Click here to view our Aims, Vision and Mission Statement
Candidates Applying for Work Privacy Notice
Click here to view Privacy Notice
Practice Privacy Notice
Click here for our Practice Privacy Notice.
Clinical Commissioning Group
Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) commission most of the Hospital and community NHS services in the local areas for which they are responsible.
Commissioning involves deciding what services are needed for diverse local populations, and ensuring that they are provided.
CCGs are assured by NHS England, which retains responsibility for commissioning primary care services such as GP and Dental services, as well as some specialised Hospital services. Many GP services are now co-commissioned with CCGs.
All GP practices now belong to a CCG, but CCGs also include other Health Professionals, such as nurses.
Services CCGs commission include:
- most planned Hospital care
- rehabilitative care
- urgent and emergency care (including out-of-hours)
- most community health services
- mental health and learning disability services
GP Earnings
All GP Practices are required to declare the mean earnings (e.g. average) for GPs working to deliver NHS services to patients at each Practice.
The average pay for GPs working in our Practice is £XX,XXX before tax and National Insurance.
Disclaimer
NHS England require that the net earnings of Doctors engaged in the Practice is publicised, and the required disclosure is shown above. 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 comparison with any other Practice.
Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS)
The Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) offers confidential advice, support and information on health-related matters. They provide a point of contact for patients, their families and their carers.
NHS Patient Rights
Citizens Advice England provides patients with a full array of information about your rights within the NHS.
Entitlement to NHS Treatment
The NHS is the UK’s state health service which provides treatment for UK residents. Some services are free, other have to be paid for. The regulations that govern who can and can’t receive treatment are complex and may change.
If you have any questions relating to entitlement to treatment under the NHS please contact the Practice.
Free Services
GP and Nurse consultations in primary care, treatment provided by a GP and other primary care services are free of charge to all, whether registering as an NHS patient, or as a temporary patient (which is when the patient is in the area for more than 24 hours and less than 3 months).
For secondary care services, the UK’s healthcare system is a residence based one, which means entitlement to free healthcare is based on living lawfully in the UK on an approved and settled basis. The measure of residence that the UK uses to determine entitlement to free NHS healthcare is known as ‘ordinary residence’. This requires non-EEA nationals subject to immigration control, to also have the immigration status of ‘indefinite leave to remain’. Individuals who are not ordinarily resident in the UK may be required to pay for their care when they are in England. However, some services and some individuals are exempt from payment.
The following NHS treatment is available to anyone:
- Treatment in an emergency (but not follow up treatment)
- Treatment of certain communicable diseases
- Compulsory psychiatric treatment
GPs are the first point of contact for virtually all NHS patients:
- They can direct you to other NHS services and are experts in family medicine, preventative care, health education, and treating people with multiple and long-term conditions
- If you’re planning to live and work in England, you need to register with a local GP
- Being registered with a GP Practice does not in itself mean you’ll be entitled to free NHS hospital treatment
- You’ll need to fill out a GMS1 form (PDF, 156kb) using exactly the same details you used when you filled out your visa
- If you’re in England for a short visit but need to see a GP, you can register as a temporary patient with a local Doctor – to do this, you need to be in the area for more than 24 hours but less than 3 months
- Treatment will be free of charge, but make sure you present your Global Insurance Card if you have one
Medical emergencies
If you need immediate medical assistance (e.g. because of an accident) telephone 999. The call is free. An Operator will ask you which emergency service you require (Fire, Police or Ambulance). You will need to tell the emergency services what has happened and where you are. If someone is injured and needs to go to Hospital, an ambulance will be sent out to pick the patient up and take them to the nearest Hospital that has an Accident & Emergency Department.
If you need urgent treatment but are well enough to travel please make your own way to the nearest Accident & Emergency Department.
Complaints
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 like the matter to be settled as quickly, and as amicably, as possible.
To have your complaint investigated, you need to complain within 12 months of the event happening, or as soon as you first become aware of the issue you want to complain about.
The time limit can be extended in special circumstances.
Interpreting Service
We can arrange for a meeting with the Practice Manager and an Interpreter for any patient whose first language is not English and needs help with their complaint.
How to make a compliment or complaint
Whether you are happy or unhappy with the care and treatment that you have received, please get in touch and let us know your views.
Send us an email at cpicb.manager.mercheford@nhs.net
Receiving compliments and complaints is important to ensuring good quality local healthcare in our Practice – helping us to find out more about what we’re getting right and what we can improve.
We hope this will help you to make your feelings and experiences known to the appropriate people. Should you have a complaint we hope this page will give you more information about what to do, who to contact and what happens next.
How do I raise a concern / informal complaint?
You can speak to any member of staff initially with your complaint. This gives you the opportunity to resolve any concern you may have without it going through a formal process.
Most complaints are best resolved within the practice and these should be made via the Practice Manager at Practice Manager at Mercheford House Surgery, Elwyn Road, March PE15 9BY.
Formal Complaint
What we will do
- We will contact you about your complaint within three working days
- Find out what happened and what went wrong
- Apologise where this is appropriate
- Identify what we can do to make sure that the problem does not happen again.
If you feel you do not want to contact the surgery directly, you can contact your local integrated care board (ICB) by following this link:
Cambridgeshire & Peterborough ICS Patient Experience Team | CPICS Website
In General
If you have a complaint to make, you can either contact the Practice Manager or ask the Receptionist for a copy of our Complaints Procedure. We will endeavour to:
- Acknowledge any letter or Complaints Form within 3 working days of receiving it.
- Deal with the matter as promptly as possible – We will attempt to investigate and provide a detailed response as quickly as possible. Some complaints may take longer than others, so we do not want to offer any specific timescale.
Who can complain
- Complainants may be current or former patients, or their nominated or elected representatives (who have been given consent to act on the patients behalf).
- Patients over the age of 16 whose mental capacity is unimpaired should normally complain themselves or authorise someone to bring a complaint on their behalf.
- Children under the age of 16 can also make their own complaint, if they’re able to do so.
If a patient lacks capacity to make decisions, their representative must be able to demonstrate sufficient interest in the patient’s welfare and be an appropriate person to act on their behalf. This could be a partner, relative or someone appointed under the Mental Capacity Act 2005 with lasting power of attorney.
Appropriate person
In certain circumstances, we need to check that a representative is the appropriate person to make a complaint.
- For example, if the complaint involves a child, we must satisfy ourselves that there are reasonable grounds for the representative to complain, rather than the child concerned.
- If the patient is a child or a patient who lacks capacity, we must also be satisfied that the representative is acting in the patient’s best interests.
If we are not satisfied that the representative is an appropriate person we will not consider the complaint, and will give the representative the reasons for our decision in writing.
Time limits
A complaint must be made within 12 months, either from the date of the incident or from when the complainant first knew about it.
The regulations state that a responsible body should only consider a complaint after this time limit if:
- the complainant has good reason for doing so, and
- it’s still possible to investigate the complaint fairly and effectively, despite the delay.
Complain to the Ombudsman
If, after receiving our final decision, you remain dissatisfied you may take your complaint to the Ombudsman.
The Ombudsman is independent of the NHS and free to use. It can help resolve your complaint, and tell the NHS how to put things right if it has got them wrong.
The Ombudsman only has legal powers to investigate certain complaints. You must have received a final response from the Practice before the Ombudsman can look at your complaint and it will generally not look into your complaint if it happened more than 12 months ago, unless there are exceptional circumstances.
Address:
Parliamentary & Health Service Ombudsman
Citygate, 51 Mosley Street, Manchester, M2 3HQ
Other organisations that can help you make a complaint about health services
Confidentiality
All complaints will be treated in the strictest confidence.
Where the investigation of the complaint requires consideration of the patient’s medical records, we will inform the patient or person acting on his/her behalf if the investigation will involve disclosure of information contained in those records to a person other than the Practice or an employee of the Practice.
We 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.
Statistics and reporting
The Practice must submit to the local primary care organisation periodically/at agreed intervals details of the number of complaints received and actioned.
Give feedback or make a complaint
You can complain to a member of staff at the NHS service you went to, such as a GP surgery or hospital, or you can complain to the organisation in charge.
If not happy with complaint please contact:
NHS Complaints Advocacy Service,
Doddridge Centre,
109 St James Road,
Northampton NN5 5LD or the Parliamentary & Health Service Ombudsman,
Citygate,
51 Mosley Street,
Manchester,
M2 3HQ
Your Rights and Responsibilities
Attending a busy GP Practice as a patient can be an anxious and worrying time for you. We aim to make your time here as short and as simple as possible and the following should help to explain what you, as a patient, can expect from our staff and what we, the staff, can expect from you.
Your Doctor’s Responsibilities
- To treat you with respect and courtesy at all times
- To treat you as an individual, and to discuss with you the care and treatment we can provide
- To give you full information on the services we offer
- To give you the most appropriate care by suitably qualified staff
- To provide you with emergency care when you need it
- To refer you to a suitable Consultant when necessary
- To give you access to your health records, subject to any limitations in the law
Your Responsibilities as a Patient
- To treat all staff with respect and courtesy at all times
- To tell us if you are unsure about the treatment we are offering you
- To ask for a home visit only when you are unable to attend the Practice through illness or infirmity
- To request such a visit before 10.00 am, if possible
- To ask for an out-of- hours visit only when necessary
- Please ensure that you order your repeat medication in plenty of time allowing 48 working hours for your request to be processed
- To keep to your appointment time (note: if you are more than 10 minutes late for your appointment you may not be seen)
- To notify us at least 24 hours prior to an appointment if you cannot attend
- To notify us of any changes to your personal details (e.g. name, address, telephone number, mobile numbers etc).
ZERO TOLERANCE
It is our policy to be helpful and polite to all our patients regardless of age, ethnic origin, disability, gender or sexual orientation. We expect the same courtesy from our patients. Discriminatory, unsocial, threatening, violent or abusive behaviour towards staff, other patients or the premises will not be tolerated. The Practice will take action in these circumstances, which may involve the Police and result in the removal of the patient from our Practice list.
In England, please refer to NHS Constitution your rights and responsibilities for further information.