The Reasonable Adjustment Digital Flag Information Standard is a legal requirement and defines the process by which health and care organisations and their IT system providers must identify, record, flag, share, meet and review the reasonable adjustment needs of disabled people.

The Reasonable Adjustment Digital Flag is a visible marker on a patient’s record which identifies the changes that need to be made by health and care services to make services as accessible for disabled people as they are for everyone else.

Benefits

• The Flag is immediately visible (to reception staff, as permitted by local role-based access controls) when the patient is referred or presents for care, often when no other information is available.
• It will ensure that details of impairments and other key information (such as communication requirements) are shared consistently across the NHS – with patient consent.
• Supports carers to feel less stressed by informing them of adjustments to services.
• It can help to reduce stress both for the patient and those treating them.
• Specialist teams will be able to set the Flag – driving up the number of patients recorded on registers, who are identified for and can benefit from adjustments. This will help screening services to adapt services to ensure patients receive screening.
• It satisfies legal obligations under the Equality Act 2010 and NHS contracts and as defined in the NHS Long Term Plan.

These changes need to be made before someone receives care or treatment and are called reasonable adjustments.

This will really make a difference to patients, carers and staff for patient experience and for health and care outcomes.

Reasonable adjustments are the changes services and public settings must make to ensure people with any disability can access them.

People with disabilities should be able to access services just as easily as people without a disability, as far as possible.

The legal duty for reasonable adjustments is anticipatory (which means changes must be made in advance or in expectation of a future event or outcome). To achieve this, we should know about any reasonable adjustments needed prior to the person attending for care, or as soon as possible at the time they present for care.

This information needs to be visible at every stage of the patient journey.

Impairment types

• Vision – for example blindness or partial sight
• Hearing – for example deafness or partial hearing
• Mobility – for example walking short distances or climbing stairs
• Dexterity – for example lifting and carrying objects, using a keyboard
• Learning or understanding or concentrating
• Memory
• Mental health
• Stamina or breathing or fatigue
• Social or behavioural – for example associated with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) which includes Asperger’s, or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
• Other (please specify)
• Prefer not to say

The Reasonable Adjustment Flag considers a range of adjustments and requirements for patients, including:

• a deaf patient who requires a communication device or BSL speaker
• a patient who is anxious in clinical settings and therefore may need additional considerations to keep them calm
• a patient who is sensitive to loud noises and would be more comfortable in a low noise environment
• alterations to buildings by providing lifts, wide doors, ramps for those who need an accessible way to access a service
• changes to policies, procedures and staff training to ensure that services work for people with physical or sensory disabilities, learning disabilities or long-term conditions such as dementia

From the 1st April 2015 the NHS requires that every patient is allocated a named accountable GP. All patients registered patients have been allocated a named GP and any newly registered patients will be allocated a named GP within 21 days of registering. This is for administrative purposes only and you retain the right to see any of our GPs. You will still be able to book an appointment with the GP of your choice.

What does ‘accountable’ mean?

The named accountable GP takes responsibility for the co-ordination of all medical services and ensures they are delivered to each of their patients where required.
This new arrangement has been introduced to reassure patients that they have one GP within the practice who is responsible for ensuring that work is carried out on their behalf.

Does the requirement mean 24-hour responsibility for patients?
No. The named GP will not:

• take on responsibility for the work of other doctors or health professionals
• take on 24-hour responsibility for the patient, or have to change their working hours.
• be the only GP or clinician who will provide care to that patient

Can patients choose their own named GP?

Patients have been allocated a named GP by the practice. However, if a patient requests a particular GP, reasonable efforts will be made to accommodate their preference.

Do patients have to see the named GP when they book an appointment with the practice?

No. Patients are free to choose to see any GP or nurse in the practice.

If you would like to know who your named accountable GP is, or you have a preference as to which GP you are allocated please contact the Surgery for more information.

Cleckheaton Group Practice is dedicated to providing compassionate, caring services to the community we serve. Working in a professional manner with every patient, passionate about providing excellent, accessible and responsive care for all and committed to empowering our community of patients to live healthier lives.

The NHS operate a zero tolerance policy with regard to violence and abuse and the practice has the right to remove violent patients from the list with immediate effect in order to safeguard practice staff, patients and other persons. Violence in this context includes actual or threatened physical violence or verbal abuse which leads to fear for a person’s safety. In this situation we will notify the patient in writing of their removal from the list and record in the patient’s medical records the fact of the removal and the circumstances leading to it.

In accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998 and Access to Health Records Act, patients may request to see their medical records. Such requests should be made through the practice manager and may be subject to an administration charge. No information will be released without the patient consent unless we are legally obliged to do so.

Information about the General Practitioners and the practice required for disclosure under this act can be made available to the public. All requests for such information should be made to the practice manager.

The practice complies with data protection and access to medical records legislation. Identifiable information about you will be shared with others in the following circumstances:

• To provide further medical treatment for you e.g. from district nurses and hospital services.
• To help you get other services e.g. from the social work department. This requires your consent.
• When we have a duty to others e.g. in child protection cases anonymous patient information will also be used at local and national level to help the Health Board and Government plan services e.g. for diabetic care.

If you do not wish anonymous information about you to be used in such a way, please let us know.

Reception and administration staff require access to your medical records in order to do their jobs. These members of staff are bound by the same rules of confidentiality as the medical staff.