The Accessible Information Standard (AIS) is a new NHS England standard for NHS and adult social care organisations.

The aim is to ensure that people who have a disability, impairment or sensory loss, receive information that they can access and understand, for example in large print or via email.

This affects the practice in the following way – we will:

ASK  –  identify patients who have information or communication needs

RECORD  –  make a note of those needs in a standard way

ALERT  –  highlight the patient’s record, so their needs are clear

SHARE  –  where appropriate, share that information with other NHS and adult social care providers

ACT  –  aim to provide information to patients in an accessible way

You will notice that when you register at the practice, you will be asked about your information and communication needs.  Patients already registered here may be asked opportunistically.

PLEASE NOTE:  You do not have to wait for us to ask you.  If you have an information or communication need, you can tell the reception staff and they will note it on your medical record.

Website Accessibility Information

Our website pages are designed so that you can change the style, size and colour of the font used, as well as the background colour. If you wish to do so, please see the guides below.

Customise settings in:

• Internet Explorer
• Firefox
• Google Chrome
• Safari

Further help

If you:

• Have problems seeing the screen
• Find it difficult to use the mouse or keyboard
• Need help with language or reading websites

then we recommend you visit the BBC website My Web My Way, which provides advice on how to make your computer easier to use, whether you are a Windows, Mac or Linux user.

Summary

We’re introducing a new tool that people can use to opt out of their confidential patient information being used for reasons other than their individual care and treatment. It will be secure and accessible and will be available from 25 May 2018.

The national data opt-out

NHS Digital is developing a new system to support the national data opt-out which will give patients more control over how identifiable health and care information is used. The system will offer patients and the public the opportunity to make an informed choice about whether they wish their personally identifiable data to be used just for their individual care and treatment or also used for research and planning purposes.

Choosing to opt-out

Patients and the public who decide they do not want their personally identifiable data used for planning and research purposes will be able to set their national data opt-out choice online. We will provide a non-digital alternative for patients and the public who can’t or don’t want to use an online system. Individuals can change their mind anytime. Existing Type 2 opt-outs (the option for a patient to register with their GP, to prevent their identifiable data leaving NHS Digital) will be converted to the new national data opt-out. Patients with type 2 opt-outs will be informed of this change individually.

Timescales

NHS Digital is developing the system now. Patients and the public will be able to use the system from 25 May 2018. All health and care organisations will be required to uphold patient and public choices by March 2020. The national data opt-out will be introduced alongside the new data protection legislation.

Information for health and care professionals

If you work in health and care, the introduction of the national data opt-out will mean you have two new areas of responsibility. You will need to be aware of the service in case patients ask you about it and in time you will be expected to uphold these preferences and advise patients. In the Resources section below there is an information pack (Pack E1) and readiness checklists, containing information about what organisations need to do now to be ready for the national data opt-out being available from 25 May 2018.

Advising patients

Everyone working in health and care needs to be aware of the national data opt-out so that they can inform and advise patients on where to go for more information about data use and the national data opt-out. The information shared by health and care staff will support patients to make an informed decision about how their personally identifiable data will be used.

Upholding patient preferences

Health and care professionals who send patient identifiable data to other organisations for reasons other than a patient’s individual care and treatment will need to know how and when to uphold a patient’s preference. More information will be provided on this in due course.

Resources

We’ve prepared presentations that can be edited to be relevant to your local settings, to help you inform the health and care professionals you work with about the national data opt-out.

Information packs

Pack A The NDG Review and Government Response Published March 2018

Pack B Taking the National Data Opt-out Forward Published March 2018

Pack C National Data Opt-out Approach Published March 2018

Pack D National Data Opt-out Operational Policy Published November 2017

Pack E1 Preparing for Implementation Published March 2018

Pack F Patient journey – coming soon
Pack G Fit with Data Protection Bill (GDPR) Published December 2017

We will provide more information and resources on these pages as the development of the new system progresses.

Organisation readiness checklists

These checklists – one for GP practices and one for other health and care organisations – can help you understand what your organisation should do to be ready for 25 May 2018.

Readiness checklist – GP practices
Readiness checklist – other organisations

Join the national data opt-out mailing list

Fill in the national data opt out team contact form to be added to our mailing list.

Background to the national data opt-out

The National Data Guardian, Dame Fiona Caldicott, recommended a new opt-out model for data sharing in her Review of data security, consent and opt-outs in 2016. The aim is to allow patients to make an informed decision about how their personal data will be used. It is part of a vision to improve patients’ trust and confidence in how data is looked after by the health and social care system. The National Opt-out ties in with other work on data security and making sure data is only used for the benefit of people’s health and care.

Lower Clapton General Practice privacy notice

Read our Late Patient Policy

From 1 April 2015, practices were required under the GMS contract, to allocate a named accountable GP to all patients, including children.  All patients registered before 1 April 2015 were allocated a GP before the end of June 2015.

Please ask the reception staff or your doctor for the name of your accountable GP.  If you would prefer to be allocated to a different GP, please contact the Practice and we will do our best to accommodate your wishes.

All new patients who registered after 1 April 2015 should be informed about their named GP at registration.

Please note: You can still make an appointment to see any doctor in the practice.

Update on the national planned extraction of data from patient records for planning and research.

Many patients have expressed concern over the extraction of data by NHS Digital. A new system was scheduled to take place on the 1^st September but has now been postponed without a date being set for when it will take place. This is to allow NHS England and the government to make changes in the light of concerns that have been expressed and to engage with patients and doctors.

This information is important to the country and has been used to plan the response to the Covid 19 pandemic, including the vaccine roll-out and to understand how to support patients suffering from ‘long Covid’.

However, the new data extraction will only now take place, when;

You, as a patients have the means to delete your data from a data upload, even after a data collection has taken place. You will be also able to opt-out from any future collections. The way that you will do this is being made more simple.

The present back-log of opt-outs expressed by patients, whether at practice level or on-line ( with NHS Digital) have been cleared.

A “Trusted Research Environment” has been developed and implemented within NHS Digital itself.

This mean that the data collected will only be accessed within this environment and that it will not be able to be copied or transported outside of the environment. Data can only be copied and transferred outside of this secure environment, if you, as a patient have given your explicit consent; e.g. for a specific research study.

NHS Digital promises that:

• The data extraction will continue to be both pseudonymised, i.e. the data identifying you as you does not reach NHS Digital and will be encrypted by GP System suppliers.
• Wants to improve its communications:
  1. By continuing to listen to patients and other stakeholders,
  2. Will consult via series of events that aim to explain the programme and engage in co-design with stakeholders as to how the programme will move forward.
  3. Will demonstrate how public feedback is being used to shape how the data is collected and how the data informs research and planning across the NHS

Jo Churchill, the under-secretary of State for Primary Care promises that:

“Once the data is collected, it will only be used for the purposes of improving health and care. Patient data is not for sale and never will be for sale.”

The full text of his letter is available here.

This policy information is coming.

Lower Clapton General Practice

(Last updated: Aug-21)

We aim to provide the best care we can to our patients. Where things go wrong or where we fail to deliver the standard of care we aspire to provide, we would like to hear about it. If you have any comments, suggestions, concerns, complaints or compliments about our service please let us know. There is a suggestion box in the waiting room where you can leave comments or feedback, but if you want to make a formal complaint please let a member of staff know.

You can discuss your concern, feedback or complaint with any member of staff that you feel comfortable with, however, if you wish to put your response in writing please address it to Aasiya Hafesji, the Business Manager, at the address below.

We treat complaints very positively and we are grateful that patients bring concerns to our attention so we can improve our service. We will do our best to resolve your complaint and put things right where things have gone wrong. We will not treat you any differently if you complain. We may implement changes to how we run our practice as a result of your complaint.

How to complain at our surgery

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 you wish to complain, we would like you to let us know as soon as possible. This will enable us to establish what happened more easily.

Concerns and complaints should be addressed to Aasiya Hafesji, the Business Manager.

You can complain in any of the following ways:

1. By email:  lower.claptongp@nhs.net
2. By writing to:

Aasiya Hafesji, Business Manager

The Portico, 34 Linscott Road, London, E5 0RD

You may ask for an appointment in order to discuss your concerns. The complaints procedure will be explained to you and make sure your concerns are dealt with promptly. It will be a great help if you are as specific as possible about your concerns. If you would like to have a copy of our complaints procedure, please ask.

What we shall do

We shall acknowledge your complaint within three working days. You will be given an opportunity to discuss how you would like the complaint to be dealt with, whether by telephone, or a meeting with staff concerned and agree the timescale involved. We aim to try and resolve complaints as soon as possible. We shall then be in a position to offer you an explanation, or a meeting with the people involved. When we look into complaints, we shall aim to:

• Find out what happened and what went wrong;
• Let you know the outcome in writing or by telephoning you directly.
• Make sure you receive an apology, where this is appropriate;
• Identify what we can do to make sure the problem doesn’t happen again.
• Feedback to the practice team, where this is appropriate.
• Let you know how we have changed practice procedures as a result of your complaint, if this has taken place.

If you complain verbally we shall contact you by phone or discuss matters in person and try to resolve your complaint by the end of the next working day. If this is not possible or if the complaint is not resolved we will write to you to acknowledge your complaint with the details.

The staff who deal with complaints and timescales

• The business manager oversees all the practice complaints. Dr Jenifer King is the GP Partner who leads on patient complaints and will normally contact the patient involved.
• We aim to resolve complaints within a reasonable amount of time, usually within 10 working days; however, we accept this may not always be possible if a detailed investigation is needed. The patient will be kept informed of any delays.

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 his or her permission to do so. A note signed by the person concerned will be needed, unless they are incapable (because of illness) of providing this.

Further advice and support or if you are dissatisfied with our response to your complaint

We hope we can resolve your complaint internally. We believe this will give us the best chance of putting right whatever has gone wrong and an opportunity to improve our practice complaints procedure and our practice. But this does not affect your right to approach the NHS commissioning board if you feel you cannot raise your complaint with us or you are dissatisfied with the result of our investigation.

Help to make a Complaint

If you require advocacy support in relation to your complaint or if you are not happy with our response to your complaint or simply wish to obtain further advice and support you can contact:

Independent Health Complaint Advocacy (IHCA)

The Advocacy Project can help and Hackney residents who wish to make a complaint about any health and care services

Tel: 020 3960 7920

referrals@advocacyproject.org.uk

www.advocacyproject.org.uk

If you feel your complaint cannot be resolved locally with the practice, you can contact NHS England:

By post to:

NHS England
PO Box 16738
Redditch
B97 9PT

By email to: england.contactus@nhs.net

If you are making a complaint please state: ‘For the attention of the complaints team’ in the subject line.

By telephone: 0300 311 22 33

If you have any comment or complaint about a hospital, mental health or community trust please contact them directly.

Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman     

If you are not satisfied following all attempts to resolve your complaint locally, you have the right to ask for an independent review through the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO). This must be done within 12 months of this response letter. Their contact details are:

Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman     

https://www.ombudsman.org.uk/about-us/contact-us

Tel: 0345 015 4033

Healthwatch Hackney

If you experience difficulties in contacting any of the organisations above, or would like to share your experiences of any health and care services, please contact Healthwatch Hackney

0203 960 7458/

Free phone number: 0808 164 7664

info@healthwatchhackney.co.uk

You can also find further information in Hackney’s Health and Social Care Complaints Charter

How we use medical information to help everyone

What we record at Lower Clapton Group Practice 

Information about you, your medical treatment and family background may be recorded, either on paper or in an electronic format. This is information is held to enable us to provide you with appropriate medical services.

All information about you is held securely and appropriate safeguards are in place to prevent accidental loss.

What you can do

Please read the rest of this leaflet in order to better understand how we use medical information about you. If you would like further information then please contact the Surgery using the details below:

The Practice Manager

Lower Clapton Group Practice

36, Lower Clapton Road

E5 0PQ

How we use your information

Doctors need to make notes about your diagnosis, medical history, medication and other information you may provide that is relevant to the treatment of your condition. We need this information in order to provide you with the best possible care.

Nurses and other health professionals may also need access to your medical record, and will also add their own notes as part of the overall package of healthcare provision you receive.

Secretaries and other administrative staff also need access to your records in order to book appointments; communicate with you, and ensure that referrals to secondary care are properly managed.

The Health Service

In order to manage the NHS some restricted information concerning treatment, prescribed drugs, vaccinations, numbers of patients seen, etc, is needed. Hospitals and general practices must provide this information in anonymised returns to the NHS. These returns do not include patient identifiable data and are summary in nature.

Medical research

Some medical research may require your direct involvement (especially if you are taking part in clinical trials). Your express consent will be necessary before researchers are given any access to your medical record.

Most research deals with summary data, and the information provided by the practice will not reveal any of your personal details. For example, the surgery provides the government with information on the number of flu vaccinations administered during the year. This information is summary in nature (no specific patient details are provided).

Managing the data

When you move from one Surgery to another we need to move your electronic medical record from system to system. We may also need to share electronic information with other medical professionals directly involved in your care. For example, your secondary care consultant or surgeon.

Occasionally, tests will need to be made on the data to check that is has been transferred correctly. These tests will only be made under strict conditions that ensure your confidentiality is protected.

Other Agencies

The NHS is not the only government service to provide you with the care you need. If may be necessary for us to provide information to other agencies directly involved in your care. Under these circumstances we will seek your consent before information in shared.

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.

How we protect your information

The sensitivity of patient information is well understood within the NHS. All staff and contractors are trained to respect their duty of confidentiality to you, and this obligation is written into all staff contracts and third party contracts.

We keep paper and electronic records in secure conditions to prevent unauthorised access. Wherever possible we remove references to personal details such as your name and address. We encrypt electronic information before it is transferred, and we also encrypt* any ‘back ups’ of the data we hold.

* (Encryption makes an electronic file unreadable without a secret password).

What else?

You can have a say in how the NHS uses information about you, and we are required by law to allow you access to your medical records. Please make any request for access in writing. An administrative fee will be charged to cover the cost of administration. If you want to find out more, or have any concerns, please contact the Practice Manager.

The NHS has a zero tolerance policy of all violence and aggression. This policy is for the protection of all NHS staff, but also for the protection of other patients, their families, visitors, etc. In order to ensure that this zero tolerance approach is adhered to, it is essential to have robust policies and procedures in place.

In General Practice, this will need to cover a variety of situations in which incidents could occur. Generally speaking the majority of patients behave in acceptable or manageable ways, however the incidence of excessively aggressive or violent attacks in the GP practice is increasing.

The practice recognises that there can be contributory reasons for patients behaving in difficult or challenging ways, however, where this tips over into aggression or violence, the practice will adopt a zero tolerance approach.