We make every effort to give the best service possible to everyone who attends our Practice. However, we are aware things can go wrong.

If you have a complaint or concern about the service you have received from the Doctors or staff please contact the Practice manager at the main surgery by telephone or call in at the surgery to complete a complaint form.

The Practice will look into the points you have raised and when the investigations are complete we will contact you with a response.

If you are dissatisfied with the outcome you have a right to approach the Parliamentary & Health service ombudsman.

Telephone 0345 0154033

Website www.ombudsman.org.uk

You may also approach the local Healthwatch.

Telephone 01204 372842 

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 e.g. from district nurses and hospital services.
• To help you get other services e.g. from the social work department. This requires your consent.
• When we have a duty to others e.g. 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 e.g. for diabetic care.

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 Practioners 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 PRACTICE CHARTER

Background:

On 19 August 2025, NHS England published You and Your General Practice (YYGP) to help patients understand what to expect from their GP surgery and how to get the best from their GP team. Practices are required to link to the YYGP document on their websites by 1 October 2025.

– We have therefore produced a Practice Charter – setting out what practices want to provide for our patients, and the challenges we face in doing so.

https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/you-and-your-general-practice-english/

Your Practice Charter                                              Garnet Fold Practice.

Dear Patient,

GPs and their practice teams provide the vast majority of NHS care outside of hospitals, supporting you and your family throughout your lives. In a perfect world, we want to be able to offer every patient:

Safety – prompt access to a GP or practice nurse you trust, with well-staffed surgeries and enough resource so that no patient feels left behind.

Stability – a family doctor who knows you, your medical history, and your community – without the stress and difficulty of finding it difficult to get an appointment.

Hope for the future – care that focuses on keeping you well, not just treating illness. We want more time for meaningful consultations, joined-up support closer to your home, from modern GP surgery premises with safe and effective technology to make this possible.

The government talks of “bringing back the family doctor” but what politicians promise is often not planned properly or funded fairly to be able to be delivered in reality.

We aim to respond to all appointment and advice requests promptly, prioritising those most in need. Sometimes we may need to offer you an appointment on another day or direct you to another suitable service.

For safety reasons, urgent medical requests cannot be accepted via our online system. For something urgent, pick up the phone or walk in to our reception.

The need to prioritise urgent cases to keep patients safe can result in longer waiting times for routine/non-urgent appointments.

The new requirement to allow patients unlimited online access for non-urgent medical requests, throughout core hours, makes it more likely that we will have no choice but to create hospital-style waiting lists to meet patient need.

We want to guide you through the NHS, co-ordinate your care, and support you to stay healthy. We want every patient to feel safe and confident in their GP practice – now and in the future.

GPs are on your side.

The Challenges Your Practice Faces

Rising demand, fewer GPs – GPs care for 17% more patients than in 2015, but with fewer GPs. Funding has not kept pace, so many patients find it hard to see their GP quickly, leading to the stressful scramble to secure an appointment.

Practice closures – Around 2,000 practices have been lost since 2010, that’s one in four surgeries, leaving fewer local practices and longer waits or travel for patients.

Funding pressures – Practices receive just 31p per patient per day to provide unlimited consultations with our doctors and nurses, making it hard to employ enough staff and sustain services.

Workforce challenges – More GPs are leaving the NHS than joining. While our staff work tirelessly, system pressures and patient frustration can affect everyone’s morale and wellbeing. We have unemployed GPs now – and practices lack funds to hire them.

Unsafe workloads – Many GPs see far more than the accepted safe limit of patients per day, often working over 60 hours a week. Recent government changes risk making this worse.

Ageing buildings – One in five GP surgeries is now over 75 years old – older than the NHS itself which started in 1948. There is very little investment to provide modern facilities fit for today’s needs.

Access versus continuity – Government policy means speed of an appointment comes before choice. This lack of continuity of care, means patients often don’t get to see a familiar face who knows them well.

Demand management – We always aim to respond to all appointment and advice requests promptly, prioritising those most in need. Sometimes we may need to offer you an appointment on another day or direct you to another suitable service.

For safety reasons, urgent medical requests cannot always be accepted via our online system. For something urgent, pick up the telephone or walk in to our surgery.

The need to prioritise urgent cases to keep patients safe can result in longer waiting times for routine/non-urgent appointments.

The new requirement to allow patients unlimited online access for non-urgent requests, throughout core hours, makes it more likely that we will have no choice but to create hospital style waiting lists to meet demand.

We may unfortunately sometimes face challenges beyond our control:

• – difficulties with accessing services at the local hospitals and long waiting lists
  – workforce challenges – not enough GPs to look after you
  – the need to provide our teams with compulsory NHS training and education
  – unforeseen events
  – NHS IT challenges with old and slow equipment
  – lack of investment in practice buildings and development
  – public health emergencies– Our core contract hours are Monday – Friday, 8am–6.30pm.
  – Our consulting times are between these hours.
  – Please note at certain times, e.g. lunch or the ends of the day, a clinician may not be present in the building (e.g. out on home visits).
  – In any emergency, please dial 999 for an ambulance or attend the nearest Accident & Emergency department.

We believe patients deserve more.

– At present, GPs and their teams are under huge pressure – caring for more people with fewer resources.
– Without proper investment, the safety, stability and continuity of care that patients value most are at risk.
– As your GP practice, we will always do what we can to deliver the best service possible for you and your family. With the right resources and support, we could expand our services, employ more staff, and deliver the safe, timely, and personalised care you deserve.

– Please remember that our current GP contract funds patient care on average at 31p per day per patient, which is not enough to meet rising demand and to provide the care you and your family deserve.

So please bear with us – and thank you for your support as we try our best for you and your family.

See NHS England’s You and Your General Practice document here: https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/you-and-your-general-practice-english/

GP Connect Privacy Notice 

GDPR Privacy Notice June 2021

Opt out Form

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 at the surgery in the last financial year before tax and National Insurance was £85,131.

This is for 4 part time GPs and 1 locum GP who worked in the practice for more than 6 months.

The named accountable GP is responsible for the overall care of the patient.

You should see no change in the day to day running of the practice or your care. Having a named GP does not mean you can only see this GP. As a group practice you can see the Doctor of your choice, except in an urgent situation when you should see which ever GP is available.

If you would like to know the name of your accountable GP, please ask as our reception desk or the GP when you are next at the surgery.

The Practice has already been offering patients the opportunity to request prescriptions, book and cancel appointments online. We are now extending this service to view your medical records online using the same system.

By being able to see your record online may help you to manage your medical conditions. It also means that you can access your records from anywhere in the world, should you require medical treatment on holiday.

You will be given login details, so you will need to think of a password which is unique to you. This will ensure that only you are able to access your record – unless you choose to share your details with a family member or carer.

It will be your responsibility to keep your login details safe and secure. If you know or suspect your record has been accessed by someone that you have not agreed see it, then you should change your password immediately.

If you can’t do this for some reason, we recommend that you contact the practice so that we can remove online access until you are able to reset your password.

If you print out any information from your record, it is also your responsibility to keep this secure. If you are at all worried about keeping printed copies safe, we recommend that you do not make any copies at all.

Before you apply for online access to your record, there are some other things to consider. Although the chances of any of these things happening are very small, you will be asked that you have read and understood the following before you are given login details.

Forgotten History

There may be something you have forgotten about in your record that you might find upsetting.

Abnormal results or bad news

If we have given you access to test results or letters, you may see something that you find upsetting to you. This may occur before you have spoke to your doctor or while the surgery is closed and you can not contact us.

Choosing to share your information

Its up to you whether or not you share your information with others – perhaps family members or carers. Its your choice, but also your responsibility to keep the information safe and secure.

Coercion

If you think you may be pressured into revealing details from your patient record to someone else against your will, it is best that you do no register for access at this time.

Misunderstood information

Your medical record is designed to be used by clinical professionals to ensure that you receive the best possible care. Some of the information within your medical record may be highly technical, written by specialists and not easily understood. If you require further clarification, please contact the surgery for clearer explanation.

Information about someone else

If you spot something in the record that is not about you or notice any other errors, please log out of the system immediately and contact the practice as soon as possible.

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 looking at our interactive map or 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

Download the opt out form