Non-NHS Services

We can upon request, provide a range of non-NHS services. These include medical examinations and reports which you may require for such things as insurance companies, the DVLA, etc.

Please note that non NHS services are only provided at the doctors discretion and a fee will be payable. Further details are available at reception. If patient information is requested by a source outside the practice the patient’s permission in writing will be required.

What’s on offer?

The Surgery provides the following services for all registered patients to help them staying healthy.

Specialist services

• Womens’ health
• Advice from social services
• Mens’ health
• Child health (We hold a Well baby clinic every Monday 1.00-2.30pm)
• Cardiovascular care including:
  - anticoagulant dosing
  - ischaemic heart disease screening, prevention and management
  - other circulatory disease screening, prevention and management

• Antenatal (pregnancy) care
• Smoking cessation service
• Diabetes clinic
• Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) clinic
• Asthma clinic
• Chronic kidney disease monitoring
• Palliative (end of life) care
• Health screening
• Cholesterol and blood sugar testing
• Blood pressure checks

Be a self care patient and visit the website below on

http://www.selfcareforum.org/resources/patient-portal

         Bowel cancer screening awareness:

http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-cancer/type/bowel-cancer/about/screening/about-bowel-cancer-screening

Travel Vaccinations

If you require any vaccinations relating to foreign travel you need to make an appointment with the practice nurse to discuss your travel arrangements. This will include which countries and areas within countries that you are visiting to determine what vaccinations are required.

There is further information about countries and vaccinations required on the links below

Europe & Russia	North America
Central America	South America
Caribbean	Africa
Middle East	Central Asia
East Asia	Australasia and Pacific

It is important to make this initial appointment as early as possible - at least 6 weeks before you travel - as a second appointment will be required with the practice nurse to actually receive the vaccinations. These vaccines have to be ordered as they are not a stock vaccine. Your second appointment needs to be at least 2 weeks before you travel to allow the vaccines to work.

Some travel vaccines are ordered on a private prescription and these incur a charge over and above the normal prescription charge. This is because not all travel vaccinations are included in the services provided by the NHS.

Travel Health Questionnaire

To help us offer the appropriate advice, please fill out the online form before coming to see the nurse.

Travel Questionnaire

Travelling in Europe

If you are travelling to Europe a very useful booklet has been published with advice and guidance to help you get the most out of your holiday. To visit please click:- http://ec.europa.eu/publications/booklets/eu_glance/86/en.pdf (this is a large document and may take a minute or two to view)

Sickness Certificates

You do not require a doctor's sickness certificate for any illness lasting seven days or less. Your employer may however require you to complete a self-certification form (SC2) which is available from your employer or on the HMRC website.

Evidence that you are sick

If you are sick for more than seven days, your employer can ask you to give them some form of medical evidence to support payment of SSP (statutory sick pay).

It is up to your employer to decide whether you are incapable of work. A medical certificate, now called a 'Statement of Fitness for Work’ (see below) from your doctor is strong evidence that you are sick and would normally be accepted, unless there is evidence to prove otherwise.

You could also provide evidence from someone who is not a medical practitioner, e.g. a dentist. Your employer will decide whether or not this evidence is acceptable. If your employer has any doubts, they may still ask for a medical certificate from your GP.

Statement of Fitness for Work - ’Fit Note'

The 'fit note' was introduced on 6 April 2010. With your employer's support, the note will help you return to work sooner by providing more information about the effects of your illness or injury.

For more information see the DirectGov website (where this information was sourced)

Guide to Give Feedback 

 Feedback and or concern on any service at Valley View Surgery can be provided in a number of ways the easiest way is to provide comments to Us through online admin request on Patchs in order for us to act promptly or fill out a feedback from available at the front desk. All feedback can be provided anonymously. Please give us feedback to make the improvements and changes to give the best service and the opportunity to address any feedback or concerns you may have.

If you are still not happy or you would like to make a complaint please follow our guide below

A GUIDE TO

MAKING A COMPLAINT

COMPLAINTS PROCEDURE

If you have a complaint or concern about the service that you have received from the practice or any of the staff working here, please let us know.  We operate a practice complaints procedure as part of a NHS system for dealing with complaints. 

How to complain

We hope that most problems can be sorted out easily and quickly, often at the time they arise and with the person concerned.  If your problem cannot be sorted out in this way and you wish to make a complaint, we would like you to let us know as soon as possible – ideally, within a matter of days or at most a few weeks – because this will enable us to establish what happened more easily. Complaints should be made;

• Within 12 months of the matter which caused the problem; or
• Within 12 months of becoming aware you have something to complain about.

You should contact or write to the Practice Manager if you wish to raise a concern or make a formal complaint. You may ask for an appointment with the practice manager to discuss your concerns. She will explain the complaints procedure to you and will make sure that your concerns are dealt with promptly. It would be helpful if you can give us specific details of what you feel went wrong and what outcome you would like.

What we shall do

We shall acknowledge your complaint within five working days, and offer to discuss your concerns and agree the way forward with you. We will investigate your complaint and aim to provide you with our findings within a time frame agreed with you.

When we look into your complaint, we shall aim to:

• find out what happened and what went wrong;
• make it possible for you to discuss the problem with those concerned, if you would find this helpful.
• make sure you receive an appropriate apology;
• Identify what we can learn from your complaint and what we can do to make sure the problem doesn’t happen again in order to improve our services.

Complaining on behalf of someone else

Please note that we keep strictly to the rules of confidentiality.  If you are complaining on behalf of someone else, we have to know that you have his or her permission to do so.  A note signed by the person concerned will be needed unless they are incapable (because of illness) of providing this.

Make a complaint to NHS England

You can complain or give feedback:

By post to: NHS England, PO Box 16738, Redditch, B97 9PT

By email to: england.contactus@nhs.net, stating ‘For the attention of the complaints team’ in the subject line.

By telephone: 0300 311 22 33

Parliamentary Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO)

If you do remain dissatisfied, you can approach the PHSO with your complaint. This should be done within 12 months of the outcome of the practice complaints procedure. You can contact the PHSO, Milbank Tower, Millbank, London, SW1P 4QP or telephone 0345 015 4033.

Independent help and support

help anybody that needs independent support to speak up and deliver quality and innovation in advocacy through support

PO Box 375, Hastings, East Sussex, TN34 9HUinfo@theadvocacypeople.org.uk

0330 440 9000