If you have a complaint or concern about the service you have received from the doctors or any of the staff working in this GP surgery, please let us know. This includes Primary Care Network staff working as part of our GP surgery. We operate a complaints procedure as part of an NHS system for dealing with complaints. Our complaints system meets national criteria.

To download our complaints form & complaints procedure, click here

How to complain

We hope that most problems can be sorted out easily and quickly when they arise and with the person concerned. For example, by requesting a face-to-face meeting to discuss your concerns.

If your problem cannot be sorted out this way and you wish to make a complaint, we would like you to let us know as soon as possible. By making your complaint quickly, it is easier for us to establish what happened. If it is not possible to do that, please let us have details of your complaint:

• Within 6 months of the incident that caused the problem; or
• Within 6 months of discovering that you have a problem, provided this is within 12 months of the incident.

Complaints should be addressed to the GP surgery team verbally or in writing to Complaints Manager, Mrs Pauline Tidswell.  Alternatively, you may ask for an appointment with the Complaints Manager to discuss your concerns. She will explain the complaints procedure to you and make sure your concerns are dealt with promptly. Please be as specific as possible about your complaint.

What we will do

We will acknowledge your complaint within three working days. We will aim to have investigated your complaint within ten working days of the date you raised it with us. We will then offer you an explanation or a meeting with the people involved, if you would like this. When we investigate your complaint, we will aim to:

• Find out what happened and what went wrong.
• Make it possible for you to discuss what happened with those concerned, if you would like this.
• Make sure you receive an apology, where this is appropriate.
• Identify what we can do to make sure the problem does not happen again.

Complaining on behalf of someone else

We take medical confidentiality seriously. If you are complaining on behalf of someone else, we must know that you have their permission to do so. A note signed by the person concerned will be needed unless they are incapable (because of illness) of providing this.

Complaining to West Yorkshire ICB

We hope that you will use our Practice Complaints Procedure if you are unhappy. We believe this will give us the best chance of putting right whatever has gone wrong and an opportunity to improve our GP surgery.

However, if you feel you cannot complain directly with the surgery then you can contact West Yorkshire Integrated Care Board by contact them on Formal complaints :: West Yorkshire Health & Care Partnership (icb.nhs.uk)

Unhappy with the outcome of your complaint?

If you are not happy with the way your complaint has been dealt with by the GP surgery and West Yorkshire ICB and would like to take the matter further, you can contact the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO). The PHSO makes final decisions on unresolved complaints about the NHS in England. It is an independent service which is free for everyone to use.

To take your complaint to the Ombudsman, visit the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman website or call 0345 015 4033

Need help making a complaint?

If you want help making a complaint, Healthwatch Hounslow can help you find independent NHS complaints advocacy services in your area.

Alternatively, POhWER is a charity that helps people to be involved in decisions being made about their care. Call POhWER’s support centre on 0300 456 2370 for advice.

To view our complaints procedure and download a complaintds form, please click here

The Practice follows an NHS policy of zero tolerance regarding violent and abusive behaviour towards its doctors, staff and persons present on the premises. Any violent or abusive behaviour will be taken seriously and you may be requested to leave the practice with immediate effect.  The practice has the right to remove violent or abusive patients from the list in line with the PMS agreement regulations 2004, paragraph 5, schedule 19.

Violence in this context includes actual or threatened physical violence or verbal abuse which leads to fear for a person’s safety. In this situation, we will notify the patient in writing of their removal from the list and record in the patient’s medical records the fact of the removal and the circumstances leading to it.  Any incident will be fully investigated and the decision to remove a patient from the Practice list will be in line with the PMS agreement.

In accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998 and the Access to Health Records Act, patients may request to see their medical records. Such requests should be made in writing by completing a Subject Access Request (SAR). No information will be released without patient consent unless we are legally obliged to do so.

Information about the General Practitioners and the Practice required for disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act 2000,  can be made available to the public. All requests for such information should be made to the Surgery Manager.

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:

• To provide further medical treatment for you eg. from district nurses and hospital services.
• To hep you get other services eg. from the social work department.  This requires your consent.
• When we have a duty to others eg. in child protection cases anonymised patient information will also be used at local and national level to help the Health Board and Government plan services eg. for diabetic care.

If you do not wish anonymous information about you to be used in such a way, you can register with the national data opt-out scheme at: www.nhs.uk/your-nhs-data-matters/.

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.

Freedom of Information

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.

Access to Records

In accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998 and Access to Health Records Act, patients may request to see their medical records. Such requests should be made in writing by completing a Subject Access Request (SAR). No information will be released without patient consent, unless we are legally obliged to do so. To download a Subject Access Request (SAR) form on our GDPR & Your Information page below

There is a new Central NHS Computer System called the Summary Care Record (SCR). It is an electronic record which contains information about the medicines you take, allergies you suffer from and any bad reactions to medicines you have had.

Why do I Need a Summary Care Record?

Storing information in one place makes it easier for healthcare staff to treat you in an emergency, or when your GP practice is closed.

This information could make a difference to how a doctor decides to care for you, for example, which medicines they choose to prescribe for you.

Who Can See it?

Only healthcare staff involved in your care can see your Summary Care Record.

How do I Know if I Have One?

Over half of the population of England now have a Summary Care Record. You can find out whether Summary Care Records have come to your area by asking your GP.

Do I Have to Have One?

No, it is not compulsory. If you choose to opt-out of the scheme, then you will need to complete a form and bring it along to the surgery. You can use the form at the foot of this page.

More Information

For further information visit the NHS Care records website or the NHS Digital website .

Summary Care Record Opt-Out form

All GP practices are required to declare the mean earnings (e.g. average pay) for GPs working to deliver NHS services to patients at each practice.

NHS England requires that the net earnings of doctors engaged in the practice are publicised and the required disclosure is shown below.  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.

The average pay for GPs working in South Milford Surgery & Wetherby & Bramham Surgery in the last financial year 2023/24 was £80,988 before tax and National Insurance. This is for 3 full-time GPs and 8 part-time GPs who worked in the practice for more than six months.

The Surgery is 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.  Although you can request that a family member or friend is present in your consultation, they will not be performing the role of a chaperone. On occasion, you may prefer a formal chaperone be present i.e. a trained member of staff.

Wherever possible, we would ask you to make this request at the time of booking your appointment, so that arrangements can be made and your appointment is not delayed in any way. Where this is not possible, we will endeavour to provide a formal chaperone at the time of the request.  However, it may be necessary to re-schedule your appointment.

Your doctor or nurse may also require a chaperone to be present for certain consultations or examinations.