Confidentiality
The practice complies with the Data Protection Act 2018. All information about patients is confidential: from the most sensitive diagnosis, to the fact of having visited the surgery or being registered at the practice.
All patients can expect that their personal information will not be disclosed without their permission except in the most exceptional of circumstances, when somebody is at grave risk of serious harm.
All members of the primary health care team (from reception to doctors) in the course of their duties will have access to your medical records.
They all adhere to the highest standards of maintaining confidentiality.
Disabled Access
All public areas can be accessed by people with disabilities.
The PMS values all its patients equally and promotes the philosophy of fairness to all.
Freedom of Information
The Freedom of Information Act 2000 applies to all NHS and primary care organisations. There is a lot of information about the practice on this web site.
Some printed documents about the practice are available from reception. If you have a specific request you can write to the freedom of information officer at the practice address on our Contact Us page.
GP Earnings
The average pay for GPs working in the practice of Greenwich Medical Partnership in the last financial year was £91,995 before Tax and National Insurance. This is for 2 Full time GPs and 7 Part time GPs who worked in the practice for more than six months.
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.
Non-NHS Work
Some services are not covered as part of the NHS these include:
- Private medical examinations
- Travel vaccinations
- Signing passport applications
As these are not covered by our NHS budget, we charge a fee for such services, agreed with the British Medical Association.
Please ask reception for a list of current fees.
Suggestions, Comments and Complaints
Our aim is to provide the highest level of care for all our patients. We will always be willing to hear if there is any way that you think that we can improve the service we provide.
If you would like to give us any feedback or wish to make a complaint, please complete our Feedback and Complaints Form.
Summary Care Record
The Summary Care Record (SCR) 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.
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?
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 asking your GP by completing the Contact the Practice form.
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 the Summary Care Record Opt Out form.
More Information
For further information visit the ‘Your health records’ page on the NHS website.
Young People
South Street Medical Centre is committed to offering their patients the best possible care, and will safeguard the confidentiality of its patients clinical data at all times. This means that provided the patient is competent to consent (meaning that you are capable of understanding the possible consequences of any condition or treatment) we will not share anything you tell us with anyone else.
Doctors and nurses seeing young people for sexual health information, advice or treatment will ask you if you wish to inform a parent, carer or other trusted adult. However, if you do not wish to inform an adult, we will respect your wishes and still offer you treatment.
A doctor, nurse or other health professional may only break confidentiality if they think that you or someone else is at significant risk of harm. However, they will not break confidentiality without informing you first.
This means that if you see a doctor or nurse at the practice for personal issues, sexual health information and advice, contraception, screening for sexually transmitted infections (STI’s), or information and referral for abortion we will see you, even if you are under 16, without having to inform your parents or carers.
Zero Tolerance
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.