activity and performance of the NHS. The provide specific reporting functions on identified.

Lawful Basis for Processing

The legal basis will be:

• Article 6(1)(c) “processing is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation to which the controller is subject.” Complying with the Health and Social Care Act 2012
• Article 9(2)(g) “reasons for processing for substantial public interest

Recipient or Categories of Recipients

The data will be shared with NHS Digital according to directions which can be found at www.digital.nhs.uk/article/8059/NHS-England-Directions.

Please also see issued Data Provision Notices: NHS: Data Provision Notices (DPNs)

Rights to Object

You have the right to object to the data being transferred and in order to do this you should complete an opt out form and send this to the practice.

Right to Access and Correct

You have the right to access the data that is being shared and have any inaccuracies corrected. There is no right to have accurate medical records deleted except when ordered by a court of Law.

Retention Period

The data will be retained for active use during the processing and thereafter according to NHS Policies and the law.

Right to Complain

You have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office, you can use the following website:

• www.ico.org.uk/
• or calling their helpline Tel: 01625 545 745 (national rate)

There are National Offices for Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales, (see ICO website).

For our full Privacy Statement please click here.

If you wish to apply for Proxy Access to another person’s medical records, please complete a Access to Medical Records form:

• Access to Medical Records form online
• Access to Medical Records form download

Please note this may take up to 28 days to process and you will be notified by text when your request has been actioned.
Please note that Parents may only be given access to a child’s medical records if they have Parental Responsibility i.e.

• A mother automatically has parental responsibility for her child from birth
• A father usually has parental responsibility if he’s either:
  • Married to the child’s mother
  • Listed on the birth certificate (after a certain date, depending on which part of the UK the child was born in)
    You can apply for parental responsibility if you do not automatically have it.
    For more information on parental responsibility please see Gov.UK: Parental rights and responsibilities.

Whilst we cannot place restrictions on a patient wishing to make notes or a recording of a consultation or conversation with a member of the clinical team when it is felt absolutely necessary by the patient to do so, we as a team expect that:

• Any recording is done openly and honestly
• The recording process does not interfere with the consultation process or the treatment or care being administered
• The patient is aware that an entry will be made in their healthcare record that they have recorded the consultation (or care being provided)
• The patient understands the private and confidential nature of the recording and that it is their sole responsibility to ensure it is kept safe and secure
• The recording is being made for personal use only
• Any misuse of the recording, including using it to harass, intimidate or threaten organisation staff, may result in criminal or civil proceedings
• Staff should be assured that it is in their best interests as the record of the meeting will be accurate, fair and that there can be no misunderstandings at a later point
• The recording will not be shared to third parties unless this is an absolute requirement

About your Summary Care Record

Your Summary Care Record contains important information about any medicines you are taking, any allergies you suffer from and any bad reactions to medicines that you have previously experienced.

Allowing authorised healthcare staff to have access to this information will improve decision making by doctors and other healthcare professionals and has prevented mistakes being made when patients are being cared for in an emergency or when their GP practice is closed.

Your Summary Care Record also includes your name, address, date of birth and your unique NHS Number to help identify you correctly.

You may want to add other details about your care to your Summary Care Record. This will only happen if both you and your GP agree to do this. You should discuss your wishes with your GP practice.

Healthcare staff will have access to this information, so that they can provide safer care, whenever or wherever you need it, anywhere in England.

Who can see my Summary Care Record?

Healthcare staff who have access to your Summary Care Record:

• Need to be directly involved in caring for you
• Need to have an NHS Smartcard with a chip and passcode
• Will only see the information they need to do their job and
• Will have their details recorded every time they look at your record

Healthcare staff will ask for your permission every time they need to look at your Summary Care Record. If they cannot ask you (for example if you are unconscious or otherwise unable to communicate), healthcare staff may look at your record without asking you, because they consider that this is in your best interest.

If they have to do this, this decision will be recorded and checked to ensure that the access was appropriate.

If you wish to opt out download and complete the opt out form and return to the Practice.

All telephone calls into and from the practice are recorded for the purposes of patient safety, staff training and to support our zero-tolerance policy. Recordings are held securely for up to 3 years and are then destroyed. Access to recordings is strictly limited in accordance with our confidentiality policy.

We a training practice for qualified doctors who are training to become GPs.  Trainees spend 6-12 months seeing patients, doing home visits and running emergency clinics, supervised by a GP trainer at the practice.

The practice is also involved with teaching medical students. Medical students are taught in groups, and may also sit in with a GP during a clinic, with patient consent.

The aim of this policy is to tackle the increasing problem of violence against staff working in the NHS and ensures that doctors and their staff have a right to care for others without fear of being attacked or abused.

We understand that ill patients do not always act in a reasonable manner and will take this into consideration when trying to deal with a misunderstanding or complaint. We ask you to treat your doctors and their staff courteously and act reasonably.

All incidents will be followed up and you will be sent a formal warning after a second incident or removed from the practice list after a third incident if your behaviour has been unreasonable.

However, aggressive behaviour, be it violent or verbal abusive, will not be tolerated and may result in you being removed from the practice list and, in extreme cases, the Police will be contacted if an incident is taking place and the patient is posing a threat to staff or other patients.

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.

When trust has irretrievably broken down, it is in the patient’s interest, just as much as that of the surgery, that they should find a new practice. An exception to this is on immediate removal on the grounds of violence e.g. when the Police are involved.

Removing other members of the household

In rare cases, however, because of the possible need to visit patients at home it may be necessary to terminate responsibility for other members of the family or the entire household.

The prospect of visiting patients where a relative who is no longer a patient of the practice by virtue of their unacceptable behaviour resides, or being regularly confronted by the removed patient, may make it too difficult for the practice to continue to look after the whole family.

This is particularly likely where the patient has been removed because of violence or threatening behaviour and keeping the other family members could put doctors or their staff at risk.