Your NHS now offers lots of community services and self-care options that you can access without needing to see your GP first.

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When you request an appointment at your surgery, the receptionist will ask you the reason why you are calling.

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If you tell us the reason for your call, the receptionist might be able to give you information about services or self-care options that you could access for your symptoms.

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You do not have to say what your symptoms are if you don’t want to, but if you do it might get you the help and information that you need more easily and quickly.

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 * Receptionists are NOT trying to be doctors or make medical assessments and they are duty bound to respect your confidentiality, in exactly the same way the GPs are.

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When you telephone the surgery to book an appointment, the receptionist will ask you the following question:

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• Can I ask the reason for your appointment today?

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This is because the receptionist has a number of different options and types of appointments available, and can direct you to the most appropriate option for your specific problem.

The best option might be to go to the pharmacy or the dentist, or if you do need an appointment it might be the Practice Nurse is the best trained person to help, or perhaps another member of our clinical team.

This way, when you really do need to see a GP, there will be a free appointment for you and the GP will have more time to spend with you.

The following list may help you understand the choices available.

We very much hope that this system will make the best use of the services available both at the Practice and in the wider community.

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• Optician – Any eye problems

• Dentist – Any issues with teeth, mouth ulcers, abscesses

• Pharmacy – Acne, Athletes foot, Backache, Bites and Stings, Chicken Pox, Cold sores, Colic, Conjunctivitis, Constipation, Coughs and Colds, Diarrhoea, Dry Eyes, Earache (less than 3 days), Haemorrhoids, Hay fever, Headlice, Indigestion, Mouth ulcers, Nappy rash, Oral Thrush, Ringworm, Scabies, Sore throat, Teething, Threadworms, UTI, Vaginal Thrush.

• Practice Nurse – Asthma, Contraception, COPD, Diabetes,  Hypertension, UTI (if the pharmacy cant help)

• Social Prescriber – Childcare, Social issues, Housing/Benefits, Homelessness, Relationship/Sexual Issues, Smoking, Exercise, Wellbeing, Anxiety and Stress, Bereavement

• GP – Acute new onset rash, Chest Infection, Acute severe back pain, Concerns over children, Earache (for more than 3 days) Children with tummy pain, Heart Palpitations (not chest pain), Pregnancy (vomiting, pain or bleeding), Severe depression, Severe new headache, Suicidal thoughts, Testicular lumps/pain, Unwell child with high fever

• A&E – Acute new onset chest pain, Difficulty breathing, Unconscious, Stroke, Fitting, Floppy ill child, Severe bleeding, Spinal injury, Severe allergic reaction, Head injury, Broken bones, Poisoning, Burns/scalds, Traumatic Injury, Road Traffic Accident, Sprain (unable to use limb), Nose bleed for longer than 20 minutes.

Smoking is not permitted in any part of the building or grounds.

All GP Practices are required to declare mean earnings (i.e. average pay) for GPs working to deliver NHS services to patients at each practice.

The average pay for GPs working at Tooting South Medical Centre in the last financial year was £61,500 before tax and National Insurance.

This is for 3 full time GPs, 1 part time GP and 1 salaried part time GP.

If you need to have a medical or report done for other reasons such as for employment, insurance or driving purposes, this can be arranged at the practice. There is a fee charged for this service, please ask our reception team for further details.

TSMC ZERO TOLERANCE NOTICE

The practice operates a Confidentiality Policy.

You can find our practice Privacy Notice below:

1.3.2- Privacy Policy – All

If you have a complaint or concern about the service you have received from the doctors or any staff at Tooting South Medical Centre, please let us know. We operate a complaints procedure as part of the NHS complaints system, which meets or exceeds national standards.

 

How to Complain

We hope that most problems can be resolved quickly and easily, often at the time they arise and with the person concerned. If you wish to make a formal complaint, please do so as soon as possible — ideally within a few days. This helps us investigate what happened more effectively. If this is not possible, your complaint should be submitted within 12 months of the incident or within 12 months of discovering the issue.

Please send your complaint in writing to the Complaints Manager at the following email:

Anetta Kolek
Tooting South Medical Centre
Email: swlicb.tootingsouthmedicalcentre@nhs.net

When submitting your complaint, please include your full name, date of birth, and address so we can identify you correctly. This information will be kept confidential and will not be shared with anyone outside Tooting South Medical Centre.

 

Complaints on Behalf of Someone Else

We respect patient confidentiality at all times. If you are complaining on behalf of someone else, you must have their permission to do so. A signed authority from the person concerned will be required unless they are unable to provide this due to illness or incapacity. A Third Party Consent Form is available upon request.

 

What We Will Do

The Complaints Manager will ensure your concerns are handled promptly and appropriately. Please be as specific and concise as possible. You will receive an acknowledgement within 24 Hours and a full response within 12 working days of receiving your complaint. If there is a delay, we will inform you in writing with an estimated timeframe.

Our investigation will include reviewing the circumstances, facilitating discussion with those involved, offering an apology if appropriate, and taking steps to prevent recurrence.

You will receive a final letter detailing the outcome of the investigation.

For a faster response, we recommend submitting your complaint by email to avoid postal delays.

 

Taking It Further

If you are not satisfied with our response, you may contact NHS England, who commission local health services. If you remain dissatisfied after their response, you can escalate your complaint to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO).

 

Complaints to NHS England

If your complaint relates to a service directly commissioned by NHS England, you should try to resolve it informally with the service provider first. If informal resolution is not possible or unsuccessful, you may raise a formal complaint to either the service provider or NHS England.

You can contact NHS England by:

• Telephone: 0800 026 6082
• Email: contactus@swlondon.nhs.uk
• Post: NHS South West London ICB, 120 the Broadway, London, SW19 1RH

The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman

Millbank Tower
21 Millbank,
London,
SW1P 4QP

Tel: 0345 015 4033
Website: www.ombudsman.org.uk

If you disagree with the Ombudsman’s decision, you may appeal. Their decision is final unless new significant issues arise.