Test Results

Patients waiting for test results can ring the Surgery at any time.

If the results are back and are marked with no further action, a member of the Reception team should be able to assist.

On occassion, a Doctor or Nurse may wish to speak to you personally about your results.

If the clinician is not available to take your call, you will be asked to leave your telephone number and your call will be returned as soon as possible, alternatively Reception can make an appointment for you to see a GP or Nurse if preferred.

Please note, In order to maintain confidentiality; results can only be given to the patient themselves or in the case of children, the child's parent or guardian.

The surgery aims to deliver high quality service to all of our patients.

We have devised a number of policies to assist staff and to inform patients on how we aim to provide treatment.

Chaperone Policy

We are committed to providing a safe, comfortable environment where patients and staff can be confident that best practice is being followed at all times and the safety of everyone is of paramount importance.

All patients are entitled to have a chaperone present for any consultation, examination or procedure where they feel one is required. This chaperone may be a family member or friend. On occasions you may prefer a formal chaperone to be present, i.e. a trained member of staff.

Wherever possible we would ask you to make this request at the time of booking appointment so that arrangements can be made. Where this is not possible we will endeavour to provide a formal chaperone at the time of request. However occasionally it may be necessary to reschedule your appointment.

Your healthcare professional may also require a chaperone to be present for certain consultations.

If you would like to see a copy of our Chaperone Policy or have any questions or comments regarding this please contact David Fowler Practice Manager.

DNA (Did Not Attend) Policy

The issue of Did Not Attends (DNAs) is a huge problem in the NHS and is a frustration for both patients waiting to get an appointment and for those working in the Practice.

On average the Practice has approximately 120 missed appointments every month, i.e. the patient does not show up for the appointment and does not contact the surgery in advance to cancel or change the appointment.

In an attempt to try and address this problem we have agreed the following policy:

DNA Policy

• Receptionists will confirm patients’ contact details.
• When booking an appointment the receptionist will remind the patient of the importance of keeping the appointment. The patient will be asked to telephone the practice if they are unable to attend the appointment. The patient will be given an appointment card as a reminder.
• Monthly DNA figures will be updated on Envisage and the practice website.
• Where possible the receptionist will identify a patient who attends at open surgery and who has a booked appointment and check if the appointment is still required.
• Patients should notify the Surgery if they cannot attend an appointment giving as much notice as possible. The receptionist will then cancel this appointment and it can be offered to another patient.
• DNA occurs when an appointment is not attended and the patient has not notified the surgery in advance to cancel or where the cancellation is so late that it is not possible to offer to another patient.
• This will be coded as a DNA so the Practice can audit the number of DNAs that a patient has.

• Where a patient has 3 DNAs, i.e. fails to attend the surgery on 3 occasions for any clinical appointment, the Practice Manager will send a letter to the patient. The letter will give the various ways that the Surgery can be contacted to cancel an appointment and the patient will be asked to inform the Practice in the future if they cannot attend.
  

The practice is open to comments and suggestions and recognises that speed, sympathy and a willingness to listen may be all that is necessary to resolve a complaint.

We always try to offer you the best service possible, but there may be times when you feel that this has not happened. If something has gone wrong or fallen below standard, we welcome the opportunity to discuss this issue with you.

You can get further details of the complaints procedure by downloading the document below.

Complaints Procedure

The surgery is able to provide you with a Private referral; but would ask you to read the following information prior to sourcing private care.

What happens next?

You should contact the Consultants team directly to organise an appointment. If you have private health insurance, your insurer may have a list of approved specialists. You may want to check with your insurer before you proceed.

The specialist may request information from your GP. If this is the case, please contact us to ask for a referral letter for the Consultant/Specialty that you have specified. This will include any relevant medical details about you. If an insurance company wishes for a specific form to be completed please ask them to make contact with us and we will deal with their request for information.

Seeing the Consultant:

What happens if you need a test or procedure?

If the Consultant thinks that you need any tests (including blood tests), or a surgical procedure, the Consultant is responsible for:

• Arranging the test and any medications (such as sedation) that might be needed for this. They should also explain how and when you will receive a date of any procedure and what to do if the date is not suitable for you.
• Giving you the results and explaining what they mean (this may be done in a separate appointment with the Consultant or by letter). You should not visit your GP surgery to discuss the results of tests organised by others, it is the Consultants responsibility to discuss this with you.

Please note that any tests required should be carried out privately; and are likely to incur a cost.

GP practices cannot perform blood tests or other private investigations using NHS resources. Doing so would inappropriately use NHS resources to carry out private activity. If a private Consultant informs you to arrange or to expect to hear from your NHS GP to arrange such tests, then this is incorrect.

Requests for private diagnostic testing (i.e. X-Ray, MRI, CT)?

We can provide private referrals for diagnostic testing. However, we would always recommend doing this via a Consultant who is best positioned to interpret the results and arrange follow up care.

What happens if you need new medicines?

The Consultant might suggest prescribing new medicines for you or might want to make changes to the medicines that you are already taking.

The Consultant is responsible for giving you a prescription for any new medicine that you need; this is a private prescription and you should be aware that it will incur a cost for the medication.

The Surgery may consider prescribing, as long as:

• The medication being requested is already on the NI Formulary
• The Consultant has provided the surgery with sufficient information about your medical condition to support the prescribing of the medication.
• The medication being requested is licensed for the condition being managed
• The surgery has a means of communicating with the Consultant who has made the recommendation
• The medication does not require consultant oversight (and you are not under NHS care). These drugs are commonly known as “Amber list “or “Shared Care” drugs. We cannot prescribe drugs that are classed as “Red List” (Hospital only) drugs.
• The medication being requested does not require regular blood monitoring

What happens if I need to transfer my care back to the NHS?

If after seeing the Consultant privately you want to be back under NHS care, regulations allow for you to transfer back. This transfer must be done by the private Consultant who is overseeing your care and you should not be passed back to the GP for this to be done.    

There are a few reasons why:

• it delays your ongoing care
• your Consultant knows the full details of your condition and where best to refer you to
• it wastes precious NHS appointments with your GP and adds unnecessary administration to the process

The consultant should arrange for you to be seen in the appropriate NHS clinic by writing a referral letter to this clinic.

What if I need a follow-up appointment?

The Consultant will discuss with you whether you should attend hospital for ongoing follow-up care or whether you should be discharged back to your GP. 

If the Consultant thinks you do need to be seen again, the private clinic will give you another appointment or tell you when to expect this. If you do not hear anything, please contact the Clinic office, rather than your GP surgery.

Post-operative care/ wound management / dressings

The Department of Health In Northern Ireland have advised that patients requiring post-operative care, wound checks, dressings or stitch removals following treatment in the private sector should ensure all pre and post treatment costs are factored into the overall package of care.

The surgery will not provide this care to patients who source treatment in the private sector (this does not include patients who are transferred under an NHS waiting list initiative)

Bariatric Surgery in the private sector?

Unfortunately, bariatric surgery is not a commissioned service in Northern Ireland. Patients who chose to pursue this type of treatment must be aware that all pre and post treatment costs will remain within the private sector and will be chargeable (this includes ongoing blood monitoring required). 

We would caution patients from sourcing bariatric treatment outside of the UK/Ireland as follow up care will be logistically difficult and language barriers may delay urgent follow up.

We are unable to provide any advice, medication, blood monitoring or follow up diagnostic tests should you chose to proceed with private bariatric treatment privately.