Manx Care encourages comments and suggestions about its respective functions, duties and responsibilities.  Like complaints, this feedback can help shape and improve the design and delivery of health and social care services on the Island.  Compliments are also very much welcomed, as knowing what works well is as important as putting things right when they go wrong.

If you wish to make a comment or suggestion, or indeed want to share a compliment, simply share your feedback with any employee or the relevant responsible manager at Manx Care or one of Manx Care’s commissioned service providers if the feedback is concerned with a GP, Dentist, Pharmacist or Care Service for example.

Concerns

If you have a concern about any aspect of a service provided by Manx Care or its commissioned service providers (GPs, Dental Practices, Pharmacies, Care Services etc.) we strongly encourage you to take the matter up directly with the service at the earliest opportunity.  Concerns can usually be resolved quickly and if this can be achieved to your satisfaction within 3 working days then formal procedures do not need to be implemented.

If you are not sure who to contact directly about your concern or general enquiry please get in touch with our Manx Care Advice and Liaison Service (MCALS). The team can help with a range of queries, questions and concerns and can be contacted as follows:

Manx Care Advice and Liaison Service (MCALS)
Telephone: +44 1624 642642
Email: [email protected]

Formal complaints and local resolution

From the 1 April 2021, health and social care services, historically provided by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), became the responsibility of Manx Care.  Arrangements for the handling of complaints have therefore been amended to reflect the distinct roles of DHSC and Manx Care.

Following public consultation the Complaints Regulations identified below have been approved by Tynwald, streamlining the process to allow for the implementation of a consistent procedure, regardless of which part of Manx Care your complaint is about.

• National Health Service (Complaints) Regulations 2022
• Social Services (Complaints) Regulations 2022
• Social Services for Children (Complaints) Regulations 2022
• Health and Social Care Ombudsman Body (Constitution, Etc.) Regulations 2022

Who can complain?

A complaint can be made by:

• An existing or previous patient/service user
• The representative of a patient/service user (i.e. a person acting on their behalf with their written consent)
• A representative acting in the best interests of a patient/service/child who does not have the capacity to make a complaint themselves
• Any person who is affected, or likely to be affected, by the action, omission or decision of Manx Care or a commissioned service provider
• A relative/representative of a patient/service user/child who is deceased (where it is deemed that undertaking an investigation would be beneficial, particularly in terms of learning opportunities and improved services for future patients/service users)

Timescale for making a complaint

A complaint can be made within 12 months of the date on which the issue occurred or within 12 months of the date on which the complainant became aware of the issue.

How can complaints be raised?

A complaint can be raised orally, in writing or electronically (for example by email).  For oral complaints, a written record summarising your complaint will be provided to give you the opportunity to read and sign for accuracy.  Any employee of Manx Care (for complaints concerning services provided directly by Manx Care) or any employee of a commissioned service provider (for complaints concerning a commissioned service provider) should be able to provide you with information about the complaint’s process.

Complaints concerning services provided by Manx Care should be directed to the Care Quality and Safety Team who have established a central access point for complaints via a dedicated postal address, email address and telephone number:

Care Quality and Safety Team
First Floor, Reayrt Noa
Noble’s Hospital
Strang
Isle of Man
IM4 4RJ

Email: [email protected]

Telephone: +44 1624 650500

If your complaint is concerned with a Manx Care commissioned service, such as Primary Care (GPs), Dental Practices, Pharmacies or Care Services for example, you should submit your complaint directly to that service / practice.  Like Manx Care, individual commissioned service providers are responsible for ensuring the Complaint Regulations are applied and for having clear processes for managing their complaints.

Complaint receipt and acknowledgment

Once we have received your complaint we will provide you with an acknowledgement letter within 5 working days accompanied by a Complaint Information Leaflet.  We will allocate a Complaint Handler who will contact you to invite you to a meeting to discuss your complaint in more detail.

Formal investigation

The Complaint Handler will coordinate the investigation of your complaint and act as you main point of contact. The Complaint Handler may allocate additional investigators to help look into your complaint and it may sometimes be necessary to seek an expert opinion on complex clinical or procedural matters.

We will provide you with a written response (by letter or email, whichever is preferred) within 20 working days of receipt of the complaint. This response may be the final outcome letter or it may be an update letter, detailing progress to date with an indication of when the investigation may be concluded. We will endeavour to resolve your complaint as quickly as possible; however in the event the complaint exceeds 6 months you will be notified of your right to escalate your complaint for independent review by the Health and Social Care Ombudsman Body.

Independent review

Where all efforts at local resolution have been exhausted but the complainant remains dissatisfied, the complainant may refer their complaint to the Health and Social Care Ombudsman Body to have their complaint independently reviewed.

If a complaint investigation goes beyond 6 months from the date of receipt, the complainant will be notified in writing of their right to refer their complaint to the Health and Social Care Ombudsman Body.

Correspondence issued by Manx Care will include contact details for the Health and Social Care Ombudsman Body with reference to the following time scales for referring to them:

• 12 months after the date on which the complainant became aware of the matter alleged in the complaint
• 6 months after a decision in writing has been issued
• whichever is the later

The Health and Social Care Ombudsman Body can be contacted as follows:

Health and Social Care Ombudsman Body
PO Box 18
Douglas
Isle of Man
IM99 1UT

Email: [email protected]

Process summary

The flowchart available via Downloadable documents provides a simplified headline overview of the revised arrangements for complaint handling under the provisions of the Complaint Regulations 2022.

We ask for personal information so you can receive care and treatment. This information is recorded on computer and we are registered under the Data Protection Act. The practice will ensure that patient confidentiality is maintained at all times by members of the practice team.

We are receiving increasing numbers of emails from patients for the attention of doctors, asking for opinions or information, requesting contact from the doctor by phone or email or simply passing information on to the doctor.

The doctors need to manage their workload for the benefit of patients and this means that they deal with the most urgent matters first.and Email correspondence is dealt with in the same way as written correspondence: So, sending a message by email will not provide a ‘fast track’ to the doctor – if you have an urgent medical need, please make contact with the surgery by phone or in person so that this can be promptly assessed and treated without delay.

NO ANTIBOTICS CAN BE ISSUED VIA AN EMAIL REQUEST – THE DOCTOR WOULD NEED TO SEE YOU

Please note we also do not make appointments/correspond via Email or Fax requests, neither do we take any responsibility for its delivery.

Please note the email facility is unmanned and will not be replied to in any circumstances.

Please note we do not accept emails sent directly to the GP and as such will not be replied to.

We have full disabled access facilities. The main consulting rooms and disabled toilet are on the ground floor.

Hailwood Medical Practice has a legal duty to explain how we use any personal information we collect about you, as a registered patient, at the practice.

Staff at this practice maintain records about your health and the treatment you receive in electronic and paper format.

What information do we collect about you?

We will collect information such as personal details, including name, address, next of kin, records of appointments, visits, telephone calls, your health records, treatment and medications, test results, X-rays etc and any other relevant information to enable us to deliver effective medical care.

How we will use your information.

Your data is collected for the purpose of providing direct patient care; however, we can disclose this information if it is required by law, if you give consent or if it is justified in the public interest. In order to comply with its legal obligations, this practice may send data to the Department of Health & Social Care when directed by the Health Minister under the Health & Social Care Act 2012. Additionally, this practice contributes to national clinical audits and will send the data that is required by the Department of Health & Social Care when the law allows. This may include demographic data, such as date of birth, and information about your health which is recording in coded form; for example, the clinical code for diabetes or high blood pressure.

Processing your information in the way and obtaining your consent ensures that we comply with Articles 6(1)(c), 6(1)(e) and 9(2)(h) of the GDPR.

Maintaining confidentiality and accessing your records.

We are committed to maintaining confidentiality and protecting the information we hold about you.

We adhere to the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the NHS codes of Confidentiality and Security, as well as guidance issued by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). You have a right to access the information we hold about you, and if you would like to access this information , you will need to complete a Subject Access Request (SAR). Please ask at reception for an SAR form and you will be given further information. Furthermore, should you identify any inaccuracies; you have a right to have the accurate data corrected.

Risk stratification.

Risk stratification is a mechanism used to identify and subsequently manage those patients deemed as being at high risk of requiring urgent or emergency care. Usually this includes patients with long-term conditions e.g cancer. Your information is collected by a number of sources, including Hailwood Medical Practic eand this information is processed electronically and given a risk score which is relayed to your GP who can then decide on any necessary actions to ensure that you receive the most appropriate care.

Opt-out.

You have a right to object to your information being shared. Should you wish to opt out of data collection, please contact a member of staff who will be able to explain how you can opt-out and prevent the sharing of your information; this is done by registering to opt-out online (national data opt-out programme) or if you are unable to do so or do not wish to do so online, by speaking to a member of staff.

Retention periods.

In accordance with the NHS codes of Practice for Records Management, your healthcare records will be retained for 10 years after death, or if a patient emigrates, for 10 years after the date of emigration.

What to do if you have any questions.

Should you have any questions about our privacy policy or the information we hold about you, you can:

1. Contact the practice’s data controller via email at [email protected] GP practices are data controllers for the data they hold about their patients.

2. Write to the data controller at Hailwood Medical Practice.

3. Ask to speak to the Practice Manager Mrs Cathy Poultney. T

he Data Protection Officer (DPO) for Hailwood Medical Practice is Mrs Cathy Poultney.

Complaints.

In the unlikely event that you are unhappy with any element of our data-processing methods, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the ICO. For further details, www.inforights.im and select Making a complaint. Changes to our privacy policy. We regularly review our privacy policy and any updates will be published on our website and on posters to reflect the changes.

The Freedom of Information Act 2000 obliges the practice to produce a Publication Scheme. A Publication Scheme is a guide to the “classes” of information the practice intends to make routinely available. An information leaflet is available at reception

Our Practice Charter

Hailwood Medical Practice LLC

We undertake to:

• Treat you with respect and courtesy at all times.
• Provide you with advice and treatment in a timely manner.
• Help you make decisions about your health by treating you as an equal.
• Discuss what treatment is available and refer you on to other experts where necessary.
• Act as your advocate and guide through health and social services.
• Maintain confidentiality in what we discuss and the records we keep on your behalf.
• Keep up to date with developments in health care by continuing to learn.

In return we ask you to:

• Keep your appointment, or let us know as soon as possible if you can”t.
• Only use the out-of-hours services in an emergency.
• Be nice to our staff! They do their best for you and respond very well to “please” and “thank you”.
• Let us know if you have any suggestions or cause for complaint as soon as possible.
• Let us know when we have done well.

Complaints/Comments

From time to time wires get crossed! We are not deliberately trying to upset you! Please air your complaint to the Practice Manager either verbally or in writing. She will outline our complaints procedure and endeavour to resolve the problem. Any complaint or concern raised will not compromise care received.

Patient Confidentiality

We respect the right to privacy and keep all your health information confidential and secure. All patient information is treated as strictly confidential and will not be disclosed without written consent.

Discrimination Policy

The practice does not discriminate on the following grounds: race, gender, age, social class, religion, sexual orientation, appearance, disability or medical condition.

We aim to treat our patients courteously at all times and expect our patients to treat our staff in a similarly respectful way. We take seriously any threatening, abusive or violent behaviour against any of our staff or patients. Please note that any patient who displays unacceptable behaviour will be removed from our practice list.

Manx Care is committed to protecting your privacy and will only process personal confidential data in accordance with Data Protection Act 2018, the Data Protection (Application of GDPR) Order 2018, the Common Law Duty of Confidentiality and the Human Rights Act 2001

Click here to view our full Privacy Notice

The partners at Hailwood Medical Centre welcome comments and suggestions from their patients and these can be submitted via our website or in writing to the practice manager.  The GP partners have noticed a developing trend where a patient will use a Social Media site, such as Facebook, to make a personal attack on a member of the surgery staff or to make false statements about the surgery.The partners reserve the right to remove a patient from the surgery list and report them to the social networking site if they are found to have made libellous statements or defamatory comments about the surgery or a member of the surgery staff.

If you have a comment or complaint about the surgery we encourage you to report this through the correct channels. The practice always investigates complaints and responds to patients in a timely way. Thank you.

We are happy to accept suggestions. If you have a problem with any of our services or a complaint, please ask to speak to the practice manager or put your complaint in writing and it will be dealt with swiftly by the practice manager or one of the partners.

For reasons of legal liability, training and monitoring. All telephone calls are recorded.

These recordings are strictly confidential and dealt with in the same way as patients’ medical records.

Patients can request transcripts of the recorded telecall pursuant to S5 DPA

You can now register to receive information by text message on your phone regarding appointments and health care.

If you wish to register for this messaging service please speak to reception.

UPDATE  May 2018 (GDPR)

Under the new data protection regulations introduced from 25th May 2018, we will continue to contact patients via text messages regarding the delivery of care.

If practices are sending messages about recommended treatment for the management of a specific health issue, then this is defined as providing appropriate care for patients, not marketing purposes.

If you would like ot opt out of any future contact via text messaging, please inform reception and they will remove your mobile from the facility.

We strongly support the NHS policy on zero tolerance. Anyone attending the surgery who abuses the GPs, staff or other patients, be it verbally, physically or in any threatening manner whatsoever, will risk removal from the practice list. In extreme cases we may summon the police to remove offenders from the practice premises.