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. Our staff come to work to care for others, and it is important for all our staff to be treated with respect.

The Practice supports the government’s ‘Zero Tolerance’ campaign for Health Service Staff. This states that GPs and their staff have a right to care for others without fear of being attacked or abused. To successfully provide these services a mutual respect between all the staff and patients has to be in place. All our staff aim to be polite, helpful, and sensitive to all patients’ individual needs and circumstances. They would respectfully remind patients that very often staff could be confronted with a multitude of varying and sometimes difficult tasks and situations, all at the same time. The staff 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.

However, aggressive behaviour, be it violent or abusive, will not be tolerated and may result in you being removed from the Practice list and, in extreme cases, the Police being contacted.

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:

Using bad language or swearing at practice staff

Any physical violence towards any member of the Primary Health Care Team or other patients, such as pushing or shoving

Verbal abuse towards the staff in any form including verbally insulting the staff

Racial abuse and sexual harassment will not be tolerated within this practice

Persistent or unrealistic demands that cause stress to staff will not be accepted.

Causing damage/stealing from the Practice’s premises, staff or patients

Obtaining drugs and/or medical services fraudulently

We ask you to treat your GPs and their staff courteously at all times.

We make every effort to give the best service possible to everyone who attends our practice.

If you wish to offer a compliment or just have some feedback for us, please feel free to write to the Practice Manager and we will deal with your feedback promptly, or you can email us at virmaniandbedi.noreply@nhs.net

To pursue a complaint please contact the Complaints Manager, in writing, who will deal with your concerns appropriately. Further written information regarding the complaints procedure is available here in our leaflet or from reception.

The relationship between the clinician and patient is based on trust and chaperones are a safeguard for the both parties at Dr Virmani & Dr Bedi. The role of a chaperone is vital in maintaining a good standard of practice during consultations and examinations.

A full copy of our practice policy regarding chaperones can be found here.

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.

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.

The practice is committed to both eliminating discrimination and encouraging diversity amongst our workforce and in relation to our patients and service users.

The practice and its staff will not discriminate on grounds of gender, marital status, race, ethnic origin, colour, nationality, national origin, disability, sexual orientation, religion or age.

All employees, whether part-time, full-time or temporary, will be treated fairly and with respect. Selection for employment, promotion, training or any other benefit will be on the basis of aptitude and ability. All employees will be helped and encouraged to develop their full potential to meet practice and personal needs.

The practice will:

• create an environment in which individual differences and the contributions of staff are recognised and valued.
• ensure that every employee has a working environment that promotes dignity and respect
• ensure that no form of intimidation, bullying or harassment is tolerated
• provide training, development and progression opportunities to all staff
• promote equality in the workplace as good management practice
• review all employment practices and procedures to ensure fairness
• regard breaches of the equality policy misconduct and could lead to disciplinary proceedings
• review the policy annually.

The practice will consider monitoring of job applicants to ensure that equality policies are in place and working.

This may include the collection of information relating to:

• Gender
• race
• disability
• age

Where this is carried out the information will be requested on a separate page in the application papers which can be detached. Completion by candidates will be optional. The information sheet will be removed from the selection process and held separately and for monitoring only. The application papers will make this clear.

Information about the General Practitioners and the practice required for disclosure under this act can be made available to the public. All requests for such information should be made to the practice manager.

Access to Records

Introduction

In accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation, patients (data subjects) have the right to access their data and any supplementary information held by Dr Virmani & Dr Bedi; this is commonly known as a data subject access request (DSAR). Data subjects have a right to receive:

• Confirmation that their data is being processed
• Access to their personal data
• Access to any other supplementary information held about them

Options for access

As of April 2016, practices have been obliged to allow patients access to their health record online. This service will enable the patient to view coded information held in their health record. Prior to accessing this information, you will have to visit the practice and undertake an identity check before being granted access to your records.

In addition, you can make a request to be provided with copies of your health record. To do so, you must submit a Data Subject Access Request (DSAR) form; this can be submitted electronically and the DSAR form is available here. Alternatively, a paper copy of the DSAR is available from reception. You will need to submit the form online or return the completed paper copy of the DSAR to the practice. You will also have to verify your identity at the time of submission. This includes electronic submissions. Patients do not have to pay a fee for copies of their records.

Time frame

Once the DSAR form is submitted, Dr Virmani & Dr Bedi will aim to process the request within 21 days; however, this may not always be possible. The maximum time permitted to process DSARs is one calendar month.

Exemptions

There may be occasions when the data controller will withhold information kept in the health record, particularly if the disclosure of such information is likely to cause undue stress or harm to you or any other person.

Data controller

At Dr Virmani & Dr Bedi the data controller is DR VIRMANI and should you have any questions relating to accessing your medical records, please ask to discuss this with the named data controller.

The practice complies with data protection and access to medical records legislation. Identifiable information about you will be shared with others in the following circumstances:

• To provide further medical treatment for you e.g. from district nurses and hospital services.
• To help you get other services e.g. from the social work department. This requires your consent.
• When we have a duty to others e.g. in child protection cases anonymised patient information will also be used at local and national level to help the Health Board and Government plan services e.g. for diabetic care.

If you do not wish anonymous information about you to be used in such a way, please let us know.

Reception and administration staff require access to your medical records in order to do their jobs. These members of staff are bound by the same rules of confidentiality as the medical staff.

For more information please read:

1. Privacy Notice CQC
2. Privacy Notice for Staff
3. Privacy Notice Emergencies
4. Privacy Notice Direct Care
5. Privacy Notice Risk Stratification
6. Privacy Notice Safeguarding
7. Privacy Notice for Staff Vaccination
8. Privacy Notice for Children
9. Easy Read Privacy Policy
10. Overarching Privacy Policy
11. Privacy Notice NHS Digital
12. Privacy Notice Public Health

These are the standards we set within the practice for the benefit of our patients. The charter can be read here.