Practice Policies

Canbury Medical Centre/Berrylands Surgery prides itself in maintaining professional standards.

For certain examinations during consultations, an impartial observer (a chaperone) will be required.
This impartial observer will be a practice nurse or health care assistant who is familiar with the procedure and be available to reassure and raise any concerns on your behalf. If a nurse in unavailable at the time of your consultation then your examination may be rescheduled for another time.

You are free to decline any examination or chose an alternative examiner or chaperone. You may also request a chaperone for any examination or consultation if one is not offered to you. The GP may not undertake an examination if a chaperone is declined.

The role of a chaperone:

• Maintains professional boundaries during intimate examinations.
• Acknowledges a patient’s vulnerability.
• Provides emotional comfort and reassurance.
• Assists in the examination.
• Assists with undressing patients, if required.
• All patients are entitled to have a chaperone present for any consultation. Please let us know at the time of requesting an appointment or speak to your GP.

Children can experience serious harm and child abuse at home, at school or in fact anywhere. Usually, the harm is caused by someone the child knows and rarely by a stranger.

What should you do if you are worried about a child?

If you are worried about a child, contact Children’s Social Care or the Police and talk about your concerns. Your identity is kept confidential. Everyone in the community has a responsibility to make sure that children grow up safe from harm. Children’s Social Care will make enquiries about the child’s safety and assess what services will help. This is done in strictest confidence.

The child, family and those professionals who work with the family will be involved in the assessment. In all cases, what the family does well for the child is considered alongside the concerns.

In most situations, children remain at home safely with their family, while professionals work with the parents to get the right services involved. In all circumstances action will be taken to safeguard the welfare of the child and improve the situation.

If you are not sure, you should always ask for advice.

Some children require greater levels of support from Children’s Social Care along with other agencies. They are children in need. Usually, these services support children living at home. If you think a child may require services as a child in need, you can seek advice from Children’s Social Care.

Worries about a child

Parents, children and young people, relatives, members of the community and professionals may have concerns that a child has been or might be harmed.

Some children live in circumstances where they do not receive enough basic care such as food, clothing, warmth or safety. This can cause their health and development to be neglected and harmed. Help and services are available for parents to improve the situation.

In a small number of cases, a concern may be that an adult or older child is deliberately harming a child. Sometimes, a single hurtful event may cause serious harm, for example, a violent assault, sexual assault or poisoning.

Harm can also be caused by ongoing incidents, which damage the child’s physical, emotional and psychological development, for example, domestic violence.

Family life

Family life is varied and there is no perfect way to bring up a child. Parenting involves providing for a child’s basic needs, keeping them safe, showing them warmth and love.

Children need the support of their parents, family and community to grow up and help them achieve their full potential.

A wide range of services and professionals provide support to families so that their children grow and develop successfully, especially in relation to their health and education.

Parenting can be challenging. All parents may at times feel they need to talk about worries they have about their child. This can feel difficult, but making sure a child is safe, healthy and growing up successfully sometimes needs the support of others.

Seeking support not only helps the child but can also strengthen the family and community and is a positive step.

Advice and support for parents

Teachers at your child’s school and health visitors and doctors at your local health centre can all help provide more information about where to find the right support for you and your child. Asking for advice early on can lead to you receiving the right support and services.

Services are free and all parents, or people caring for a child, can seek help and advice. You can also find out what help is available for children who have disabilities, children with long term ill health, school problems, bullying and children with special educational needs and children who
are young carers.

Arranging extra support

If you would like services from a number of different agencies talk to your teacher, health visitor or doctor. You should be invited to be involved in the assessment of your child’s needs. This is called a Common Assessment and it helps the people supporting you to understand what services you and your child need and how all the agencies can work together in the best way.

You can also get help and information, in confidence, about problems related to pregnancy, parenthood, housing, ill health, depression, alcohol or drug problems or domestic violence.

Contacts

If you are concerned about a child or would like advice, you can contact NSPCC Child Protection Helpline on 0808 800 5000 or for more information, you can visit their website www.nspcc.org.uk.

Patients have a right to expect that information about them will be held in confidence by their doctor.

Whilst we shall continue to presume you are happy for us to share relevant details to those to whom you agree to be referred, we can assure you that private medical information will never be released to non-medical third parties (such as your insurance company), without your signed consent.

If we are asked to provide information about patients we will:

• Seek their consent to disclosure of information wherever possible, whether or not we judge that patients can be identified from the disclosure.
• Ensure that the person given access to records will be subject to a duty of confidentiality.

Under 16?

We provide a confidential service to everyone, including under 16 year olds. This means that you can tell others about your visit, but we won’t.

The only reason we might have to consider passing on your confidential information would be to protect you or someone else from serious harm. We would always try to discuss this with you first.

If you do have any worries about confidentiality please feel free to ask a member of staff.

Due to the number of patients failing to attend appointments, it may be that you are not able to see the doctor on the day that you wish to.

In an attempt to try and resolve this, the practice has developed the following policy. If you fail to attend appointments without informing us, we will write to you asking if there are any specific problems preventing you from letting us know.

Please contact the practice if you are unable to attend your appointment. If you repeatedly fail to attend for appointments, you may be removed from the practice list and have to find an alternative GP Practice.

Information about the GPs and the practice required for disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 can be made available to the public.

There are seven classes of information:

• Who we are and what we do
• What we spend and how we spend it
• What our priorities are and how we are doing
• How we make decisions
• Our policies and procedures
• Lists and registers
• Services the practice offers

This 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 2018.

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

This is enforced by the Information Commissioner who regulates both the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and the Data Protection Act 2018.

All requests for such information should be made to the reception.

2022/23

NHS England require that the net earnings of doctors engaged in the practice is published and the required disclosure is shown below. 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 comparisons with any other practice.

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

The average pay for GPs working in Canbury Medical Centre in the last financial year (2022/23) was £69,735 before tax and National Insurance. This is for 1 full time GP, 7 part time GPs and 1 locum who worked in the practice for more than six months.

April 2024

When you register with us, you will be allocated a named, accountable GP. Although this doctor will have overall responsibility for the care and support that we provide to you, this does not prevent you from seeing any other doctor in the practice of your choice.

Similarly since none of the GPs here work five days a week, if your named doctor isn’t working on the day that you want to see or speak to someone, you can speak to any other doctor here as they all have full access to your medical records.

If you wish to be told the name of your GP, please ask Reception a Question online. There is no need to telephone the practice for this information.

All newly registered patients will be given/allocated a named accountable GP on registration. There is no requirement to write to any patients regarding their named GP.

If you wish to change to another GP please let us know and we will make every effort to accommodate your preference.

Click the link to download and read Canbury Medical Centres privacy notice. 

The current Central NHS Computer System is called the Summary Care Record (SCR). It is an electronic record which contains information about the medicines you take, allergies you suffer from and any bad reactions to medicines you have had.

Why do I need a Summary Care Record?

Storing information in one place makes it easier for healthcare staff to treat you in an emergency, or when your GP practice is closed. This information could make a difference to how a doctor decides to care for you, for example, which medicines they choose to prescribe for you.

You may need to be treated by health and care professionals that do not know your medical history. Essential details about your healthcare can be difficult to remember, particularly when you are unwell or have complex care needs. Having an SCR means that when you need healthcare you can be helped to recall vital information.

SCRs can help the staff involved in your care make better and safer decisions about how best to treat you.

You can choose to have additional information included in your SCR, which can enhance the care you receive. This information includes:
•    Your illnesses and health problems.
•    Operations and vaccinations you have had in the past.
•    How you would like to be treated – such as where you would prefer to receive care.
•    What support you might need.
•    Who should be contacted for more information about you.

Who can see it?

Only healthcare staff involved in your care can see your Summary Care Record.

How do I know if I have one?

If you are registered with a GP practice in England you will have a Summary Care Record (SCR), unless you have previously chosen not to have one. Over half of the population of England now have a Summary Care Record. You can find out whether Summary Care Records have come to your area by looking at our interactive map or by asking your GP. It includes important information about your health:
•    Medicines you are taking.
•    Allergies you suffer from.
•    Any bad reactions to medicines.

Do I have to have one?

No, it is not compulsory. If you choose to opt-out of the scheme, then you will need to complete our online

Summary Care Record Opt Out form.

For further information visit the NHS Care Records website

Patients should value the members of the practice team as professional advisers. This includes extending the same courtesy and politeness as they would expect to receive.

The practice is determined to ensure that no member of staff is subjected to intimidation and violence. ‘Violence’ means any incident where staff are abused, threatened or assaulted in circumstances related to their work, involving an explicit or implicit challenge to their safety, wellbeing or health.

Every violent incident, including verbal abuse, will be dealt with seriously and, where appropriate, reported to the police. Violence against fellow patients will be dealt with in the same way.

You may not be aware but when you turn 16 you become responsible for your own healthcare decisions. This information is for both you and your parent or guardian.

Canbury Medical Centre provides a confidential service to all our patients including under 16’s. You can contact a nurse online or contact a doctor online for advice and specifically request an appointment with a male or female clinician.

Confidentiality means that your consultation and visits to the surgery will not be discussed with anyone apart from you. The only time that information may be shared without consent is when you could be considered a danger to yourself or others.

If you have given proxy access to your parent or guardian to discuss your health, then this will be revoked once you turn 16. If you have been sharing a mobile phone number or email address with a parent or guardian, then those details will be removed from your medical record once you turn 16 and will then be replaced with your own contact details.

Something you may still wish to discuss with your parent or guardian is giving consent for treatment. A lot depends on the seriousness or difficulty of the proposed treatment. Health care professionals would encourage you to include your parent or guardian in any decision making process, however, they will always try to respect your wishes if you do not wish anyone else to be involved.

You may not be aware, but once you turn 16 you will have to start paying for your prescriptions, unless you are in full-time education, pregnant or receiving benefits. Please look at our website for prescriptions advice and how to register to order repeat medications online.

We offer a full range of sexual health services and all contraception including implants. If you need advice or have any questions, please call the practice on 02085 474270.

It is very important that we hold up to date contact details. Please ensure that we have your correct telephone numbers (home and mobile) and have a personal email address for you.

You may be interested in registering for Patient Access online, which will enable you to re-order repeat medication and view parts of your medical records. You may wish to check whether your parents have already registered for this on your behalf.

If you have always had someone order your medication for you, you can still allow this to happen by giving us written consent to allow your parent/guardian to make contact on your behalf with any queries about your medication or health. Your consent can be restricted to just ordering medications only if you choose or they can have access to your health information just as before you turned 16.

Canbury Medical Centre and Berrylands Surgery have always been a training practice for future GPs. Dr Shah is a qualified trainer.

The trainees are called GP Registrars and they normally complete a year with us before qualifying to practice independently.

Who our current GP Registrars are can be found on the 'meet the team' page on this website.