Practice Policies & Patient Information
Patient Newsletter
Ash Trees Surgery patient newsletter Autumn 2024
Training at Ash Trees
As a practice, we feel it is essential to be involved in the training of future doctors, and we are regularly involved in teaching undergraduate medical students and qualified doctors who are training to be General Practitioners (GP Registrars). Registrars have completed their hospital based training and are spending their last year in General Practice, working towards their final GP exams. Registrars hold their own surgeries, but can access senior GPs for help if needed. Medical Students will always be closely supervised. We find that teaching enhances our skills and knowledge, and we feel this helps us to offer the best care to our patients. We are very grateful to patients who feel they can help us by seeing students and giving students an opportunity to learn and gain experience.
Reviewing video recordings of consultations are a valuable tool for Registrars to improve on their consultation skills. You may be asked to consent to having your consultation recorded. The video would only be viewed by the Registrar, their trainer (a senior GP) and occasionally other GP Registrars during group learning sessions. If you do not wish to be recorded, do not hesitate to inform the Registrar, and your wishes will always be respected.
We respect that some patients may not wish to see students or have them present at a consultation. You will always be advised if the GP you are seeing has students in their surgery, and you will always be able to say that you would prefer not to have students present. There is no need to explain why you would prefer to see the GP on your own and your wishes will always be respected.
If you have any queries or concerns about students, our reception staff and GPs will always be happy to talk to you about it. Please remember, there is no obligation for you to see students and you do not need to explain why you would prefer not to.
TRAINING AT ASH TREES – For Trainees
We are a dedicated and enthusiastic training practice. Our modern, purpose built premises offer first class training at Ash Trees. Our facilities include fully equipped training rooms. We have an experienced and approachable clinical and administrative team, who work closely to provide the highest standards of patient care and support trainees to achieve extensive clinical experience, comprehensive coverage of the GP curriculum and prepare for life as a GP.
We have on-site access to a number of community services including District Nursing, Health Visitors, Physiotherapy, Midwifery and Community Mental Health Workers. In addition, we have our own Practice Pharmacist team, allowing us daily access to their knowledge and skills.
We have over 25 years experience as a training practice. We often have 3rd and 5th year medical students alongside our GP registrars. We are always happy to accommodate students, enabling them to experience all aspects of primary care. Our experienced chronic disease trained Practice Nurses also assist in teaching students.
The main surgery in Carnforth boasts an enviable location in a semi-rural town with easy motorway access to the Lake District, and Manchester. We also have 5 branch surgeries in the surrounding villages of Bolton-le-Sands, Halton, Silverdale, Arnside & Milnthorpe that provide variety and improved access for patients. We are 20 minutes from Westmorland General Hospital in Kendal, where the Day Release course is held.
We welcome enquiries and visits from any prospective trainees. Please do contact us if you would like to arrange an informal visit and chat.
Job Vacancies
Useful Numbers
Local Hospitals/Hospices:
Royal Lancaster Infirmary: 01524 65944
Lancaster BMI Hospital: 01524 62345
Westmorland General Hospital Kendal: 01539 732288
Furness General Hospital: 01229 870870
Royal Preston Hospital: 01772 716565
St John’s Hospice: 01524 382538
Other:
Out-of-Hours Service: 111 (6.30pm – 08.00am)
Carnforth Clinic: 01524 406478
Cancer Care: 01524 381820
Lancashire North ICB: 0300 373 3600
Police: – Lancaster 01524 63333
Department of Social Services: – Lancaster 01524 66246 Morecambe 01524 512000
Samaritans: 01524 61666/ 08457 909090
Relate: 01772 717597
National Blood Service: 0845 7711711
Maternity self referral: 01524 584130 or Online Home Page (uhmb.nhs.uk)
Communication Needs and Enquiries
If you have any communication/information needs relating to a disability or sensory loss, please speak to one of our Patient Advisors, who will be happy to help.
Digitisation of Medical Records Programme
Medical Records
Lancashire and South Cumbria has been chosen by NHS England to be a national pilot for the digitisation of Medical Records. Scanning these paper based records and making them digital will enable better utilisation of space, creating more clinical space, staff areas, multi team space and video hubs, removing the need for some practices to build extensions. In addition it will also make your record more easily and speedily accessible to clinical staff within your practice.
Your complete GP medical record will be digital and stored in a secure cloud based clinical system (only accessible by your GP practice) with the paper based records being securely destroyed following BS EN 15713:2009 Secure destruction of confidential material. Your GP will still be able to access your records easily within this system. The scanning and destruction of the paper records will follow strict data protection guidelines adhered to by the NHS. As with paper based records, digital records are stored for the durations specified in the Records Management Codes of Practice for Health and Social Care. For GP patient records, this states that they may be destroyed 10 years after the patient’s death if they are no longer needed.
If you wish to discuss the scheme, please inform the Practice directly on 01524 720000.
Privacy Notice
Please click here for an update of our privacy notice, due to COVID-19
Using and storing your personal information
Ash Trees Surgery has a legal duty to explain how we use any personal information we collect about you, as a registered patient, at the practice. Staff at this practice maintain records about your health and the treatment you receive in electronic and paper format.
What information do we collect about you?
We will collect information such as personal details, including name, address, next of kin, records of appointments, visits, telephone calls, your health records, treatment and medications, test results, X-rays, etc. and any other relevant information to enable us to deliver effective medical care.
How we will use your information
Your data is collected for the purpose of providing direct patient care; however, we can disclose this information if it is required by law, if you give consent or if it is justified in the public interest.
The practice may be requested to support research; however, we will always gain your consent before sharing your information with any medical research databases.
In order to comply with its legal obligations, this practice may send data to Health Education England when directed by the Secretary of State for Health under the Health and Social Care Act 2012. Additionally, this practice contributes to national clinical audits and will send the data that is required by Health Education England when the law allows. This may include demographic data, such as date of birth, and information about your health which is recorded in coded form; for example, the clinical code for diabetes or high blood pressure.
Processing your information in this way and obtaining your consent ensures that we comply with Articles 6 (1) (a), 6(1) (c), 6(1) (e) and 9(2) (h), 9(2) 9b) of the GDPR.
Maintaining confidentiality and accessing your records
We are committed to maintaining confidentiality and protecting the information we hold about you. We adhere to the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the NHS Codes of Confidentiality and Security, as well as guidance issued by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).
You have a right to access the information we hold about you, and if you would like information your request must be made in writing or verbally to the GP. Furthermore, should you identify any inaccuracies; you have a right to have the inaccurate data corrected.
Risk stratification
Risk stratification is a mechanism used to identify and subsequently manage those patients deemed as being at high risk of requiring urgent or emergency care. Usually this includes patients with long-term conditions, e.g. cancer.
Your information is collected by a number of sources, including Ash Trees Surgery; this information is processed electronically and given a risk score which is relayed to your GP as data controller in an unidentifiable form, who can then decide on any necessary actions to ensure that you receive the most appropriate care. Please note that you have the right to opt out of your data being used in this way.
Medicines Management
The Practice may conduct Medicines Management Reviews of medications prescribed to its patients. This service performs a review of prescribed medications to ensure patients receive the most appropriate, up to date and cost effective treatments. This service is provided to practices within Morecambe Bay Integrated Care Board (MBICB)
Information: To Share or Not to Share Review
Every member of staff who works for an NHS organisation has a legal obligation to keep information about you confidential.
We will only ever use or pass on information about you if others involved in your care have a genuine need for it. We will not disclose your information to any third party without your permission unless there are exceptional circumstances (i.e. life or death situations), where the law requires information to be passed on and / or in accordance with the new information sharing principle following Dame Fiona Caldicott’s information sharing review (Information to share or not to share) where “The duty to share information can be as important as the duty to protect patient confidentiality.” This means that health and social care professionals should have the confidence to share information in the best interests of their patients within the framework set out by the Caldicott principles. They should be supported by the policies of their employers, regulators and professional bodies.
Who are our partner organisations?
We may also have to share your information, subject to strict agreements on how it will be used, with the following organisations;
NHS Trusts / Foundation Trusts
GP’s
NHS Commissioning Support Units
Independent Contractors such as dentists, opticians, pharmacists
Private Sector Providers
Voluntary Sector Providers
Ambulance Trusts
Integrated Care Boards
Social Care Services
Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC)
Local Authorities
Education Services
Fire and Rescue Services
Police & Judicial Services
Voluntary Sector Providers
Private Sector Providers
Other ‘data processors’ which you will be informed of
You will be informed who your data will be shared with and in some cases asked for explicit consent for this to happen when this is required. We may also use external companies to process personal information, such as for archiving purposes. These companies are bound by contractual agreements to ensure information is kept confidential and secure.
Invoice validation
Your information may be shared if you have received treatment to determine which Integrated Care Board (ICB) is responsible for paying for your treatment. This information may include your name, address and treatment date. All of this information is held securely and confidentially; it will not be used for any other purpose or shared with any third parties.
National data & opt-outs
Whenever you use a health care service, such as attending Accident & Emergency or using Community Care services, important information about you is collected in a patient record for that service. Collecting this information helps to ensure you get the best possible care and treatment.
The information collected about you when you use these services can also be used and provided to other organisations for purposes beyond your individual care, for instance to help with:
improving the quality and standards of care provided
research into the development of new treatments
preventing illness and diseases
monitoring safety
planning services
This may only take place when there is a clear legal basis to use this information. All these uses help to provide a better health and care for you, your family and future generations. Confidential patient information about your health and care is only used like this where allowed by law.
Most of the time, anonymised data is used for research and planning so that you cannot be identified in which case your confidential patient information isn’t needed.
You have a choice about whether you want your confidential patient information to be used in this way. If you are happy with this use of information, you do not need to do anything. If you do choose to opt out your confidential patient information will still be used to support your individual care.
You can also find out more about how patient information is used at:
https://www.hra.nhs.uk/information-about-patients/ (which covers health and care research); and https://understandingpatientdata.org.uk/what-you-need-know (which covers how and why patient information is used, the safeguards and how decisions are made).
You can change your mind about your choice at any time.
Data being used or shared for purposes beyond individual care does not include your data being shared with insurance companies or used for marketing purposes and data would only be used in this way with your specific agreement.
Retention periods
In accordance with the NHS Codes of Practice for Records Management, your healthcare records will be retained for 10 years after death, or if a patient emigrates, for 10 years after the date of emigration.
What to do if you have any questions
Should you have any questions about our privacy policy or the information we hold about you, you can:
Contact the practice’s data controller via email at lscicb-mb.ashtrees@nhs.net
GP practices are data controllers for the data they hold about their patients, write to the data controller at Ash Trees Surgery, Market Street, Carnforth, LA5 9JU.
Ask to speak to the Practice Director.
The Data Protection Officer (DPO) for Ash Trees Surgery is Yvonne Salkeld, Head of Information Governance, Cumbria partnership NHS Foundation Trust, Maglona House, Unit 68, Kingston Broadway, Carlisle CA3 0HA and can be contacted on 01228 603927 or information.governance@cumbria.nhs.uk
Changes to our privacy policy
We regularly review our privacy policy and any updates will be published on our website, in our newsletter and on posters to reflect the changes. This policy is to be reviewed 30th June 2024.
Accessing your medical records
As of April 2016, practices have been obliged to allow patient’s access to their health record online. This service will enable the patient to view coded information held in their health record. Prior to accessing this information, you will have to visit the practice and undertake an identity check before being granted access to your records.
Patients do not have to pay a fee for copies of their records unless the amount of work involved is unduly excessive or repetitive.
Time frame
Once the request is submitted, Ash Trees Surgery will aim to process the request within 1 calendar month; however, this may not always be possible if the request is excessive or complex.
Change of Details
It is important that you tell the person treating you if any of your details such as your name or address have changed or if any of your details such as date of birth is incorrect in order for this to be amended. You have a responsibility to inform us of any changes so our records are accurate and up to date for you.
Safeguarding
Some members of society are recognized as needing protection, for example children and vulnerable adults. If a person is identified as being at risk from harm we are expected as professionals to do what we can to protect them. In addition we are bound by certain specific laws that exist to protect individual. This is called “Safeguarding”.
Where there is a suspected or actual safeguarding issue we will share information that we hold with other relevant agencies whether or not the individual or their representative agrees.
There are three laws that allow us to do this without relying on the individual or their representative agreement (unconsented processing), these are:
Section 47 of The Children Act 1989https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1989/41/section/47
Section 29 of Data Protection Act (prevention of crime)
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1998/29/section/29
Section 45 of the Care Act 2014
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2014/23/section/45/enacted
In addition there are circumstances when we will seek the agreement (consented processing) of the individual or their representative to share information with local child protection services
Section 17 Childrens Act 1989
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1989/41/section/17
Who is the Data Controller?
The Data Controller, responsible for keeping your information secure and confidential is: Ash Trees Surgery, Market Street, Carnforth, LA5 9JU
Complaints
Should you have any concerns about how your information is managed by the Practice please contact the Practice Director at the following address:
Ash Trees Surgery, Market Street, Carnforth, LA5 9JU or, for further details, visit ico.org.uk and select ‘Raising – concerns’.
Accessibility Statement
This accessibility statement applies to Ash Trees Surgery. This website is run by Ash Trees Surgery. We want as many people as possible to be able to use this website. For example, that means you should be able to:
change colours, contrast levels and fonts
zoom in up to 300% without the text spilling off the screen
navigate most of the website using just a keyboard
navigate most of the website using speech recognition software
listen to most of the website using a screen reader (including the most recent versions of JAWS, NVDA and VoiceOver)
We’ve also made the website text as simple as possible to understand.
AbilityNet has advice on making your device easier to use if you have a disability.
We know some parts of this website are not fully accessible:
the text will not reflow in a single column when you change the size of the browser window
you cannot modify the line height or spacing of text
most older PDF documents are not fully accessible to screen reader software
live video streams do not have captions
some of our online forms are difficult to navigate using just a keyboard
you cannot skip to the main content when using a screen reader
there’s a limit to how far you can magnify the map on our ‘contact us’ page
Feedback and contact information
If you need information on this website in a different format like accessible PDF, large print, easy read, audio recording or braille:
call: 01524 720000
We’ll consider your request and get back to you in 7 days.
If you cannot view the map on our ‘contact us’ page, call or email us for directions.
We’re always looking to improve the accessibility of this website. If you find any problems not listed on this page or think we’re not meeting accessibility requirements, contact:
call: 01524 720000
Reporting accessibility problems with this website
We’re always looking to improve the accessibility of this website. If you find any problems not listed on this page or think we’re not meeting accessibility requirements, contact:
call: 01524 720000
Enforcement procedure
The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) is responsible for enforcing the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018 (the ‘accessibility regulations’). If you’re not happy with how we respond to your complaint, contact the Equality Advisory and Support Service (EASS).
Contacting us by phone or visiting us in person
We provide a text relay service for people who are D/deaf, hearing impaired or have a speech impediment.
Our offices have audio induction loops, or if you contact us before your visit we can arrange a British Sign Language (BSL) interpreter.
Compliance
This website is partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1 AA standard, due to ‘the non-compliances and exemptions’ listed below.
Non-accessible content
The content listed below is non-accessible for the following reasons:
This site may contain older PDFs and Word documents do not meet accessibility standards – for example, they may not be structured so they’re accessible to a screen reader. This does not meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 4.1.2
Disproportionate burden
Google Maps – There’s a limit to how far you can magnify the embedded Google Map on our ‘contact us’ page. The code for this map is supplied by Google and we are unable to make amendments to it.
Preparation of this accessibility statement
This statement was prepared on 20/03/2022 and was updated on 21/03/2023.
Site compliance was checked using a combination of manual testing and third party tools, including:
WAVE Web Accessibility Evaluation Tool (https://wave.webaim.org/)
WebAIM Contrast Checker (https://webaim.org/resources/contrastchecker/)
HTML_CodeSniffer (https://squizlabs.github.io/HTML_CodeSniffer/)
Pa11y – Automated accessibility testing (https://pa11y.org/)
axe – Web Accessibility Testing (https://www.deque.com/axe/
Complaints
Although we endeavour to meet the needs of all our patients, occasionally there may be an error or misunderstanding which leads to dissatisfaction. We take complaints very seriously. If you feel the need to make a complaint regarding the surgery or the services we offer, please contact our Patient Advice Team Manager.If you prefer, you may speak to one of the doctors. Every effort will be made to answer your concerns as soon as possible. Our Patient Experience Manager will investigate the problem and arrange a telephone meeting with you to discuss the findings and hopefully resolve the situation to your satisfaction.Our practice complaints procedure meets National Health Service criteria. For more information, click here for our Complaints Policy leaflet.
Test Results
If you need to phone the surgery for test results (e.g. blood tests, X Rays etc), please telephone 01524 720000, after 2pm when the telephone lines are a little quieter.
Blood test results can take 7 days to be sent back to us and if there are any urgent concerns, the surgery will contact you directly. Please do not contact the surgery for results within these first 7 days.
Summary Care Record
Your Named GP
GP practices are now required to allocate a named GP to ALL patients. Ash Trees Surgery operates a personal list system and you have a named GP already. If you are unsure who this is, then please ask a member of staff.
Annual Infection Control Statement
Ash Trees Surgery is committed to the control of infection within the building and in relation to the clinical procedures carried out within it. This statement has been produced in line with the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and details the practice’s compliance with guidelines on infection control and cleanliness
We aim to keep our surgery clean and tidy and offer a safe environment to our patients and staff.If you have any concerns about cleanliness or infection control, please report these to our Reception staff. Our GPs and nursing staff follow our Infection Control Policy to ensure the care we deliver and the equipment we use is safe. We take additional measures to ensure we maintain the highest standards: Encourage staff and patients to raise any issues or report any incidents relating to cleanliness and infection control. We can discuss these and identify improvements we can make to avoid any future problems. Carry out an annual infection control audit to make sure our infection control procedures are working. Provide annual staff updates and training on cleanliness and infection control. Review our policies and procedures to make sure they are adequate and meet national guidance. Maintain the premises and equipment to a high standard within the available financial resources and ensure that all reasonable steps are taken to reduce or remove all infection risk. Use washable or disposable materials for items such as couch rolls, modesty curtains, floor coverings, towels etc., and ensure that these are laundered, cleaned or changed frequently to minimise risk of infection. Make Alcohol Hand Rub Gel available throughout the building.
Private referrals – How do they work
A guide on what happens when you ask for a private referral
Cardiovascular risk score QRISK 2
Full medical record access
Application for online access to full medical record.
Please note this form must be handed into reception at one of surgeries, photo ID is required.
Requesting a Fit note from your GP
You must self certify for the first 7 days before you can request a Fit note from the surgery.