All health and social care services in Scotland have a duty of candour. This is a legal requirement which means that when things go wrong and mistakes happen, the people affected understand what has happened, receive an apology, and that organisations learn how to improve for the future.

An important part of this duty is that we provide an annual report about the duty of candour in our services.

This short report describes how our care service has operated the duty of candour during the time between 1st April, 2020 and 31st March, 2021. We hope you find this report useful.

How many incidents happened to which the duty of candour applies?

In the last year, there have been no incidents to which the duty of candour applied.

Information about our policies and procedures

When something happens that triggers the duty of candour, the issue will be reported to the Practice Manager and the GP who has responsibility for ensuring that the duty of candour procedure is then followed. The incident will be recorded on the appropriate reporting electronic form.

A Significant Event Analysis will follow which allows everyone involved to review what happened and identify changes for the future. This process is about learning and improving not apportioning blame.

Duty of Candour is part of our training programme and is kept up to date at protected learning time sessions throughout the year.

Where a person using our service has been affected by the duty of candour, we will do our utmost to provide support as necessary.

We are aware that serious mistakes can be distressing for staff as well as people who use our service and have systems in place to offer support following a duty of candour incident.

If you would like more information about Inverurie Medical Group, please contact us by email [email protected] or telephone 0345 337 9911.

Equality and Diversity is simply about treating people fairly, both in the Healthcare Services we provide and within Inverurie Medical Group.

Everyone has a legal right to be treated fairly and free from discrimination. The main piece of legislation in this field is the Equality Act 2010. This Act places a positive duty on all public bodies to actively promote equality and diversity in all services they provide and within their Organisations and adhere to good practice.

The Equality Act 2010 defined the nine components or “protected characteristics” of equality and diversity as:

• Race
• Disability
• Sexual Orientation
• Religion or belief
• Sex (male or female)
• Gender Reassignment
• Age (2006 to 30th September 2012 only applied in the workplace, applied in society generally from 1st October 2012)
• Pregnancy and maternity
• Marriage and civil partnership

A person has legal protection against discrimination arising from one or more of these protected characteristics.

The Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 recognises that members of the public have the right to know how public services are organised and run. Inverurie Medical Group is obliged to respond to requests about recorded information that it holds. The Act creates a right of access to that information, subject to certain exemptions.

We have adopted the British Medical Association model publication scheme for General Practitioners in Scotland. Overall responsibility for the model publication scheme rests with the British Medical Association (BMA). If you wish a copy of our Freedom of Information Act publication, please ask at reception.

NHS Grampian aim to produce a weekly update to waiting time figures; this is the waiting time from referral by the GP to the patient being seen at the relevant clinic.

See NHS Grampian Waiting Times for up to date information.

We Ask That You

1. Treat all healthcare staff in a reasonable, courteous manner.
2. Be on time for appointments.
3. Contact the practice in good time to cancel or rearrange an appointment. This will allow other patients to be seen in the time previously allocated to you.
4. Telephone for a home visit before 10am.
5. Only make use of a 24 hour emergency service in the event of a real emergency.
6. Do not expect a prescription with every consultation.
7. Lead a healthy lifestyle and take advice given to you by your doctor and primary healthcare staff.

All Our Patients Can Expect

1. To receive information about services and treatment.
2. To receive treatment which is safe and effective, based on the best available evidence.
3. To be treated with dignity and respect.
4. To be afforded privacy and confidentiality from all doctors and primary healthcare staff.
5. To be informed and involved regarding all decisions about your care and treatment.
6. To receive effective communication with patients, their families and carers.

Our Practice Privacy Notices explain what information we collect about you, how we store this information, how long we retain it and with whom and for which legal purpose we may share it, the documents can be downloaded here:

For reasons of confidentiality, we cannot give any information including appointment times, test results etc to anyone other than the patient, unless we have written and signed consent from the patient do to so.

Third Party Consent Form, also available from reception.

We reserve the right, in line with the NHS Zero Tolerance Policy, to exclude any individuals who are violent or abusive to the Doctors, the staff or any persons on the practice premises or in the place where treatment is being provided.