Dear Patient ,

Winter is approaching (if not already here ) and here are some useful tips from your GP Surgery  to know in preparation for seasonal illnesses that are unfortunately inevitable for some of us adding extra pressure on to our services.

Please remember that we are here to help you and will do everything possible with very limited  resources available to us to ensure we meet our responsibility to you as our patient. Having said this, it is also important to mention that we believe your help and active participation  are  the key enablers allowing us to provide you with a service that can meet your health care needs. 

Of course, you can phone us for all your health care  needs that cannot wait for the next day.   HOWEVER….

TELEPHONE IS NO LONGER THE MAIN MODE OF ACCESS TO OUR SURGERY , there are so many other ways you can get help without waiting, at times, in very long queues.

Please note that we are offering in excess of 125 e-Consult bookings per week to deal with patient health needs. e-Consult service is open from 08.00am on all weekdays and can be accessed from our website.  Recent searches show that majority of patient  e-Consults queries were dealt with within promised 2 to 3 working days. Please try this service next time you need help from us (if not done already), it has been a success to most of our service users.

Our website www.gardencitysurgery.co.uk is the best place to seek info about  non-urgent patient  requests that are administrative in nature such as requesting sick note, requesting change of details, requesting repeat prescriptions, cancel unwanted appointments  and many many more. Please visit our website and make yourself equipped with all the useful information you need to avoid waiting on long queues to get through the phone lines.  In particular please read the articles prepared for your convenience which will answer  specific queries such as “Where to Go for help during the colder seasons” and “Which Clinicians do I need to see?"  Please See link for moment articles: https://www.gardencitysurgery.co.uk/articles

Also remember there are other health care services such as your local pharmacy , NHS 111 , Local Walk-in Centres and A&E departments locally which are also there to help you when you need help. There is the NHS app and our Online Services that you might find useful for seeking help with your health care needs.

Let’s hope you will not need our services  this season, but, and unfortunately, if you do, I sincerely hope this message and our website will help you to find the right services you need as quickly as possible.

Many thanks

Practice Manager Spart Hamdard

P.S. WE STILL OFFER FLU VACCINES TO ELIGIBLE PATIENTS

Please see below for most recent patient survey regarding access to our services and overall service users satisfaction. Please if you wish to submit your feedback use our Friends and family test , link provided in this website.

Please click on this link for more info. 

Patient Experience of Access Survey PCN - March 2024.pdf

Many thanks

Garden City Surgery

The surgery will be closed for staff training on the following days, between 13.00-17.30.

• 9th of January 2025
• 4th of February 2025
• 5th of March 2025

As your GP practice, we have been asked to provide you with your full medical record going forward via the NHS app and our Online Services.

Your GP medical record contains consultation notes based on conversations between you, your GP and their team: medicines prescribed to you; all test results including hospital investigations; allergies; vaccines; and your medical conditions along with documents that may have been sent from local hospitals, clinics or other agencies, e.g. the police. There is likely to be sensitive , personal, confidential information and at times containing complicated medical terminology within your medical record. We reserve the right to review patients’ requests and decline full  access to GP records, if we believe this will pose a serious risk to our patient’s safety and/or to protect our vulnerable patients.

We are supportive of providing you with access to your record, but we wish to do this safely and make you aware that this is happening so that you can opt in, if you so wish. You may wish to speak with us first to understand what it is that you will see, and the risks which may be involved in having such confidential data either on your smartphone with the NHS app installed or online if other people might have access to that information through your devices. If you are in a difficult or pressured relationship for example, you may prefer your records to remain accessible only to those treating you, with them not appearing on your smartphone or on an online platform. Government has been clear that if a patient does not wish to have access, then we do not have to provide it. This is one reason why we have asked if you wish to opt in and we have switched it off for the time being till receive consent from you.

For those who would like access, we are happy to explain the different levels you might like. Everyone can have access to their medication history and allergies and will be able to order their repeat prescriptions. It’s also possible to request access to what we call your ‘coded record’ where you can see a list of medical problems and results. You can also request access to your prospective  ‘full’ record where you will be able to see everything, including the notes which have been written by doctors, nurses and others involved in your care, at the GP surgery. This will be accessible to you from the date that we receive your consent.

It’s important to remember that these documents may, at times, contain information that could be upsetting, especially if they contain news of a serious condition. It can also be a cause for worry seeing results online when it isn’t clear what the results might mean, and no one is available to ask, as can be the case during the evening or at weekends, for example. 

Sometimes people with a mental health condition might prefer not to see documents that remind them of difficult times in their life. Letters from mental health teams sometimes go into detail about past events, and great care would be needed in deciding whether you would want to see these letters. It is possible for individual items to be hidden at your request and your GP would be happy to talk about any concerns you may have.

Great care is also needed in case private details might cause harm at home, should people in a difficult or pressured relationship be forced to show their medical record to an abusive partner. Anyone in such a position should make this clear to us at the practice, so we can take steps to keep you safe. This might mean removing online access for the time being, or through a careful process where we hide sensitive things.

Requesting access – what do I need to do?

The easiest way to get access is to create an NHS login through the NHS app. Although you can also access your GP records via the internet on a computer, the first bit is easiest if done through a smartphone. If you don’t have one, you may have a family member or friend you trust who can help you.

If you use the NHS app, you’ll have to set up an account using a unique e-mail address and then ‘authenticate’ yourself to the NHS system to prove you are who you say you are. This will involve confirming your name, date of birth and contact details. The NHS app login has several levels of authentication and to gain access to your records you’ll need the highest level of authentication. This generally involves you recording a short video of yourself to prove you are a real person as well as uploading a copy of a suitable identification document. Your GP practice does not have any control or  administrative access to NHS app;  therefore, we cannot activate your NHS app account or resolve any queries relating to it.

Once you have suitably authenticated yourself to the NHS app and created your NHS login you can approach your practice and ask for access, being mindful of the risks associated with access and the importance of not sharing passwords or having them stored in your smartphone if you think other people might want to see them without your permission. If you have any concerns, you should explain these to your GP practice team who can guide you.

We have a form that is available from our website that  you need to complete.  Once you are happy to get online access, your request will be passed to the clinical team to review. It may be that the practice wishes to contact you to discuss your request if there are any concerns raised so that access can be given safely. We’re not sure how many people will ask for access all at once so there may be a wait, but we will do our best to get you online access as soon as we can. 

The form to request access can be downloaded from our website.