Practice Policies

Chaperone

A chaperone is a person who is present during a physical examination as a safeguard for all parties (patients and practitioners) and is a witness to continuing consent to the procedure. This applies to both male and female patients and practitioners. A chaperone should be the same gender as the patient unless they are a parent/guardian or spouse.

Role of chaperone

• Emotional comfort and reassurance to the patient
• To identify any unusual or unacceptable behaviour on the part of the health care professional
• To provide protection to the health care professional against unfounded allegations of improper behaviour

 All relevant staff will have training as part of the induction procedure and then on an annual basis. Further training will be carried out if there are any changes that would require extra instructions.

Confidentiality

The practice complies with Data Protection legislation and we make every effort to preserve patient confidentiality. We ask you for personal information to ensure that you receive appropriate care and treatment. For the practice to function effectively it is sometimes necessary for medical information about you to be shared between members of the practice team. It will be shared with others only to provide further medical treatment for you, e.g. from hospital services, or to enable you to access other services, e.g. from the social work department.

Freedom of information

The Freedom of Information (FOI) Act was passed on 30th November 2000.  It gives a general right of access to all types of recorded information held by public authorities, with full access granted in January 2005.  The Act sets out exemptions to that right and places certain obligations on public authorities.

FOI replaced the Open Government Code of Practice, which has been in operation since 1994.

If this information is required please put this request to the Practice Manager in writing.

Patient charter

We aim to treat our patients courteously at all times and expect our patients to treat our staff in a similarly respectful way. It is your responsibility to keep your appointments, inform us of your past illnesses, medication, hospital admissions and any other relevant details.

Charter for General Practice

Disability and discrimination

We will provide care, now and in the future, to all our patients without discrimination and irrespective of patient’s age, sex, race, beliefs or special needs.  We expect that patients will show no discrimination towards other surgery users, members of the practice team or our colleagues in the NHS.

Social Media Patient Policy 

There are many social media platforms that are widely used by both staff and patients; these include Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and LinkedIn. At Fenny Compton & Shenington surgery, we have a Facebook page, which provides a range of useful information for our patient population.

Fenny Compton & Shenington surgery has a duty to maintain patient confidentiality and to safeguard vulnerable patients. You can help us achieve this by adhering to the code of conduct outlined in this policy.

Patients registered at Fenny Compton & Shenington surgery are expected to adhere to the following code of conduct at all times:

1. The practice requires all users of portable devices to use them in a courteous and considerate manner, respecting their fellow patients. Portable devices are not to be used during consultations.
2. Patients are not permitted to disclose any patient-identifiable information about other patients, unless they have the express consent of that patient.
3. Patients must not post any material that is inaccurate, fraudulent, harassing, embarrassing, obscene, defamatory or unlawful. Any such posts on the practice Facebook page will be deleted by the Practice Manager and the post reported.
4. Patients are not permitted to take photographs in the waiting room or areas where other patients are present, nor are photographs of staff permitted.
5. Patients must not post comments on social media that identify staff who work at the practice.
6. Patients are to use NHS Choices should they wish to leave a review about the Practice. This will enable the Practice Manager to respond appropriately.
7. Defamatory comments about our team are not to be shared on any social media platform. Legal advice will be sought and the appropriate action taken against any patient who posts defamatory comments.

Patient complaints on social media

We have a separate complaints policy, which patients should use if they wish to make a complaint.

We will only respond to complaints made to the practice in accordance with the practice’s complaints policy.

If a complaint or defamatory comment is made on the practice Facebook page, we reserve the right to moderate and/or delete comments and may also take steps to ensure the author is prevented from using the practices’ Facebook page in the future.