We will always respect your privacy, dignity, and religious or cultural beliefs, especially when intimate examinations are necessary. Such examinations will only be carried out with your explicit consent, and you will be offered a chaperone if you wish.

You may request a chaperone when making your appointment, upon arrival at the surgery (please inform the receptionist), or at any point during your consultation.

You can be assured that anything you discuss with any member of our surgery team—whether a doctor, nurse, or Patient services Team, will be treated with strict confidentiality. This applies to all patients, including those under 16. We will not share information with parents, family members, care workers, or teachers without your permission, except in rare cases where it is necessary to protect you or others from serious harm. In such situations, we will always try to discuss this with you first.

If you have any concerns or questions about confidentiality, please do not hesitate to speak to a member of staff.

If you would like to discuss matters of a confidential nature with our reception team, please let us know. We will do our best to find a private space for you, or arrange somewhere quiet where your conversation cannot be overheard.

At The Hall Practice, we share a common goal with our partners in health and social care: to provide high-quality care and achieve the best possible outcomes for everyone who uses our services. Continuous improvement is central to everything we do.

While we strive to always deliver excellent care, sometimes things can go wrong, and our service may not meet the high standards we expect.

In line with Regulation 20 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulations 2014), we commit to the following:

• Maintaining a culture of openness and honesty at all levels of our practice
• Informing patients promptly if a safety incident occurs that may affect them
• Providing a clear, written explanation of the incident, including details of any investigations or enquiries
• Offering a written apology
• Providing support to anyone directly affected by an incident

We believe that being open and transparent is essential to maintaining your trust and improving the care we provide.

The duty of candour: what it means for patients and their families

GP Earnings at The Hall Practice 2023/24

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, not to make any comparison with any other practice.

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

The average pay for GPs working in The Hall Practice in the last financial year was £45,522 before tax and National Insurance. This is for 9 part time GPs and 6 Locums who worked in the practice for more than six months.

At The Hall Practice, maintaining good hygiene and effective infection prevention and control (IPC) is essential to protecting the health and safety of our patients, staff, and visitors. We follow the standards set out by the Health and Social Care Act 2008 Code of Practice for Health and Adult Social Care, which guides all NHS organisations on best practices to prevent infections.

Our commitment to IPC means that we regularly review and assess our procedures to ensure they are thorough, up-to-date, and appropriate for the range of services we provide. Infection control is integrated into all aspects of our clinical and management activities, with careful attention to maintaining a clean and safe environment for everyone who uses our services.

The Hall Practice IPC Policy

The Hall Practice is committed to preserving the security of all data used by our information systems, as far as is reasonably practical. To achieve this, we take all appropriate actions to:

Maintain the Confidentiality of Data

• Ensure that only authorised staff have access to our systems
• Prevent disclosure of information to anyone without the right to see it

Maintain the Integrity of Data

• Take care when entering data
• Ensure all changes are recorded, monitored, and authorised
• Verify the correct record is displayed before making updates
• Report and resolve any errors promptly

Software Installation

• No software may be installed on practice devices without prior approval.
• All software requests must be reviewed and authorised by our Data Protection Officer (DPO).
• Before installation, a Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) must be completed to evaluate any risks related to data protection and privacy.
• Additionally, the software must undergo a Digital Technology Assessment Criteria (DTAC) review to ensure it meets NHS security, interoperability, usability, and clinical safety standards.
• Only after successful completion of these assessments and approvals can software be installed and used within the practice.

Backups and Cybersecurity

• Backups of all critical data are managed centrally by SCWCSU (South, Central and West Commissioning Support Unit) to ensure data availability and disaster recovery.
• Cybersecurity measures, including virus protection, firewalls, and system monitoring, are also managed centrally by SCWCSU to safeguard our systems from threats.

By following these procedures, we ensure that all software used within The Hall Practice supports safe, secure, and compliant delivery of patient care.

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

• The Data Protection Act (2018)
• The Health and Safety at Work Act (1992)
• The Access to Health Records Act (1990)

The Hall Practice uses several IT systems to help manage your care securely and efficiently. These include:

• Referral Management: Using NHS numbers to process referrals.
• Electronic Appointment Booking: Allows you to book and cancel routine appointments online.
• Online Repeat Prescription Ordering: Enables you to request repeat prescriptions via our online system.
• Summary Care Record: Uploads details of your current medication and allergies to the national NHS “spine,” making this information available to healthcare professionals involved in your care elsewhere.
• GP to GP Transfers: Secure electronic transfer of your medical records when you register with a new practice.
• Patient Access to Records: Allows you to view your medical records online.

If you are not yet registered for online access and would like to be, please download the NHS App. If you have any issues or questions about online access, please speak with our Patient Services Team, who will be happy to assist you.

If you wish to access your medical records or want to opt out of the local or national Summary Care Record, please speak with our Patient Services Team or complete the Opt-Out Form

THP Privacy Notice – Easy Read

The Hall Practice is a National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) accredited practice for research. We take part in various studies lead by the NIHR, as well as those by the Royal College of General Practitioners, medical charities and local and national academic organisations.

We believe that participating in medical research can help our patients as well as future generations. Research is vital in providing the evidence needed to help prevent, diagnose and cure disease and illnesses, as well as to transform and redesign services. Breakthroughs in medical research can enable earlier diagnosis, more effective treatments, prevention of ill health, better outcomes and faster returns to everyday life.  Participants with an illness or disease participate to help others, but also to possibly receive the newest treatment and to have the additional care and attention from the clinical trial staff.

Our research lead is Dr Nicola Turner.

Recent studies that our patients have taken part in include ones looking at asthma, hip dysplasia in children, domestic violence and abuse, kidney disease, prevention of pain after shingles and prevention of heart disease and diabetes in South Asian patients.

Current Research in Practice

National Institute for Health and Care Research

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 or complete the form below

Summary care 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

At The Hall Practice, our staff always treat patients and their representatives with respect and courtesy. We kindly ask that patients and their representatives show the same respect towards our team.

The NHS has a zero-tolerance policy towards violence and abuse. To protect our staff, patients, and visitors, the practice reserves the right to remove any patient who behaves violently from our patient list immediately.

We do not tolerate any form of aggression—whether verbal or physical—on our premises. Any such behaviour may be reported to the Police and could result in removal from the practice’s list of registered patients.

Violence includes actual or threatened physical harm, as well as verbal abuse that causes someone to fear for their safety. If a patient is removed for these reasons, we will notify them in writing and record the removal and its circumstances in their medical records.