Practice Policies & Patient Information
Access to Medical Records
The practice is registered and complies with the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA 2018). Any request for access to notes by a patient, patient’s representative or outside body will be dealt with in accordance with the Act. Please contact the Practice Manager for further information.
Care Data Opt-out
The national data opt-out is a service that allows patients to opt out of their confidential patient information being used for research and planning.
Complaints & Suggestions
Stroud Green Medical Clinic aims to provide patients with the best possible care at all times.
We value and welcome your feedback. Therefore if you have any compliments, comments, concerns or complaints about our Practice we want to hear them.
Want to make a suggestion to the practice?
Your comments and suggestions are important to us, please send all suggestions to:
Email: [email protected]
Post: Stroud Green Medical Clinic, 181 Stroud green road, London N4 3PZ
How to Make a Complaint
We make every effort to give the best service possible to everyone who attends our practice.
However, we are aware that things can go wrong resulting in a patient feeling that they have a genuine cause for complaint. If this is so, we would wish for the matter to be settled as quickly, and as amicably, as possible.
If you are dissatisfied with any aspect of our service, we encourage you to let us know so we can address your concerns promptly.
Initial Step: If possible, speak to the practice regarding your concerns. Often, issues can be resolved quickly and informally at this stage.
Written Complaint: If your concern is not resolved informally, you can make a formal complaint. This can be done by writing to the Complaints Manager.
You can submit your complaint via email, post, or by filling out a complaints form available at the reception.
Complaints Manager
Name: Ramune Cerkesiene
Email: [email protected]
Full complaints procedure: Click Here
If you are unable to write a complaint you may contact the below advocacy service to support you:
Free Independent Advice and Advocacy Support for Islington
Telephone: 0300 790 0559 (option 2)
Email: [email protected]
In all cases, complaints will be dealt with as swiftly and as fairly as possible.
We will acknowledge receipt of a complaint within three working days and a response letter with the outcome of our investigation will be sent within 20 working days. If we are unable to complete our investigation within this period, we will agree an alternative timeframe with you.
From 1 July 2023 the way members of the public make a complaint about primary care services to the commissioner is changing.
By primary care services we mean GPs, dentists, opticians or pharmacy services.
There are two ways you can make a complaint:
You can complain to the GP Practice (on the above contact details)
Or
You can complain to the commissioner of the service: this is the organisation that paid for the service or care you received.
After 1 July 2023 if you want to make a complaint about primary care services to the commissioner you will need to contact North Central London Integrated Care Board instead of NHS England.
You can do this by:
Telephone: 020 3198 9743
E-mail: [email protected]
Post: North Central London Integrated Care Board
Complaints Team
Laycock PDC
Laycock Street
London
N1 1TH
If you have a formal complaint to make, it is always advisable to try and resolve an issue directly with the provider in the first instance.
You have the right to make a complaint about any aspect of NHS care, treatment or service, and this is written into the NHS Constitution on GOV.UK.
Find out more about how to feedback or make a complaint about an NHS service.
Where to go for further independent advice:
We hope that if you have a problem, you will use our practice complaint procedure. We believe this will give us the best chance of putting right whatever has gone wrong and an opportunity to improve our practice. However, this does not affect your right to approach an independent advisor if you feel you cannot raise your complaint with us, or you are unhappy with the results of the investigation.
What if you’re still not happy?
If you’re unhappy with the result of your complaint you can appeal to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman. This cannot be your first port of call. You must first complain to either the GP Practice or to NHS England. The Ombudsman can only help if;
- The GP Practice or NHS England have finished looking at your complaint
- Or your complaint has not been resolved after 6 months
Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman
- Telephone: 0345 015 4033
- Email: [email protected]
- www.ombudsman.org.uk/making-complaint
By law you need to contact the Ombudsman within a year of the incident you are complaining about.
We value your feedback as it helps us improve our services. Thank you for your cooperation and understanding.
Disabled Access
There is no car parking space available. We have a ramp for disabled access located at the front of the Surgery entrance. Please press the disabled bell which will alert a staff member to help you. Patient services are provided on the ground floor and a disabled WC is provided.Access and parking
Disabled access
Electronic patient records: Statement of intent
Named GP
All patients at Stroud Green Medical Clinic have a named, accountable doctor who is responsible for coordinating their care. Your named doctor will be allocated to you by the practice. You can still talk to or make appointments to see any of our doctors or nurses, not just your named GP. If you have a preference and would like to request a particular doctor at the practice to be your named GP please talk to one of our receptionists.
Patient Confidentiality
We respect your right to privacy and keep all your health information confidential and secure. It is important that the NHS keeps accurate and up-to-date records about your health and treatment so that those treating you can give you the best possible care. This information may be used for management and audit purposes. However, it is usually only available to, and used by, those involved in your care. You have the right to know what information we hold about you. If you would like to see your records please contact the Practice Manager. Information about your health and care helps us to improve your individual care, speed up diagnosis, plan your local services and research new treatments. The NHS is committed to keeping patient information safe and always being clear about how it is used. Information about your individual care such as treatment and diagnoses is collected about you whenever you use health and care services. It is also used to help us and other organisations for research and planning such as research into new treatments, deciding where to put GP clinics and planning for the number of doctors and nurses in your local hospital. It is only used in this way when there is a clear legal basis to use the information to help improve health and care for you, your family and future generations. Wherever possible we try to use data that does not identify you, but sometimes it is necessary to use your confidential patient information. You do not need to do anything if you are happy about how your information is used. If you do not want your confidential patient information to be used for research and planning, you can choose to opt out securely online or through a telephone service. You can change your mind about your choice at any time. No, choosing to opt out will not affect how information is used to support your care and treatment. You will still be invited for screening services, such as screenings for bowel cancer. If you are happy for your confidential patient information to be used for research and planning, you do not need to do anything. To find out more about the benefits of data sharing, how data is protected, or to make/change your opt-out choice visit www.nhs.uk/your-nhs-data-matters Download a copy of the patient leaflet The practice complies with data protection and access to medical records legislation. Identifiable information about you will be shared with others in the following circumstances: If you do not wish anonymous information about you to be used in such a way, please let us know. Reception and administration staff require access to your medical records in order to do their jobs. These members of staff are bound by the same rules of confidentiality as the medical staff. Information about the General Practitioners and the practice required for disclosure under this act can be made available to the public. All requests for such information should be made to the practice manager.Your data matters to the NHS
How your data is used
You have a choice
Will choosing this opt-out affect your care and treatment?
What do you need to do?
Confidentiality & medical records
Freedom of Information
Patient rights and responsibilities
We aim to treat our patients courteously at all times and expect our patients to treat our staff in a similarly respectful way. It is your responsibility to keep your appointments, inform us of your past illnesses, medication, hospital admissions and any other relevant details.Your responsibilities
Privacy
Privacy notice
As data controllers, GPs have fair processing responsibilities under the Data Protection Act and GDPR law 2018. This means ensuring that your personal confidential data (PCD) is handled in ways that are safe, transparent and what you would reasonably expect. Please find documents and links below.
- Privacy Notice for Children v1.1
- Practice Simple Privacy Notice
- Practice Privacy Notice
- Data protection policy reviewed June 2024
- Subject Access Request Policy
- London Shared Care record
- Patient GDPR Leaflet 2018
Data Protection Officer: Mr Steve Durbin
Research Active Practice
Stroud Green Medical Clinic are always looking for ways to improve your care and where possible, get access to new and novel treatments. We partner with NHS Research (NOCLOR) to help gather the information that helps save lives. If you could be suitable for a study, we may get in touch to let you know. If you rather we didn’t contact you, you can always tell one of the Team, and we’ll update your records. Together we can improve the lives of people with diabetes, cancer, dementia and many other conditions.Stroud Green Medical Clinic is a Research Active Practice
Violent or abusive behaviour
We take seriously any threatening, abusive or violent behaviour against any of our staff or patients. If a patient is violent or abusive, they will be warned to stop their behaviour. If they persist, we may exercise our right to take action to have them removed, immediately if necessary, from our list of patients.