• Surgery
• Dispensary

Test Results and Hospital Letters
It is the responsibility of the patient to ensure they get the result of any test. Patients should telephone the reception staff, who have access to information from the doctors about test results. Blood tests, urine tests and swabs are usually available within 5 days. Smear test results can take up to 6 weeks. Please do not make an appointment to discuss results unless you are requested to do so.

Hospital letters can take 3 to 4 weeks to arrive, please always check that the letter has been received before making an appointment with a doctor to discuss your hospital visit.

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

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

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 please go to the DirectGov website.

Patient Records
We hold patient records both manually and electronically. All records are kept completely confidentially . In order to help us keep your records up to date, please inform us promptly when you move address or change your telephone number or name.

The Practice is a member of the Medical Research Council (MRC) and patient health information may be used from time to time for medical research purposes. Patient records are also sometimes used to compile registers with regards to Diabetes and Coronary Heart Disease etc. Please be assured that this data will be treated confidentially and only the minimum amount of data is used. If you object to your health information being used in such a way then please contact the Surgery.

Summary Care Record
The Summary Care Record is meant to help emergency services help you when you contact them when the Surgery is closed. Initially, it will contain just your medications and allergies.

Your information will be extracted from practices such as ours and held on central NHS databases.

As with all new systems there are pros and cons to think about. When you speak to an emergency doctor you might overlook something that is important and if they have access to your medical record it might avoid mistakes or problems, although even then, you should be asked to give your consent each time a member of NHS Staff wishes to access your record, unless you are medically unable to do so.

For existing patients it is different in that it is assumed that you want your record uploaded to the Central NHS Computer System unless you actively opt out.

If you choose to opt out of the scheme, then you will need to complete a form and bring it along to the Surgery.

Download the opt out form by clicking here.

Enhanced Data Sharing
Following on from the summary care record, the sharing of full electronic records across different healthcare services is now available.

You can choose to opt in or out of sharing your electronic records with other care services. Please click here for further information.

Click here to download the consent form to complete and return to the Surgery.