Welcome to the Nuffield Practice
We hope you will find this a useful resource to help you to make good use of our services.
Our practice philosophy is to provide a high quality and caring service to our patients, which is accessible and considerate, in an open and friendly atmosphere. We believe in involving patients in their healthcare by open and effective communication. We recognise the value of each other and encourage the active participation of all our staff in improving the ways in which we deliver our service.
We are proud that ours is a training practice, accredited by the University of Oxford Deanery for training doctors in general practice.
General Practice Data for Planning and Research (GPDPR)
This practice is supporting vital health and care planning and research by sharing your data with NHS Digital. For more information about this see the GP Practice Privacy Notice at:
NHS Digital's own website.
Note that consent to have your data shared in this way is atuomatic unless you opt out by 23 June 2021.
What Data is Shared
Data may be shared from the GP medical records about:
- any living patient registered at a GP practice in England when the collection started - this includes children and adults
- any patient who died after 1 July 2021, and was previously registered at a GP practice in England when the data collection start
NHS Digital will not collect patients’ names or addresses. Any other data that could directly identify patients (such as NHS Number, date of birth, full postcode) is replaced with unique codes which are produced by de-identification software before the data is shared with NHS Digital.
This process is called pseudonymisation and means that patients will not be identified directly in the data. NHS Digital will be able to use the software to convert the unique codes back to data that could directly identify patients in certain circumstances, and where there is a valid legal reason.
To Opt out Of Data Sharing
If you would prefer that your identifiable patient data is only shared for your own health care purposes, you can opt-out by registering a Type 1 Opt-out or a National Data Opt-out, or both.
These opt-outs are different and they are explained in more detail in below. Your individual care will not be affected if you opt-out using either option (or both).
A Type 1 opt out has to be registered by your Practice; please let us know if you want to register a type 1 opt out.
A National Opt out can be done without contacting your practice, at https://www.nhs.uk/your-nhs-data-matters/
Type 1 Opt-out (opting out of NHS Digital collecting your data)
NHSD will not collect data from GP practices about patients who have registered a Type 1 Opt-out with their practice. More information about Type 1 Opt-outs is in the GP Data for Planning and Research Transparency Notice, including a form that you can complete and send to your GP practice.
This collection will start on 1 July 2021 so if you do not want your data to be shared with NHS Digital, please register your Type 1 Opt-out with your GP practice by 23 June 2021.
If you register a Type 1 Opt-out after this collection has started, no more of your data will be shared with NHSD. They will however still hold the patient data which was shared before you registered the Type 1 Opt-out.
If you do not want NHS Digital to share your identifiable patient data with anyone else for purposes beyond your own care, then you can also register a National Data Opt-out.
You can download a blank form here which you can then send to us by post or email.
National Data Opt-out (opting out of NHS Digital sharing your data with other organizations)
NHSD will collect data from GP medical records about patients who have registered a National Data Opt-out. The National Data Opt-out applies to identifiable patient data about your health, which is called confidential patient information.
NHS Digital won’t share any confidential patient information about you - this includes GP data, or other information, such as hospital data - with other organisations, unless there is an exemption to this.
To find out more information and how to register a National Data Opt-Out, please read NHSD GP Data for Planning and Research Transparency Notice.
Dear Patients,
We are currently experiencing an unprecedented level of demand on our services. This is not unique to this surgery and it’s being reported from other GP practices nationally.
This is creating a lot of pressure on the systems we have in place, and we recognise that this can be the cause of frustration.
Please do try to be patient. If you find yourself waiting a long time to get through on the phone, it is because there are other patients who also need our attention and are trying to get through at time same time. If you are asked to call back to speak to someone on a different day, it’s because the person who is best suited to deal with your problem is not in on the day that you called, or is already fully booked up with other equally important patients.
Every single request for a GP appointment is assessed by a GP on the same day. The outcome of this will depend on the outcome of that assessment. It might not result in an appointment with a GP.
We have to work within the appointment capacity we have available. Any one GP has to have a safe and manageable workload. An unsafe workload introduces risk of harm.
We always try and encourage patients to have contact with the same GP. There is good evidence that continuity of care achieves better outcomes and we believe it is more efficient.
Ensuring the above sometimes means that people are requested to phone back at a more appropriate time, or to speak to a more appropriate person. Things which absolutely need to be dealt with urgently are dealt with urgently. Things which we are less urgent (but not less important) sometimes need to wait.
We previously had a system of patients booking in directly to face to face appointments, and that resulted in a wait of 8 weeks. This was a source of a lot of complaints, understandably, and we moved to the current model in response to that. The current system is not a response to COVID (though it was easily to accommodate the requirements of working during the pandemic within it).
Again: please be patient. We don’t actually want to be or enjoy triaging workload as doctors, and are happiest when we’re just seeing people. We want to help you.
The Nuffield Practice GPs and staff.
Street Tag
We’re excited to announce that we are part of a small trial with four other GP practices to create a GP league on Street Tag. And we will be inviting people to join our Street Tag team by SMS text, letter, or a chat.
Street Tag is a fun, free, smartphone app that turns physical activity into a game and converts walking into Street Tag points (called tags). Over the last few months, it’s been changing Oxfordshire’s streets and parks into a giant virtual playground and now it’s our turn to get on board.
Walking is one of the easiest ways to get more active, lose weight and become healthier. You don’t have to walk for hours, a brisk 10-minute daily walk has lots of health benefits and counts towards your recommended 150 minutes exercise a week.
If you're not very active increase your walking distance gradually. The easiest way to walk more is to make walking a habit. Earn points for our practice every time you go out for a walk, whether it’s walking to the local shops, with friends or family, or walking the dog.
When playing Street Tag, you can record the distance you’ve walked, or cycled by scanning virtual tags with your smartphone at various geographic locations. Watch your total distance accumulate and see how our practice climbs up the Oxfordshire’s GP leaderboard. The app can run in the background, so it automatically collects tags in a 40-metre radius allowing you to focus on your journey and not your phone.
The GP league is being trialed to help encourage people who are less active to get walking, collect points for our team and help our practice top the leaderboard and win a reward. Contact Community Connect, West Oxfordshire’s social prescribing service on 0808 278 7908 if you would like information on getting active, advice or to talk through any concerns you have
If you have received an invite from us to join our Street Tag team:
- Every step counts and by scanning virtual tags you will convert your steps into Street Tag Points.
- The GP that tops the leaderboard will win £50 voucher and the team members for the winning team will help decide how the voucher is spent.
If you haven’t received an invite to join our team:
You can still join in the Street Tag fun and play in Oxfordshire’s community league, either as an individual or with your family and friends as a team of up to six people.
- Download the Street Tag app from the Play Store or App Store.
- Select Oxfordshire for the league table.
- Create your team or play as an individual.
- Earn points from physical activities, walking, running, cycling by scanning virtual tags and convert your steps into Street Tag Point.
- Top the leader board to get rewards and the chance to win prizes from Street Tag such as amazon vouchers, gift cards, sports equipment and lots more.
Get ready to push the boundaries and start your journey to a healthy lifestyle with Street Tag.
Coronavirus (COVID-19)
We would like to reassure all of our patients that we are running 'business as normal'. We are open and we are seeing those patients that need to be seen. We have social distancing measures in place, temperatures are taken of all patients that enter the building for an appointment, and we ask all patients to wear a face covering unless they are exempt. This covering can be a mask, a scarf, or something else and it must cover your face and your mouth.
We are unable to issue this certificate at the practice.
Please see https://www.gov.uk/guidance/demonstrating-your-covid-19-vaccination-status-when-travelling-abroad for further information.
Proof of your vaccination status will be available in the NHS app from 17th May 2021, (* you may choose to delete this -which is also valuable for accessing your health record and ordering repeat prescriptions***) and in some of the other apps that provide you with Patient online services.
The NHSapp can be downloaded from:
https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/nhs-app/id1388411277 for iPhone/iOS
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.nhs.online.nhsonline for Android.
If you have not used it before, there is a self-registration process within the app to create an "NHS login" as per https://www.nhs.uk/nhs-services/online-services/nhs-log-in/
If you already have access/ login details for patient online services, for example "Patient Access", you may use this.
Alternatively, you can call the NHS helpline on 119 (from 17 May) and ask for a letter to be posted to you. This must be at least 5 days after you’ve completed your course of the vaccine. The letter may to take another 5 days to reach you, or more if postal services are affected. Please take account of this when making your plans.
COVID 19 Vaccination
The COVID-19 vaccination programme is open to anyone aged 18 and over. There are currently two vaccines being used locally in Oxfordshire:
- Pfizer/BioNTech
- Oxford/AstraZeneca
The vaccines are allocated nationally and local centres do not have any influence over which they receive. You cannot choose which vaccine you have. When you book, you'll only be offered appointments for vaccines that are suitable for you.
Most people can have any of the COVID-19 vaccines, but some people are only offered certain vaccines. For example, if you're pregnant or under 40 you'll usually only be offered appointments for the Pfizer/BioNTech or Moderna vaccines.
You should have the same vaccine for both doses, unless you had serious side effects (such as a serious allergic reaction) after your 1st dose. These are very rare reactions and if affected, you will be informed by your GP or hospital clinician, that a different vaccine is necessary for your second dose. Minor side effects after having any of the vaccinations are common and not a cause for concern. These are usually mild and should not last longer than a week, such as:
- a sore arm from the injection
- feeling tired
- a headache
- feeling achy
- feeling or being sick
We will update this information regularly and you can find more information on:
Oxfordshire CCG website - (oxfordshireccg.nhs.uk)
For general advice on the vaccine go to:- The NHS website - NHS (www.nhs.uk)
See link for Frequently Asked Questions:-Patient FAQ.pdf (oxfordshireccg.nhs.uk)
For more information, including patient information leaflets, go to:- COVID-19 vaccination programme - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
UPDATE ON COVID VACCINATIONS FOR AGES 18-49 WITHOUT UNDERLYING HEALTH CONDITIONS
You can book your appointment via the National Booking System on https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/coronavirus-vaccination/book-coronavirus-vaccination/
For clarification, the surgery we will not be offering new vaccinations to patient under 50 without a health condition. We will be completing those who need a second dose and those in the high risk groups who have not yet taken up their offer and we will be contacting you in the normal way.
We understand that there will be a new campaign in the autumn to offer boosters to the high risk groups and we will communicate how we will be doing this when we get the information.
