PRACTICE FAIR PROCESSING AND PRIVACY NOTICE

PRACTICE FAIR PROCESSING AND PRIVACY NOTICE

Your Information, Your Rights

Being transparent and providing accessible information to patients about how we will use your personal information is a key element of the Data Protection Act 2018 and the EU General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR). 

The following notice reminds you of your rights in respect of the above legislation and how your GP Practice will use your information for lawful purposes in order to deliver your care and the effective management of the local NHS system.

This notice reflects how we use information for:

• The management of patient records;
• Communication concerning your clinical, social and supported care;
• Ensuring the quality of your care and the best clinical outcomes are achieved through clinical audit and retrospective review;
• Participation in health and social care research; and
• The management and clinical planning of services to ensure that appropriate care is in place for our patients today and in the future.

Read more »

iHEART Bank Holiday Open Times

IHeart – Extended Hours.

Friday 30 March 2018                      Appointments available between 9am and 11pm. Phone lines open 9am to 1pm

Saturday 31 March 2018                Appointments available between 9am and 11pm. Phone lines open 9am to 1pm

Sunday 1 April 2018                         Appointments available between 9am and 11pm. Phone lines open 9am to 1pm

Monday 2 April 2018                       Appointments available between 9am and 11pm. Phone lines open 9am to 1pm

Tuesday 3 April 2018                       Appointments available between 6pm and 11pm.  Phone lines open 8am to 6pm

Wednesday 4 April 2018                Appointments available between 6pm and 11pm.  Phone lines open 8am to 6pm

Thursday 5 April 2018                     Appointments available between 6pm and 11pm.  Phone lines open 8am to 6pm

Friday 6 April 2018                            Appointments available between 6pm and 11pm.  Phone lines open 8am to 6pm

iHeart Barnsley 365

You can access the i-HEART Barnsley service in a number of ways:

Online

• completing this simple online form 

A clinician will call you back to make an assessment and suggest an appropriate resolution to your health needs. This could be a face to face appointment, advice or referral to another NHS service . If an appointment is appropriate a choice of how the consultation takes place will be offered.  

By telephone

Call 01226 242419 and speak to a clinician who will suggest and appropriate resolution to your health needs. If an appointment is appropriate a choice of how the consultation takes place will be offered.  

Locations and opening hours

The face to face GP and nurse appointments operate from two locations:

• Woodland Drive Medical Centre, Woodland Drive, Barnsley, S70 6QW 
• Chapelfield Medical Centre, Mayflower Way, Wombwell, Barnsley, S73 0AJ

The i-HEART Barnsley telephone assessment centre is open Monday to Friday 9am to 10pm and Saturday and Sunday 9am to 1pm.

Appointments will be available Monday to Friday 6pm -10pm and Saturdays and Sundays 10-1pm.

My consultation

You will be offered a choice of consultation methods (where appropriate) and this could include: 

Face to face appointments

To see a doctor or nurse at a health care centre or GP surgery.  

You can request this when you speak to the clinician or the clinician may recommend a face to face appointment.

Email:

E-mail consultations are available for anyone needing advice from a doctor or nurse for a non-urgent matter that doesn’t warrant an appointment.

Telephone:

For those patients without access to video technology the service will provide telephone consultations with appropriate health care professionals (doctors and nurses).

This is where you can get the same medical/care advice as you would be face to face with a doctor or nurse.

Video call

The introduction of virtual visits will allow patients to be assessed in their own home (or other locations) without the need for travel.  This will help to reduce the number of missed appointments and allow patients who have difficulty travelling to access appointments without the need for a home visit.

To increase capacity and service access, virtual consultations will be available providing face to face remote appointments. Appropriate governance will be in place covering data protection and privacy.

Dementia Awareness

If you would like to make a donation please click here

Jill White

We are deeply saddened to lose a much loved member of our team, Jill White, who passed away this weekend after a short battle with cancer. 

Most patients may not have known Jill, as she did not work in front reception. However, she was a highly regarded member of our team who for eight years helped make sure thousands of patient’s hospital referrals and GP letters were completed without a problem.

For us, it is hard to say goodbye to a colleague who has been less of a co-worker and more of a friend. We will miss you and we are sad that the joy of working with you has to come to an end.

Farewell Jill. 

The Sound Doctor - Check it out

The Sound Doctor is like a consultation whenever you want it, in your own home, in your own time.

Living with a "long term condition" can be tough. Our films, with practical tips and advice from leading doctors, nurses, consultants and other professionals can help you cope.

Click here for more

Polite Patient Notice

Dear Patients,

This is a brief explanation of some of the changes you may be experiencing since Furlong Road Surgery merged with us, Dearne Valley Group Practice, on July 1^st 2016.

We would first of all like to apologise that the former Furlong Road Surgery did not make enough attempts to inform you the changes prior to the merger or that Dr Gopinath planned to retire shortly after the merge.

We have noticed that many of you may require medication reviews to ensure that you are receiving the best and most appropriate care. We understand that this can be unsettling as we may suggest some changes to some of your medication but, we would like to reassure you that the changes are in your best interest.

We have noticed some aggression toward our reception team in relation to some of the changes, please keep in mind that it is not the fault of any member of our reception team and any information that they relay to you have been authorised by a GP.

Since the merge you now have access to SIX GP’s, TWO Practice Nurses, an Advanced Nurse Practitioner and THREE Health Care Assistants, all of these are here to help you.

We understand that change can be difficult and we are sorry that you were not better prepared before you joined with us but we hope that you will soon see the benefits of the merge once you settle in and get to meet our clinical team.

We are also aware of the issues with the telephones; we are very sorry for any issues you experience when trying to call. We are working with all the relative people to try and get this resolved as soon as possible.  

If you do have any particular concerns please do not hesitate to bring this to our attention and we will do our best to help you. 

CQC Report - 'Good'

On March 14, 2016 we were inspected by the Care Quality Commission and were rated as being 'Good'. 

To see the full report please click here

ACCESSIBLE COMMUNICATIONS POLICY

How we communicate with people in a way that they can understand 

Please click here for the policy 

TELEPHONES UPDATE

Hi Everyone,

The tech team at Patient Partner who provide the telephone software for us have implemented what we hope is a solution to the looping problems you have all been experiencing.

What was the problem: Two people could be on the phone to a receptionist, Four people could queue behind them waiting to be answered, this was the maximum the system could handle so any callers after this would be looped back to the main menu if they pressed the option to speak to a receptionist.

What has been changed: Two people can be on the phone to a receptionist, Four people can queue behind them waiting to be answered (these will hear a ringing phone sound) Four people can queue behind them (These will hear some hold music). This is the maximum number of callers the phone software can take so if there are more than 10 people calling at once the phone line will be engaged preventing more calls coming in and being looped.

This seems like a huge improvement to us and we hope that you will agree the next time you call.

Also, we plan to double the number of staff that will be answering the telephone in the coming months so the situation should improve further.

Thank you for your patience during this time.

DVGP

Patient Feedback Report 2015/16

Please click here to see the 2015/16 patient feedback report

 “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 Dearne Valley Group Practice in the last financial year was £66,015 before tax and National Insurance.  This is for 2 full time GPs, 2 part time GPs and 0 locum GPs who worked in the practice for more than six months.”

Watch the song, in case things go wrong

Please click here to see a short video on how to perform CPR on a child. 

Thank you 

BABY CPR

1) AMBULANCE

2) 5 PUFFS   

3) 30 PUMPS

4) 2 PUFFS

5) 30 PUMPS

6) REPEAT STEPS 4 & 5 CONTUNUIOUSLY   

Information Sharing

We are signing up to a new system which will allow health and social care professionals from outside our practice view the most up-to-date information about you but only if you give them consent. This will help the professional caring for you gain a better understanding your needs. 

What this means in a nutshell; should you attend a service such are the iHeart Barnsley HUB for out of hours care, you will be asked by the consulting clinician if they can access your record. At this point you have the opportunity to say no and no information will be shared. However, if you say yes, the clinician will only have access to a condensed view of your clinical information (past diagnosis, allergies, medications, current and past illness, investigations, blood pressure etc.) but equipped with this history it may significantly help them treat you. Your information will only be temporarily streamed while you are being consulted and will not accessible again without your consent.  

If you do not wish to share your information at all then please contact the surgery and let us know. Please note, should you opt out of sharing but then later be seen in hospital or an out of hours service, they will not be able to access any of your history even if you authorise them to view it. It has to be allowed here before hand. Please bare this in mind when making your decision.

Here is a F&Q on sharing your information 

Please click here if you wish to view Barnsley's privacy notice

There are also leaflets available in reception.

Helping you understanding appointments

Hello everyone, 

We have put together a brief letter to help you understand more about the practice, the appointments we offer, how you can book and what our reception team can help you with. 

Please click here 

Thanks 

COMMUNITY EVENT INVITE: 'Staying Connected Coffee Morning'

 — feeling excited.

HOME CARE IS BEST!

Message to parents,

Here are some links to fact sheets which may help you if your child is suffering from an ear infection, sore throat of cough. As the 'Home care is best ' poster suggests, a local pharmacy can recommend medication to ease symptoms and the medication will be FREE if you already do not pay for prescriptions.

Please share this with your friends, the fact sheets below also advise when you should seek help if they symptoms develop.

Patient Notice

Named GP for all patients

All patients at our practice have a named GP to oversee their care.
You may already have been told who your named GP is at some point; for those of you who haven’t yet been told, our aim is to let you know before the end of March 2016. Please ask next time you make contact with the practice if you would like to know who your named GP is. For those of you whose named GP has left the practice we will inform you of his or her replacement.

What does this mean for you?
You are unlikely to see any notable change in the way care is delivered to you by our practice, just a formalisation of our current process.
The responsibilities of your named GP will be to:
• Take the lead responsibility for ensuring that all appropriate services required by you from the GP practice are provided.
• Where required, use their professional judgement, to work with relevant health and social care professionals to deliver a care package that meets your needs.
• Ensure your physical and psychological needs are recognised and responded to by the relevant clinicians in the practice
• Ensure you have access to a health check if requested.

These responsibilities will be carried out within the opening hours of the surgery and do not change the way you or other patients currently access care outside of these hours.

You must continue to book appointments with the practice in the same way. If you require an appointment with a GP urgently and are unable to book it with your ‘named GP’ please book in with another available doctor.

Please book Nurse appointments in the usual way.

Please note that despite our GPs working with other health and social care professionals to deliver your care needs, they do not take on the responsibility for the care others deliver to you. If you have concerns about any care provided by a health and social care professional outside of the practice, this should be raised directly with them, or their organisation.

GET YOUR FLU JAB!

Flu occurs every year, usually in the winter. It is a highly infectious disease with symptoms that develop quickly. The most common symptoms are fever, chills, headache, joint and muscle pains, and extreme tiredness.

If you have or know anyone who has a long-term health condition, even one which is well managed, are pregnant, or aged 65 and over, catching flu could make you seriously ill and make complications like pneumonia more likely. The best way to help protect yourself against flu is to get vaccinated.

Call us now 01709886354

Vulnerable Adult? Get help NOW!

Everyone has the right to live in safety, free from abuse and neglect.

Abuse and neglect can occur anywhere: in your own home or a public place, while you are in hospital or attending a day centre, or in a college or care home.

You may be living alone or with others. The person causing the harm may be a stranger to you, but more often than not the person is known, and it can be the case that you usually feel safe with them. They are usually in a position of trust and power, such as a health and care professional, relative or neighbour.

I think I am being abused or neglected: what can I do?

Who to talk to if you feel you are being abused or neglected:

• Don't worry about making a fuss – tell someone you trust as soon as possible.
• Speak to friends or careworkers, who may have an understanding of the situation and be able to take steps quickly to improve the situation. 
• You can also talk to professionals such as your GP or social worker about your concerns, or you could ask to speak to your local council's Adult Safeguarding team or co-ordinator.
• Call 01126 772423/ 438831.
• If you believe a crime is being, or has been, committed – whether it's physical abuse or financial – talk to the police or ask someone you trust to do so on your behalf.

Read more »

Patient Reference Group Annual Report 2015

Download this year's Patient Participation Report by clicking here.

We encourage you to leave us feedback and any comments or suggestions you might have. Get in touch via facebook or fill in a comments slip in the surgery or send a letter to us addressed to The Practice Manager.

We will update our social media sites and waiting room notice boards with any updates that may occur based on feedback we receive.

Thanks again to everyone who took part in this year's survey.
DVGP

Friends and Family Test

Hello everyone, 

We are looking for feedback on your recent experiences of our service. Please take just a minute or two to complete the Friends and Family Test.  Please click here to access the online form. 

Do you want help quitting smoking?

Yorkshire Smokefree provides expert NHS advice and support for anyone who wants to stop smoking. So when you're ready to quit, we're ready to help. Our friendly experts will help you find the best way to quit and provide support throughout your journey, so you're smoke-free in no time.

We offer a range of resources to suit your needs and ensure you're smoke-free as soon as possible. 

Pharmacyfirst

Have you heard or used the Pharmacyfirst service in Barnsley. It’s been running for nearly a year now and we’d like to see what you think of it.

 

Click here to take the quick survey:

 

Thank you very much for taking part.

 

DVGP

Don't wait for a doctors appointment Go straight to your pharmacy!

Barnsley GPs and pharmacies are offering a new service which gives you more choice and easier access when it comes to treating minor illnesses and ailments.

If you don't normally pay NHS prescription charges, then any medicines supplied under the Pharmacyfirst scheme will be FREE.

If you do pay for your prescriptions, then the cost of the medicines should be much less that the prescription charge and you get the same great advice from your pharmacist.

Your pharmacist is a qualified health care professional who can help with your health problems.  The pharmacist will offer you a private space to talk to you about your symptom

The following conditions are currently covered by the scheme:

• Allergies
• Athlete's foot
• Blocked nose
• Cold sores
• Conjunctivitis
• Constipation
• Cough
• Dermatitis
• Diarrhoea
• Earache
• Eczema
• Ear wax
• Haemorrhoids
• Hay fever
• Headache
• Head lice
• Heartburn
• Indigestion
• Infant colic
• Mouth ulcers
• Nappy rash
• Oral thrush
• Pain
• Scabies
• Sore throat
• Teething
• Threadworms
• Vaginal thrush
• Verrucae
• Warts

For more questions and answers click here 

Come and get your NHS Health Check!

The NHS Health Check is for adults in England between the ages of 40 and 74.

Everyone is at risk of developing heart disease, stroke, diabetes, kidney disease and some forms of dementia.

The good news is that these conditions can often be prevented, even if you have a family history of them.

NHS Health Check can help you by assessing your risk of developing these health problems and giving you personalised advice on how to reduce it.

Book in to see one of our Heath Care Assistants and get checked now!

Sharing your information

Sharing information about the care you have received, enables those involved in providing care and health services to improve the quality of care and health services. 

NHS England has commissioned a programme of work on behalf of the NHS, public health and social care services to address gaps in information. Their aim is to ensure that the best possible evidence is available to improve the quality of care for all.

This involves us sharing information about  you!

Your date of birth, full postcode, NHS Number and gender rather than your name will be used to link your records in a secure system, managed by the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) . Once this information has been linked, a new record will be created. This new record will not contain information that identifies you. The type of information shared, and how it is shared, is controlled by law and strict confidentiality rules.

For more information on this please click here

and for information on how to OPT OUT click here

You may receive a pack/ leaflet in the post however, If you do not provide us with the correct documentation to opt out by the 31st of March 2014 we will have no choice but share your information. 

Please share this information with friends and family. We want as as many patients to have an informed decision before this goes live.

Thank you 

DVGP

1 in 3 women who get breast cancer are over 70, so don't assume you’re past it.

A lump isn’t the only sign of breast cancer.

If you notice any changes in your breasts, it’s important that you contact your doctor straight away. You’re not wasting anyone’s time and it’s much better to be sure, if only to put your mind at rest.

Finding breast cancer early makes it more treatable. A trip to your doctor’s surgery could save your life. And if a friend or relative says they have any of these symptoms, insist they see their doctor.

Read more about the symptoms of breast cancer in over 70s

Download the leaflet

• Breast cancer - leaflet

Better information means better care

You might see public information announcements in the press or on television regarding sharing your information.

For a video on what this means please click here

or If you would like more detaild information about care.data please see the NHS Choices website here

OPEN (Our Patient Engagement Network)

Do you live in Barnsley or are you registered with a Barnsley GP?  

Do you have any views or suggestions on how your local NHS Services could be improved? Would you like to be kept up-to-date about local health services? 

If the answer is YES, join the Barnsley Clinical Commissioning Group membership network: CLICK HERE FOR REGISTRATION PACK or follow this link to this OPEN Diagram

Read more »

Specialist Weighing Equipment

We would like our patients to be aware that there is now specialist weighing equipment avaliable at both our Thurnscoe and Goldthorpe sights. For further information see one of our HCA's.