Policies and Procedures

You may request a suitably trained chaperone for any procedure, test or examination.

Friends and family are not permitted to act as chaperones.

For more information, please speak to reception.

East Norfolk Medical Practice (ENMP) will take reasonable steps to ensure that patients are aware of:

• The complaints procedure
• The time limit for resolution
• How the complaint will be dealt with
• Who will deal with the complaint?
• The complainant’s right of appeal
• Further action the complainant can take if not satisfied
• Complaints made will not affect any ongoing treatment from the Practice and complainants will continue to be treated with due care and attention

Receipt of complaints

Complaints will be accepted verbally or in writing. In most cases, verbal complaints can be resolved quickly and directly at the time or shortly after of the incident.

Formal complaints should normally be made in writing by the patient or (with his /her consent) on behalf of a patient, or former patient, who is receiving or has received treatment at the Practice, or:

(a) Where the patient is a child:

• by either parent, or in the absence of both parents, the guardian or other adult who has care of the child;
• by a person authorised by a local authority to whose care the child has been committed under the provisions of the Children Act 1989;
• by a person authorised by a voluntary organisation by which the child is being accommodated

(b) Where the patient is incapable of making a complaint, complaints may be made by a relative or other adult who has an interest in his/her welfare.

ENMP welcomes feedback or complaints and both can be forwarded to the Complaints and Investigation Officer via post to East Norfolk Medical Practice, East Norfolk Medical Practice, Newtown Surgery, 147 Lawn Avenue, Great Yarmouth, NR30 1QP or via email to nwicb.enmpcomplaints@nhs.net.

Alternatively, complaints can be addressed to NHS England, but complaining to boththe Practice and NHS England is not possible. The contact details for NHS England are:

NHS England, PO Box 16738, Redditch, B97 9PT
Email: england.contactus@nhs.net
Telephone: 0300 311 2233

Period within which complaints can be made

The period for making a complaint is normally:

(a) 12 months from the date on which the event which is the subject of the complaint occurred; or

b) 12 months from the date on which the event which is the subject of the complaint comes to the complainant’s notice.

The Complaints and Investigation Officer has the discretion to extend the time limits if the complainant has good reason for not making the complaint sooner, or where it is still possible to properly investigate the complaint despite extended delay.

When considering an extension to the time limit it is important that the Complaints and Investigation Officer takes into consideration that the passage of time may prevent an accurate recollection of events by the clinician concerned or by the person bringing the complaint. The collection of evidence, clinical guidelines or other resources relating to the time when the complaint event arose may also be difficult to establish or obtain. These factors may be considered as suitable reason for declining a time limit extension.

Final Response

The final response to the complainant should include:

• A clear statement of the issues, investigations and the findings, giving clear evidence-based reasons for decisions if appropriate.
• Where errors have occurred, an explanation of these and a statement of what will be done to put these right, or prevent repetition.
• A focus on fair and proportionate outcomes for the patient, including any remedial action or compensation.
• A clear statement that the response is the final one, or that further action or reports will be sent later.
• An apology or explanation as appropriate.
• A statement of the right to escalate the complaint, together with the relevant contact detail.
• It should also advise on the next step in the process if the complainant is still not satisfied. There would normally be an offer to meet with the Complaints and Investigation Officer and/or the clinician against whom the complaint was made.

If at that point resolution is still not achieved then either side can refer the matter to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman, Citygate, Mosely Street, Manchester, M2 3HQ.

Confidentiality

All complaints will be treated in the strictest confidence . The Practice must keep a record of all complaints and copies of all correspondence relating to complaints, but such records will be kept separate from patients’ medical records.

• Data Security and Protection Certificate – Nelson Medical Centre
• Data Security and Protection Certificate – East Norfolk Medical Practice

Your Information

East Norfolk Medical Practice takes privacy seriously and we want to provide you with information about your rights, who we share your information with and how we keep it secure.

Please use the links below to find more information about the practice and data protection.

• Transparency
• CCTV
• Telephone Recording
• Case Finding (ECLIPSE)
• Information Sharing Norfolk and Waveney

Your Information

Your practice takes privacy seriously and we want to provide you with information about your rights, who we share your information with and how we keep it secure.

Please use the links below to find more information about the practice and data protection:

• • Our Data Protection Videos
  • Your Information
  • Children and Young People
  • What We Do with Your Information
  • What Else Do We Use Your Information For?
  • Sharing When Required by Law
  • Information Rights
  • Case Finding and Profiling
  • Norfolk and Waveney Sharing Partners
  • Information Technology
  • Keeping Your Information Safe
  • How Long Do We Keep Your Information?
  • Our Use of CCTV
  • Our Use of Telephone Recording
  • Our Use of Eclipse
  • Norfolk and Waveney Primary Care Networks
  • Recruitment Privacy Notice

East Norfolk Medical Practice use the following organisations to process data on our behalf. They are contractually bound to manage your information securely.

Please view the policy below:

Policy for the Processing of Special Category and Criminal Offence Data

East Norfolk Medical Practice aims to work in partnership with our patients to provide them the best possible, sustainable health care. We aim to ensure that our services are safe, effective, caring, responsive and well led.

Each patient’s care is led by their named GP who has overall responsibility for this. For care required to be given by a GP, patients should always see their own GP, unless in exceptional circumstances, to ensure continuity of care. GP care is supported by the provision of care by a team of health professionals and administrative staff. Each patient will have services provided to them by the best qualified member of our team for their needs.

East Norfolk Medical Practice also aims to make a positive contribution to the wider medical community. We are committed to providing high quality medical education to future doctors, nurses and other health care professionals, helping to ensure the continuation of high quality health care for our patients.

East Norfolk Medical Practice is a GP partnership registered with the CQC under reference number 1-199715620. Our address, including for service of notices and other documents, is 147 Lawn Avenue, Great Yarmouth, NR30 1QP. Our telephone number is

and email is gywccg.enmpreception@nhs.net.

Our Registered Manager is Dr Inga Love for all our locations and activities.

East Norfolk Medical Practice has two registered locations at:

• Newtown Surgery, 147 Lawn Avenue, Great Yarmouth, NR30 1QP
• Nelson Medical Centre, Pasteur Road, Great Yarmouth, NR31 0DW

In addition East Norfolk Medical Practice provides services from two branch sites at:

• The Lighthouse Medical Centre, Howard Street South, Great Yarmouth, NR30 2PT
• Caister Health Centre, West Road, Caister on Sea, NR30 5AQ

From the above locations East Norfolk Medical Practice provides the following services and regulated activities.

CQC service types

Doctors consultation service (DCS) and Doctors treatment service (DTS)

Regulated activity

• Treatment of disease, disorder or injury
• Surgical procedures
• Diagnostic and screening procedures
• Maternity and midwifery services
• Family planning service

The practice works to continually improve the service we offer and would like to hear from patients who wish to make a complaint, comment or suggestion.

Compliments

We would like you to let us know when you have been happy with the service you have received, including where a member of staff has made your experience of our service a positive one.

You can provide compliments by:

• Giving verbal compliments directly to a staff member or a member of the management team
• Completing the Friends and Family Questionnaire
• Via NHS choices website
• Writing to the Service Development and Governance Manager
• Via patient feedback boxes in our waiting rooms

Suggestions

We are also keen to receive any suggestions you have on how we might improve our services. You can do this through any of the above methods or you might be interested in joining our Patient Participation Group (PPG) through which patients work with the practice to improve our service.

If you are interested in joining the PPG, please complete our PPG Registration form.

Complaints

We hope you are happy with the care and treatment you have received from the practice.

However, should you have any concerns about the service you have received, please speak to one of our receptionists who will be happy to help.

If you are not able to resolve your concerns in this way and wish to make a formal complaint you should do so, either verbally or in writing as soon as possible after the event and ideally within a few days, as this helps us to establish what happened more easily.

Please address your complaint to:

Complaints and Investigation Officer
East Norfolk Medical Practice
147 Lawn Avenue
Great Yarmouth
NR30 1QP

Or by email to: nwicb.enmpcomplaints@nhs.net

Alternatively you can complain to
NHS England
PO Box 16738
Redditch
B97 9PT

Tel: 0300 311 2233
Email: england.contactus@nhs.net

East Norfolk Medical Practice operates a zero tolerance policy to any abuse or bad behaviour towards its staff, doctors, or other patients. This could be physical, verbal, or online abuse – if such behaviours are shown, patients will receive a written warning and may be removed with immediate effect in some instances. Types of behaviour we see that are unacceptable:

• Using bad language, shouting, or raising of voices at Practice staff
• Any physical violence towards any member of our team or other patients
• Verbal abuse towards staff or patients in any form including shouting
• Racist, sexist, homophobic or other intolerant language, discrimination or sexual harassment will never be tolerated
• Anything said against a protected characteristic in accordance with the Equality Act. LGBTQ+ rights are protected by law. We do not accept any antisocial behaviour in any form
• Persistent or unrealistic demands that cause stress to staff will not be accepted. Requests will be met wherever possible, and explanations given when they cannot be met
• Being perceived to bully or manipulate a staff member to obtain something
• Causing damage to, stealing, or not returning Practice equipment from the practice’s premises, staff, or patients
• Obtaining drugs and/or medical services fraudulently