Accessible Information Standard Policy

South King Street Medical Centre supports equality of access for all and is committed to complying with the Accessible Information Standard. The Standard applies to service providers across the NHS and adult social care system. As organisations that provide NHS services. GP practices are required by law to follow the Standard as set out in section 250 of the Health and Social Care Act 2012.

This policy describes the actions that South King Street Medical Centre, its employees and those acting on behalf of the Practice are expected to take to ensure that the Practice complies with the standard.

The Standard requires South King Street Medical Centre to identify, record, flag and share and meet the information and communication needs of people with a disability, impairment, or sensory loss.

All staff at South King Street Medical Centre will routinely follow the following ‘five steps’ of the Standard:

• Ask: identify if an individual has any communication/information needs relating to a disability or sensory loss and if so, what they are.
• Record: record those needs in clear, unambiguous and standardised way.
• Flag: ensure that recorded needs are ‘highly visible’ whenever the individual’s record is access and prompt for action.
• Share: include information about individuals’ information/communication needs as part of existing data sharing processes (and in line with existing information governance frameworks and the Data Protection Act 1998)
• Act: take steps to ensure that individuals receive information which they can access ad understand and receive communication support if they need it.

In line with the Standard, these actions will ensure that our patients (and their parents and carers as appropriate) will:

• Be able to contact and be contacted by in accessible ways.
• Receive correspondence and information in accessible formats, including alternatives to ‘standard’ printed formats.
• Be supported by a communication professional at their appointments if this is needed to enable effective, accurate two-way discussion.
• Receive support from staff to communicate effectively.

How We Will Meet the Standard:

Ask: We will ask patients and their carers to tell us if they have any communication or information needs relating to a disability, impairment, or sensory loss and if so, what are they. New patients will be asked at the point of registration if they have any communication or information needs relating to a disability, impairment or sensory loss. This information is requested in the new patient questionnaire. Existing patients will be asked opportunistically for example when making an appointment or repeat prescription.

Conversations with individuals about their information/communication needs may take place privately, including making available a private room for face-to-face conversations as appropriate.

Record: Once a patient has informed the practice that they have a communication need relating to a disability, impairment or sensory loss the information will be added to the patient’s medical record using the appropriate code.

Flag: To inform all users and provide the opportunity to keep information up to date, a warning message will launch each time a patient’s record is entered informing the user of the patients access needs and giving the opportunity for these to updated if required.

Share: As the information is being recorded in a standardised way via SNOMED Code and users are being informed of any needs every time, they enter the record the information recorded will be shared subject to patients’ choice regarding the sharing of information.

Act: The practice provides one or more contact methods which are accessible to the patients e.g., email, text message, telephone, hearing loop system. Where information/communication needs are identified, information (e.g., correspondence) will be provided in one or more accessible formats (e.g., nonstandard print).

Alternate formats can be provided if available either through autogenerated systems, or through prompting staff to make alternative arrangements. The adjustment made should be reasonable, but this does not mean that the patient will always receive information in their preferred format. What is important is that they can access and understand the information. When needed, appropriate professional communication support is arranged by the practice to enable patients and carers to effectively receive NHS care i.e., Text Talk, Interpreters. A patient’s family member, friend or carer may also provide necessary support in certain circumstances and where this is the patient’s explicit preference (which should be recorded). Patients or carers themselves must not be asked to meet the costs of any information or communication needs. A longer appointment time is made available for individuals with information and / or communication needs, as needed.

The Practice is responsible for ensuring its overall compliance with the Accessible Information Standard and therefore with this policy. The Practice will maintain, review and update this policy annually.

Communication

This policy is publicly available on the South King Street Medical Centre website. Hard copies are also available on request from Reception. This policy has been disseminated to staff. For new staff, the availability and importance of this policy will be highlighted during their induction.

We need to hold personal information about you on our computer system and in paper records to help us to look after your health needs, and your doctor is responsible for their accuracy and safe keeping. Please help to keep your record up to date by informing us of any changes to your circumstances. Doctors and staff in the practice have access to your medical
records to enable them to do their jobs. From time to time information may be shared with other health professionals involved in your care if it is necessary. Anyone with access to
your record is properly trained in confidentiality issues and is governed by both a legal and contractual duty to keep your details private.
All information about you is held securely and appropriate
safeguards are in place to prevent accidental loss.
In some circumstances we may be required by law to release
your details to statutory or other official bodies, for example if
a court order is presented, or in the case of public health issues. In other circumstances you may be required to give written consent before information is released – such as for
medical reports for insurance, solicitors etc. To ensure your privacy, we will not disclose information over the telephone or fax unless we are sure that we are talking to
you. Information will not be disclosed to family, friends, or
spouses unless we have prior written consent, and we do not
leave messages with others. You have a right to see your records if you wish. Please ask at
reception if you would like further details and our patient
Information leaflet. An appointment will be required. In some circumstances a fee may be payable.

If you are unable to attend an appointment it is vital you contact the surgery to cancel the appointment to make it available for another patient.

It can sometimes be difficult to a get a routine appointment with a GP or Nurse within a certain time frame.  Where such demand is unpredictable, this cannot easily be remedied.  One thing that makes this even more difficult to overcome is the problem of missed appointments – DNAs.

The cost in time and money is a burden to the National Health Service generally and the Practice cannot sustain this.

Remember that your DNA is another patient’s denied appointment.

A DNA occurs when an appointment is not attended, and the patient has not contacted the Practice in advance to cancel it or where the cancellation is so late as to make it impossible to allocate that time to another patient who needs treatment.

The Practice will code this DNA and this will prompt a retrospective check on the number of DNAs recorded against that person.  As such, the following applies:

1st DNA

Where this is the first occasion, a code will be added to the patient’s medical records, and the patient will be contacted by text message / letter to inform of missed appointment.

2nd DNA

Where this is the second occasion, the patient will be contacted by the Practice via letter, advised of their second missed appointment and informed that if a further appointment is DNA’d they could be at risk of compromising their relationship with the Practice.

3rd DNA

Where a third DNA has occurred, the Practice will review the individual case.  The Practice will consider whether consistent failure to adhere to our Practice policy constitutes a breakdown between the patient and the GP (where the GP Practice has given clear instruction on policy and service provision and the patient has chosen to disregard this on several occasions despite due warning).   This ultimately could result in you being removed from the Practice List and you will need to register with an alternative Surgery.

It should be noted that, whilst unacceptable in most cases, there may be extenuating circumstances as to why the patient has failed to attend their appointment. Therefore, prior to any correspondence being sent to a patient, missed appointments will be looked into to determine the reason of non- attendance.

Any correspondence sent to patients relating to DNA’s are only valid for a 12-month period.  All correspondence will be saved in each patient’s electronic health records.

By reducing the number of DNAs, the Practice will:

• Enhance the efficiency of clinical sessions.
• Reduce costs.
• Increase productivity.
• Offer a more effective service to patients.
• Enable more effective booking of slots.

How to Avoid Becoming a DNA

If you cannot attend or no longer need an appointment, please ring us in advance – ideally 24 hours before the scheduled appointment.

Mistakes do happen and the Practice understand that appointments can be forgotten about or overlooked.  However, each patient receives a text message reminder 24 hours before the appointment. If you are not receiving these please check with Reception to make sure we have the correct contact details for you.

You can cancel appointments by leaving a voicemail message by telephone at any time on 01253 626637 select option 2. Please give your name, date of birth, the appointment date and time and who it is with.

Alternatively, you can speak with our Reception team during opening hours on 01253 626637 select option 1.

We share a common purpose with our partners in health and social care – and that is to provide high quality care and ensure the best possible outcomes for the people who use our services. Promoting improvement is at the heart of what we do.

We endeavour to provide a first class service at all times but sometimes things go wrong and our service may fall below our expected levels.

In order to comply with Regulation 20 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulations 2014) we pledge to:

• Have a culture of openness and honesty at all levels
• Inform patients in a timely manner when safety incidents have occurred which may affect them
• Provide a written and truthful account of the incident, explaining any investigations and enquiries made
• Provide a written apology
• Provide support if you are affected directly by an incident.

All GP practices are required to declare the mean earnings for GPs working to deliver NHS services to patients at each practice.

The average pay for GPs working in South King Street Medical Centre in the last financial year (2021/2022) was £106,208 before tax and national insurance. This is for 2 full time GPs who have worked in the practice for more than six months.

Disclaimer

NHS England require that the net earnings of doctors engaged in the practice is published, and the required disclosure is shown above. 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 patients including children, have been allocated a named accountable GP.

Our goal is to provide high quality, effective, treatment and advice in safe
surroundings and to make the Patient`s visit to us as comfortable and
productive as possible.

We respect your right to privacy and keep all your health information confidential and secure. It is important that the NHS keeps accurate and up-to-date records about your health and treatment so that those treating you can give you the best possible advice and care. You have a right to know what information we hold about you. If you would like to see your records, please ask reception for details.

The NHS in England is introducing the Summary Care Record, which will be used in emergency care.

To ensure those caring for you have enough information to treat you safely, the record will contain information about any medicines you are taking, allergies you suffer from and any bad reactions to medicines you have had.

Your Summary Care Record will be available to authorised healthcare staff providing your care anywhere in England, but they will ask your permission before they look at it. This means that if you have an accident or become ill, the doctors treating you will have immediate access to important information about your health.

As a patient you have a choice:

• Yes I would like a Summary Care Record – you do not need to do anything and a Summary Care Record will be created for you.
• No I do not want a Summary Care Record –  Please ask at reception for a form, once complete hand it to a member of the GP practice staff.

If you need more time to make your choice you should let your GP Practice know.

Additional copies of the opt out form can be collected from the GP practice, printed from the website www.nhscarerecords.nhs.uk or requested from the dedicated NHS Summary Care Record Information Line on 0300 123 3020.

You can choose not to have a Summary Care Record and you can change your mind at any time by informing your GP practice.

If you do nothing we will assume that you are happy with these changes and create a Summary Care Record for you. Children under 16 will automatically have a Summary Care Record created for them unless their parent or guardian chooses to opt them out. If you are the parent or guardian of a child under 16 and feel that they are old enough to understand, then you should make this information available to them.

You can find out more by contacting www.nhscarerecords.nhs.uk or telephone the dedicated NHS Summary Care Record Information Line on 0300 123 3020.

The practice operates a zero tolerance policy. We will not tolerate
abusive or violent behaviour towards members of staff or other patients.
These patients will be asked to leave the premises, which may lead to
them being removed from the practice list.