All Polices

Violence Policy

The Practice staff shall always show due respect and courtesy when dealing with patients and their representatives. We respectfully request that patients and their representatives do the same when dealing with members of the practice team.

The NHS operate a zero tolerance policy with regard to violence and abuse and the practice has the right to remove violent patients from the list with immediate effect in order to safeguard practice staff, patients and other persons.

No form of aggression (whether verbal or physical in nature) will be tolerated – any instances of such behaviour on the practice premises may result in the perpetrator being reported to the Police and removed from the practice’s List of Registered Patients.

Violence in this context includes actual or threatened physical violence or verbal abuse which leads to fear for a person’s safety. In this situation we will notify the patient in writing of their removal from the list and record in the patient’s medical records the fact of the removal and the circumstances leading to it.

 

Training

GPs in Training

Our practice is approved to train fully qualified doctors who wish to specialise in general practice. Our GP registrar will have had 2-4 years of experience as a qualified hospital doctor working in various specialities. They consult patients on their own, under the mentorship of our trainers. Occasionally we ask permission to video a consultation. You will always be asked in advance and are given the option not to take part, and this will not affect your care in any way. No recording will be taken without your consent and the camera will be switched off on request. These videos are used only for educational purposes with the doctor doing the consultation and are destroyed after use.

Dr Baksyte, Dr Nimick, Dr Phillipson & Dr Gouda are our current GP registrars at the practice.

Medical Students

Medical students are sometimes attached to the practice for 2 – 3 weeks as part of their training. If you do not wish a student to be present during your consultation, please inform the receptionist.

Summary Care Record

Your patient record is held securely and confidentially on the electronic system at your GP practice. If you require treatment in another NHS healthcare setting such as an Emergency Department or Minor Injury Unit, those treating you would be better able to give you appropriate care if some of the information from the GP practice were available to them.

This information can now be shared electronically via: The Summary Care Record, used nationally across England

The information will be used only by authorised health care professionals directly involved in your care. Your permission will be asked before the information is accessed, unless the clinician is unable to ask you and there is a clinical reason for access.

If you would like to opt out, please ask reception for our opt out form.

A parent or guardian can request to opt out children under 16 but ultimately it is the GP’s decision whether to create the records or not, because of their duty of care to the child. If you are the parent or guardian of a child under 16 and feel that they are able to understand, then you should make this information available to them.

Who Has Access?

Across all health care settings, including urgent care, community care and outpatient departments in England.

Information Source

GP record

Content

  • Your current medications
  • Any allergies you have
  • Any bad reactions you have had to medicines
  • Additional information (upon request to your GP)

For more information visit:

www.digital.nhs.uk

Infection Control

Infection Control Annual Statement

Purpose

This annual statement will be generated each year in May 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

New Horizons Medical Partnership Lead for Infection Prevention and Control: Rebecca Hyom Practice Nurse.

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 staff 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 Rebecca Hyom in June 2024 and further follow up inspections were completed in the following months.

As a result of the audit, the following things have/will be changed.

New posters have been placed around the surgery reminding practitioners about hand hygiene, daily room cleaning and sharps safety.

Rooms have been de cluttered.

Cleaning protocols have been updated.

Dr Cassell has undertaken an audit of joint injection in 2023/2024 and there were no recorded infections.

Dr Godfrey has undertaken an audit of coil/implant insertion in 2023/ 2024 and there were no recorded infections.

A general infection control update is giving at the 2 monthly nurse meeting and emails are regularly sent to other practitioners with infection control updates.

New Horizons Medical plan to undertake the following audits in 2025

  • Annual Infection Prevention and Control audit
  • Joint injection audit
  • Coil and implant audit
  • Domestic Cleaning audit
  • Phlebotomy audit
  • Hand Hygiene 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:

Legionella (Water) Risk Assessment: The practice has conducted 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.

Curtains: The NHS Cleaning Specifications state the curtains should be regularly reviewed and changed if visibly soiled

Training

All our staff receives annual training in infection prevention and control.

The IPC lead keeps updated on infection prevention practice by attending quarterly meetings for Infection Control leads facilitated by Hampshire, Southampton and Isle of Wight Integrated Care Board (ICB).

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.

Responsibility

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

Review date

August 2025

Responsibility for Review

The Infection Prevention and Control Lead Rebecca Hyom is responsible for reviewing and producing the Annual Infection Control Statement.

16th Sep 2024

IT Policy

This practice is committed to preserving, as far as is practical, the security of data used by our information systems. This means that we will take all reasonable actions to;

Maintain the Confidentiality of all data within the practice by:

  • Ensuring that only authorised persons can gain access to our systems
  • Not disclosing information to anyone who has no right to see it

Maintain the integrity of all data within the practice by:

  • Taking care over input
  • Ensuring that all changes are reported and monitored
  • Checking that the correct record is on the screen before updating
  • Reporting all apparent errors and ensuring that they are resolved

Maintain the availability of all data by:

  • Ensuring that all equipment is protected from intruders
  • Ensuring that backups are taken at regular, predetermined intervals
  • Ensuring that contingency is provided for possible failure or equipment theft and that any such contingency plans are tested and kept up to date

Additionally we will take all reasonable measures to comply with our legal responsibilities under:

Personal Data

Data Sharing

National Data is an information system that has been developed to make increased use of information from medical records with the intention of improving health services.

Information will be held in a secure environment called the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC). The role of the HSCIC is to ensure that high quality data is used appropriately to improve patient care. The HSCIC has legal powers to collect and analyse data from all prviders of NHS care. They are committed, and legally bound, to the very highest standards of privacy and confidentiality to ensure that your confidential information is protected at all times.

The information gathered by the programme can be used by NHS organisations to plan and design services better, using the best available evidence of which treatments and services have the greatest impact on improving patients’ health. So ultimately, sharing your information will benefit YOU.

Summary Care Record (SCR) is a record that will contain important information about any medicines you are taking, allergies you suffer from and any bad reactions to medicines that you have had. This does not include diagnoses or procedures. Giving healthcare staff access to this information can prevent mistakes being made when caring for you in an emergency or when your GP practice is closed.

Hampshire Health Record (HHR) is an electronic summary record for people living in Hampshire, Portsmouth and Southampton. GP surgeries, hospitals, social care and community care teams collect information about you and store it electronically on separate computer systems. This record contains more information than the SCR, but is only available to organisations in Hampshire.

EMIS Web Data Sharing. The practice uses a clinical computer system called EMIS Web to store your medical information. The system is also used by other GP practices, Child Health Services, Community Services, Hospitals, Out of Hours, Palliative Care services and many more. This means your information can be shared with other clinicians so that everyone caring for you is fully informed about your medical history, including medication and allergies.

CPRD. The practice contributes to the Clinical Practice Research Datalink. Information in patient records is important for medical research to develop new treatments and test the safety of medicines. This practice supports medical research by sending some of the information from patient records to the Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD). CPRD is a Government organisation that provides anonymised patient data for research to improve patient and public health. You cannot be identified from the information sent to CPRD. If you do not want anonymised information from your patient record to be used in research, you can opt out by speaking to your doctor. For more information about how your data is used, visit www.cprd.com/public

YOU HAVE A CHOICE. If you are happy for your information to be used in this way, you do not have to do anything. You have the right to prevent confidential information about you from being shared or used for any purpose other than providing your care, except in special circumstances.

If you would like further information, this can be found at https://www.nhs.uk/your-nhs-data-matters/

If you wish to opt out, more information can be found at https://digital.nhs.uk/services/national-data-opt-out

This practice is participating in a national surveillance programme that provides continuous monitoring of infectious diseases in the community.

To find out more, click here.

Chaperone Policy

We will always respect your privacy, dignity and your religious and cultural beliefs particularly when intimate examinations are advisable – these will only be carried out with your express agreement and you will be offered a chaperone to attend the examination if you so wish.

You may also request a chaperone when making the appointment or on arrival at the surgery (please let the receptionist know) or at any time during the consultation.

Disabled Access

We make every effort to make the surgery accessible for disabled patients. There is access through the main door and we have a wheelchair available for use in surgery.

Hearing Difficulties

If you are experiencing hearing difficulties when being called in to see the doctor or nurse, please do let us know in order for us to set up an alert on your medical records and personally collect you from the waiting room. Alternatively, we do have the facility of a portable induction loop. If you would like to use this, please ask at reception for assistance.

Data Protection

In order to provide the right level of care, we are required to hold personal information about you on our computer systems 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.

Confidentiality and Personal Information

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 others 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 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 circumstance 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 about our patient information leaflet. An appointment may be required. In some circumstances a fee may be payable.