Our practice is a research active practice. This means we actively support and conduct different types of research with the intention of improving outcomes for patients. New treatments, technologies, care approaches and devices all need to be carefully and safely tested in real life healthcare environments. Clinical research in these environments is separately funded and adds value to patient care.

The COVID-19 pandemic illustrated the importance of clinical research, which was crucial to the development of vaccines and treatments that have saved millions of lives globally. Clinical research is essential for discovering new treatments for diseases, as well as new ways to detect, diagnose, and reduce the chance of developing the disease and by improving the efficiency and efficacy of care it can be a vital tool in tackling waiting list backlogs and reducing the pressure on the NHS.

You may be approached or invited to consider taking part in research from time to time. Participation in research is completely voluntary and your decision to take part or not will not affect your clinical care in any way.

Our practice works with the NIHR Clinical Research Network North West Coast, who provide support to enable us to offer research to our patients. Every research study is different, and patient involvement varies- depending on the type of study. You will be provided with information on the study to help you decide whether you want to be part of it or not. Below are some examples of what you may be asked to do for a research study:

• Complete a questionnaire
• Take part in an interview
• Use a new therapy / device / website
• Take a treatment under supervision

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is the independent regulator of health and adult social care in England. The CQC now has a remit to assess how care organisations are supporting and using health and care research to improve population health. The 2021 CQC Strategy specifically refers to the value of research in population care. If you do not wish to be approached for research please contact the practice.

Site Research Staff – who they are ( GP Lead / Admin support / Nurses / HCAs) and are they GCP trained?

Current studies / Past Studies

Research Accreditations / Award nominations etc – for example: RCGP Research Ready

Your Patient Participation Group (PPG) should be aware and supportive of your drive to get ready to do research. They can also help to suggest what research might be welcomed by your patients.

Patient Research Links:

• Join Dementia Research connects registered volunteers with dementia researchers across the UK who are looking for people to join their studies: Join dementia research
• Research for The Future has opportunities to get involved in research across all health conditions as well as for healthy volunteers: Research for the Future
• NIHR Evidence makes health and care research findings informative, accessible, relevant and ready for use for all:  https://evidence.nihr.ac.uk/

Useful links for organisations to look at:

Best Patient Care, Clinical Research and You staff guide Best Patient Care, Clinical Research and You – NHS R&D Forum

Embedding Research in Health and Care Services https://express.adobe.com/page/pV98Q9HG5cZCW/

Maximising the benefits of research: Guidance for integrated care systems NHS England » Maximising the benefits of research: Guidance for integrated care systems

Privacy Notice

Privacy Notice – Children

1. Postgraduate Training – Firdale Medical Centre is a teaching practice and offer placements for registrar and trainee doctors who have worked in hospitals for a number of years. This is valuable work experience and also benefits us by stimulating new ideas within the practice.
2. Teaching Medical Students – We also teach in association with the University of Manchester and students may be present at your consultation but we will give you notice of this in advance. Please speak to one of our receptionists if you would prefer to see the doctor on your own.

NHS England require that the net earnings of doctors engaged in the practice is 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 for any judgement about GP earnings, nor to make any comparisons with other practices.

The average earnings for GPs working in the Firdale Medical Centre in the last financial year ending in 2023/24 was £67,135 before taxation and National Insurance. 

This is for 2 full time GPs, 6 part time GPs and 2 locum GPs who worked in the practice for more than 6 months.

This notice briefly explains why the doctor’s surgery collects information about you, and how that information may be used.

The health and social care professionals who provide you with care maintain records about your health and any treatment or care you have received previously (e.g. NHS Trust, GP Surgery, Walk-in clinic, social care package etc.). These records help to provide you with the best possible health and social care.

Records may be held in electronic or manual (written down) format, and may include the following information;

• Details about you, such as address and next of kin
• Any contact the surgery has had with you, such as appointments, clinic visits, emergency appointments, etc.
• Notes and reports about your health
• Details about your treatment and care
• Results of investigations, such as laboratory tests, x-rays, etc.
• Relevant information from other health professionals, relatives or those who care for you and know you well

To ensure you receive the best possible care, your records are used to facilitate the care you receive and will be shared with other health and social care professionals to aid decision making about your total care package.

Information held about you may also be used to help protect the health of the public and to help us manage the NHS. Information may be used for clinical audit to monitor the quality of the service provided. Where we do this, we take strict measures to ensure that individual patients cannot be identified.

Some of this information will be held centrally and used for statistical purposes. Where we do this, we take strict measures to ensure that individual patients cannot be identified.

Sometimes your information may be requested to be used for research purposes – the surgery will always endeavour to gain your consent before releasing the information.

Should you have any concerns about how your information is managed at the surgery please contact the Patient Services Manager to discuss how the disclosure of your personal information can be limited.

How do we maintain the confidentiality of your records?

Every member of staff who works for an NHS or social care organisation has a legal obligation to keep information about you confidential. Anyone who receives information from an NHS or social care organisation has a legal duty to keep it confidential.

We maintain our duty of confidentiality to you at all times. We will only ever use or pass on information about you if others involved in your care have a genuine need for it. We will not disclose your information to any third party without your permission unless there are exceptional circumstances (i.e. life or death situations), or where the law requires information to be passed on.

Who are our partner organisations?

We may also have to share your information, subject to strict agreements on how it will be used, with the following organisations:

• NHS Trusts / Specialist Trusts / Independent Contractors such as dentists, opticians, pharmacists
• Private Sector Providers / Voluntary Sector Providers
• Ambulance Trusts / Clinical Commissioning Groups /Social Care Services
• Local Authorities / Education Services / Fire and Rescue Services / Police / Other ‘data processors’

Access to your Information

You have a right under the Data Protection Act 1998 to access/view what information the surgery holds about you, and to have it amended or removed should it be inaccurate. This is known as ‘the right of subject access’. If you would like to make a ‘subject access request’, please contact the Patient Services Manager in writing.

Cheshire Care Record Leaflet

All information held about patients is completely confidential and everyone working for the NHS has a legal duty to maintain the highest level of confidentiality about patient information.

Your Medical Record

If you wish to access your own personal health records you can do so online via Patient Access. Please click here to go to the Patient Access page for information. Due to current data protection legislation we will ask you to request the access in writing by completing specific forms. This will allow as to set up Patient Access for you. The request will have to be processed by our administration team which due to large number of requests made may take a few days.

If you wish to request a copy of your medical records the quickest way to do so is through Patient Access. They will not only be available to you at time of you choosing but also will be current including your recent consultations. If you cannot access your medical records online then an encrypted disc can be created for you. Please contact the reception for more information.

If you would like a third party to view your records (solicitor/other) you will need to complete one of our consent forms.  We will then contact the third party company and advise them of this process.  Please contact us for more information.

You will not be charged for accessing your medical records.

What information do we hold about you?

We ask you for information about yourself so we can give you the most appropriate care and treatment. This information is kept together with details of the care you receive for future reference.  For a full list of the information we keep/share please contact the surgery or click on the documents below:

• Data Flow Mapping 2018-2019 
• Data Flow Mapping 2018-2019 OUTBOUND

How do I know it will be kept in a confidential way?

Everyone working for the NHS or in General Practice has a legal, ethical and contractual duty to keep information confidential and anyone who receives information from us is bound by the same legal duty.

Will my information be shared with anyone?

If you are receiving care from other people as well as the NHS, we may need to share information to enable us all to work together for your benefit. We only ever use or pass on information about you if people have a genuine need for it in your and everyone’s interest.

For a full list of the information we share please contact the surgery or see the documents above.

The sharing of some information is strictly controlled by law, so unless there are exceptional circumstances, such as when the safety of others is at risk, we will not disclose your information to other parties without your permission.

Requesting access on behalf of someone else (child/carer etc)

If you would like to request medical records access on behalf of another person (carer etc) then please request this via our appropriate consent form.