Introduction
As we get older, accessing GP practices often becomes a more
prominent part of our lives, and can play an important role in helping us to stay healthy and independent.
In recent years, the way that services are delivered by GP practices
has changed a great deal, and older people sometimes face
difficulties when trying to access what they need.
That’s why the Commissioner has published this helpful guide,
which provides information on:
- What you can expect from your GP practice
- Your rights
- What to do if you are experiencing difficulties
The guide also provides details and contact information for
organisations that can provide help and support if you are finding it
difficult to access your GP practice, or the services available, or if
you are concerned your rights are not being upheld.
About this guide
In this guide, you’ll see reference to things that a GP or a practice
‘must’ do, which means there is a legal, contractual or other
requirement to do them. The same applies to things a GP or
practice is ‘required’ to do or has ‘a duty’ to do.
If a GP or practice is not doing these things, you can challenge them
about it. You can find information about how to do this at the end of
this guide.
Where this guide states that a GP or practice ‘should’ do something
or that ‘you can expect’ them to do something, then it is good
practice for them to do it, but it is not compulsory.
All GP practices must comply with the Equality Act 2010 when
delivering NHS services. This means that they must not discriminate
when providing services and must make ‘reasonable adjustments’
so that people with disabilities can access their services.
If you are concerned that your GP practice is not treating you
equitably, you should contact the Equality Advisory and Support
Service (see page 38).
A GP practice may have premises (surgeries) in several different
places. Where this guide refers to a practice, it means the practice
as a whole, not a local surgery. Local arrangements may vary from
surgery to surgery within the practice.
This guide applies to GP practices in Wales. People living in Wales
but registered with a GP in England may find they have different
rights, access and experiences from those described here.
Your rights: a summary
Understanding our rights can help us in a wide range of situations,
including when using GP services. So it’s useful to remember that if
you live in Wales, you have a right to:
- Be registered with a GP practice.
- Have a new patient appointment within six months of
registration. - Access your practice in person, by telephone and online
during opening hours. - An appointment on the same day if a clinician decides your
need is urgent. - State a preference for seeing a particular healthcare
professional. - Free prescriptions from a pharmacist in Wales (if you are
registered with a GP in Wales). - Access your practice’s information and services in a way that
suits you. - Access your personal health information, or in certain
circumstances the health record of a deceased person. - Any information you give your practice being treated in
confidence. - An information leaflet setting out the range of services your
practice provides. - Information on how to get help and advice.
- Welsh language versions of any documents provided by the
Health Board. - Move your registration to another practice.
GP practices in Wales must:
- Provide services for people who have health conditions from which they are expected to recover, chronic disease management and general management of terminally ill patients.
- Provide services at times that are appropriate to meet the
reasonable needs of patients. - Ensure that people can access GP services effectively offline
and online. - Offer pre-bookable appointments to take place during core hours.
- Ensure that patients can access services throughout core hours in an emergency.
- Have their ‘main premises’ doors open and staff on site
between 8.30am and 6.00pm. - Provide a recorded greeting in English and Welsh on the
telephone. - Tell you if there is a charge for a service.
- Consider people’s experiences of accessing and using their services and take proportionate action to address any equality issues.
- Capture, record, highlight and share your communication
needs if you are living with sensory loss. - Ensure that any new signs and notices about NHS services
are bilingual; in English and Welsh.
There are also a number of things that GP practices should be doing to help meet people’s needs. This good practice includes:
- Offering a mixture of remote (telephone or video), face to
face, urgent, on the day and pre-bookable appointments,
determined by the practice in discussion with patients. - Treating an online request in the same way as a telephone
request. - Offering you an appropriate consultation when you first
contact your practice, based on an assessment of your
clinical need. - Providing a telephone service that fully meets patients’ needs.
- Considering your experience of accessing them online and by
telephone. - Asking your preferred language and making a record of it.
- Recording the fact that you are caring for someone else.
Your rights to General Medical Services (GP practice services)
If you live in Wales, you have a right to be registered with a GP
practice that serves the area where you live.
You can find details of local practices in the NHS 111 local services
directory, or by calling 111 on your phone.
When you contact your chosen practice and ask to be included on
their patient list, you will be asked to complete a form to enable your
medical records to be transferred.
You may also be asked to complete a health questionnaire so the
practice has a basic health record for you while your records are
transferred, which may take some time.
When you register, it’s a good time to let the practice know if you are
caring for someone else, have trouble with your eyesight, hearing or
mobility, prefer to speak a certain language, or any other things they
need to know about you.
You have a right to be offered a new patient consultation within six months of joining the practice. During this consultation, the
healthcare professional will ask you questions and examine you,
tailored to what they think is appropriate for you.
If you live in a care home
If you move permanently into a care home near your previous
home, you may be able to stay with the same GP practice. If you
move out of the practice’s area, you may need to register with a new
practice.
You should receive the same range of healthcare services when you
are living in the care home as you received when you were living in
your previous home.
Changing practices
To change your practice, you should contact the surgery you wish
to register with. If they agree to take you on, they will ask you to
complete a form, which will enable your medical records to be
transferred there, as described above.
You do not have to explain why you want to change your GP
practice.
Refusal of registration
A practice can refuse to register you if it has sufficient grounds for
doing so – if you live outside the practice area, for example, or if
they have closed their patient list.
If you are refused registration the practice should give you an
explanation.
If you can’t find a GP to register with, you should contact NHS 111
Wales (you can find contact details at the end of this guide). They
should be able to direct you to an alternative practice.
Removal from the practice register
A practice can remove you from their register if you move out of
the practice area. If you leave the UK for more than twelve weeks,
the health board may tell the practice to close your record. If you
think this is likely to happen, you should discuss it with your practice
manager.
People may also be removed from the register if they have been
verbally or physically abusive to people at the surgery.
You should normally receive a warning and explanation before you
are removed unless you have been violent towards staff. In this
case you can be removed from the list immediately.
A practice must not refuse to register you or remove you from the
practice register if this would amount to discrimination under the
Equality Act, as highlighted above.
Services
The exact range of services provided by a GP practice will vary, but
any practice should provide access to a wide range of healthcare
services suited to the needs of local people.
Practices are required to produce leaflets (online and paper copies),
which provide information about the range of services they provide,
which must be available from the practice on request.
Core services which must be provided include:
- GP consultations
- Chronic disease management, such as asthma and diabetes clinics
- Certain vaccinations and immunisations
- Cervical cytology screening
- Certain minor surgery procedures
GPs can also provide advice about worries or concerns you might be having and can help you find support if you are experiencing
domestic abuse (or other types of abuse).
Your practice may also provide more specialised services, such as
anticoagulant monitoring (medication to help with blood clotting) or
minor surgery.
Some practices offer other complementary services, which can
include counselling, dermatology, or dressing clinics.
Finally, a GP practice may offer non-NHS services, usually for a
fee, such as private sick notes, prescriptions for taking medication
abroad, vaccination certificates, employment-related medical
assessments or passport signing.
Opening hours
Most GP Practices are open throughout core opening hours, which
are 8am to 6.30pm, Monday to Friday (excluding bank holidays).
However, there is no requirement for a practice to deliver all
services at all times, and practices may close temporarily for things
like training or staff reviews. A branch surgery may also have
different opening hours to the main surgery.
Practices are required to provide services at times that are
appropriate to meet the reasonable needs of individuals, and to
ensure that people can access services throughout core hours in an
emergency.
Out of hours services
If you need a GP after surgery hours, you should telephone your
surgery and listen to the recorded message. This should direct you
to the out of hours service covering your practice.
Alternatively, you can ring 111 for advice. They will determine if you
need to see an out of hours GP and direct you to an appropriate
service for an appointment.
Contacting your practice
In person
A main practice premises must have its doors open so that patients
can physically access the premises between the hours of 8.30am
and 6.00pm.
Visiting the practice in person may sometimes be subject to
restrictions to prevent the spread of highly infectious or serious
conditions.
By telephone
Practices must answer their telephones for the duration of core hours (8.00am to 6.30pm, Monday to Friday) unless there are
exceptional circumstances, and the health board has agreed that
they can use an answer phone to manage incoming calls.
If you telephone your practice, your call should be answered initially
by a standard recorded message. You should then be put through
to a member of the practice team, who will help you to access the right care or signpost you to another service if this is clinically
appropriate.
All practices are expected to provide a telephone service that fully
meets people’s needs and to take feedback on the service into
consideration.
If the telephone service at your practice is not meeting your needs,
you should discuss this with the practice manager. If you are still not
satisfied, you can raise a concern through the Putting Things Right
process (details are included on page 38).
Online
Patients must be able to access the practice online for non-urgent
appointments and callbacks, and the practice should consider
people’s experience of using digital means of access.
Your GP Practice may also use an online self-referral tool such as
eConsult or Accurx.
These tools let people consult with their GP online by completing
a quick form that is sent and reviewed by the practice. They also
direct the patient to self-help, pharmacy advice and local self-referral services. Once your query is submitted the practice will respond to you by email or telephone.
The GP practice’s digital platform is intended to be used for non-urgent access and should only be used during core hours.
You can also now manage your prescriptions and (if your practice
has enabled this) appointments using the NHS Wales App, which
you can download from the App Store or Google Play, or via the NHS Wales website.
To access GP services via the App, you must be registered with a GP practice in Wales that is connected to the App and have a fully verified NHS login, or a valid photo ID to set one up. If you do not have photo ID, your practice should be able to verify your registration.
If you contact your practice online, your request should be treated
the same as a request by telephone. This means any help to support you to access the care you need must be equivalent to the help provided on the telephone.
Making an appointment
When you contact your practice to make an appointment, the
practice must offer you an appropriate consultation if it has
assessed that you have a clinical need to access their services.
The practice should offer you the appointment when you first
contact them. You should not have to contact them again. If a clinician decides that your need is urgent, you must be offered
an appointment on the same day.
If your need is not so urgent, you must be able to book an appointment in advance. Your practice should normally book you in
for an appointment within two to three weeks, but they may make
appointment slots available up to six weeks in advance.
Practices should no longer be releasing all appointments at 8am for
that day.
Finding the right appointment
Practices should offer a mixture of remote (telephone or video), face
to face, urgent, on the day and pre-bookable appointments, and
discuss the type of appointment with you.
An appointment usually lasts about 10-15 minutes, but you can
request a double appointment if you have complex issues to
discuss.
You may not need to see a GP and it may be quicker and more
effective to see another healthcare professional at the practice.
When you contact the practice, the receptionist (care navigator)
will need to ask you some questions to help you make the right
appointment for you.
Answering these questions will help to ensure they identify the best
healthcare professional for you to see. Providing the information
they ask for will make it easier for them to identify the best
professional for you to see.
Home visits
If you are unable to travel to your GP practice due to severe illness,
disability, frailty or caring responsibilities, you may wish to request a
home visit.
When requesting a home visit, it is important to give a full description of your condition and your circumstances, as this will
enable the clinical team to determine the need for one.
Although the practice will have a policy on home visits, decisions
should still be made on a case-by-case basis.
The practice team
Your GP practice is staffed by a team of healthcare professionals
(doctors, nurses, therapists and others) who specialise in certain
areas of treatment and support, and administrative staff (including
the practice manager, receptionists or care navigators and
administrators) who are there to help you get the right treatment
from the right professional as quickly as possible.
When you contact your practice for an appointment, you may be
advised to see a health professional other than a GP. This will help
ensure you get the most appropriate and effective treatment and
support, and that you can benefit from the specialist skills on offer
within the practice. You can find more details about the roles of
different health professionals working in GP practices on page 41. Seeing a health professional other than a GP where appropriate
may also enable you to be seen and treated more quickly.
You can access any healthcare professional in the practice directly
when appropriate, without going through the GP first.
The mix of healthcare professionals in GP practice teams will vary
from practice to practice (and from premises to premises if your
practice has more than one surgery).
Your GP practice works as part of a wider network of health
professionals in your community such as dieticians, podiatrists,
speech and language therapists, mental health teams and
community and district nurses.
In addition, community pharmacies offer health advice, provide
over-the-counter medicines and dispense prescriptions, as well as
prescribing medication for certain conditions in some cases.
You can access some of these services directly, and your practice
may refer you to one of these services without seeing the GP first, if
this would best meet your needs.
Asking to see a named healthcare professional
If you prefer to see a particular GP, you can let the practice know
and they should record this. You can ask to see any GP or nurse in
the practice, but doing so will depend on whether they are available.
The practice should make reasonable efforts to accommodate your
preference, but they cannot guarantee that you will be able to see
that person every time.
Asking to see a healthcare professional of the same sex
If you would prefer to see a female or male healthcare professional,
you can ask when booking your appointment. You may have to wait
longer for one to become available. There may also not be male and female alternatives in the practice.
If this is the case, your practice may be able to collaborate with a
neighbouring practice to arrange an examination with a healthcare
professional of the sex you prefer, although this may not be possible.
You can also ask for a chaperone to attend any appointment. A
chaperone is usually a healthcare professional but sometimes a
member of the administrative team.
Their role is to be an impartial observer, recognise someone’s
vulnerability and provide emotional comfort and reassurance.
You can also bring a family member, friend or carer with you to an
appointment if you wish.
Attending an appointment
Reminders
Most GP practices in Wales use text messages to send appointment
reminders and other information to their patients.
You may need to complete a consent form to use the service, or to
opt out of the service if you do not consent.
Cancelling an appointment
It is important to inform your practice if you are unable to attend an
appointment, and to give as much notice as possible, which will
allow that appointment to be offered to someone else.
If you have difficulty attending appointments due to, for example,
caring responsibilities, you should explain this to your practice.
Transport to the surgery
If you need help with transport to your appointment, your GP
practice and/or local third sector organisations should be able to
give you information about any local community transport schemes,
volunteer car schemes, dial-a-ride and similar schemes which
operate in your area.
Your appointment
Ahead of your appointment (often referred to as a ‘consultation’)
with a healthcare professional, it can be useful to make notes to
remind you of things you want to tell them or ask about.
When you speak to your healthcare professional, it is very important
to give them the whole picture – even if you think something is
trivial, you should not leave it out.
If you are hesitant to give a health professional certain information
because you do not know them, you should still tell them.
It is also important to answer all of their questions, even if you have
answered them before. Healthcare professionals often ask repeat
questions for a reason (e.g. to check whether there has been any
change in your condition since the last time they saw you).
If you don’t understand what the healthcare professional is saying
about your diagnosis or treatment, it is fine to ask for an explanation
or for the answer to be written down to read again later.
It is also acceptable to ask questions about the healthcare
professional’s diagnosis and the course of treatment they are
proposing. For example, you may want to ask:
• Is there more than one treatment?
• What are the pros and cons of different treatments?
• Are there are any common side effects?
If you think you might be unable to follow your healthcare
professional’s advice, you should tell them so you can discuss how
they may be able to help you, or how you can get help from another
source, depending on the nature of the difficulty.
Second opinions
If you have doubts about your diagnosis or the treatment that has
been recommended, you can ask your GP to refer you for a second
opinion.
There is no right to a second opinion, but GPs rarely refuse unless
there is a good reason.
You may be referred to another GP in your practice or to a
consultant.
If your case is complicated or the diagnosis is unclear, your GP or
consultant may seek a second opinion to ensure that all possible
treatment options are explored.
Unpaid Carers
If you are caring for someone else, you should tell your practice as
soon as possible so they can record this on your medical records.
Once they understand your caring responsibilities and the pressures
you are under, they will be able to offer advice tailored to your
circumstances and, if necessary, provide more support when they
diagnose and treat you in the future.
Authorising someone else to discuss your health care
If you wish to give someone else permission to discuss your health
care with your GP practice, you should put this in writing. The
practice will then make a note of this on your record.
Referrals
If you have an issue that requires further investigation, your GP
or another health professional may refer you to an appropriate
specialist in the NHS, such as a cardiologist or orthopaedic surgeon.
Following a referral, you should receive a letter from the specialist
that explains what you need to do next.
Waiting times for specialist investigations and treatment can be long
and there may be little the practice can do to speed them up.
If your medical issues worsen, or you require treatment while you
are waiting, you can arrange a further appointment with your GP for
medical care.
If you wish to use a private specialist or hospital, you should speak
to your GP practice.
After discharge from hospital
Following hospital treatment, you are discharged back into the care of your GP. Accurate information / records should be sent quickly to
your GP to allow them to manage your ongoing care, although this
may sometimes be delayed.
If you are concerned that you have not heard from your GP after you have been discharged from hospital, you should contact your practice.
Ordering medication
If you are registered with a GP in Wales, you are entitled to free
prescriptions from a pharmacist in Wales.
For ‘one off’ or short-term medications, you will be provided with what’s known as an ‘acute prescription’ by a GP or health professional, e.g. antibiotics to treat an infection.
If a problem has not got better or has come back, your practice
may be able to give you another acute prescription without needing
another appointment.
If you take medication regularly, you will usually have a repeat
prescription, allowing you to order what you need when you need
it without having to see a GP or health professional. Sometimes,
however, you may need a medication review before your next
prescription is issued (if this the case, you should make an appointment for the review and ask the practice to provide an
interim prescription to tide you over until the review).
If you receive a prescription from a hospital, this medication should
be collected from the hospital pharmacy.
Getting test results
When your GP practice orders a test for you, you should be told
how long you should expect to wait for the results and how to get
them.
You may need to call the practice after the expected date of return,
and the practice may only contact you if it is necessary to follow up
on the results.
If your test has been ordered by a hospital, the hospital is
responsible for telling you the result, not your GP practice.
Reception staff can give out some test results over the phone or
face-to-face. However, they are not qualified to comment on test
results. You should therefore check the results and make a follow-up
appointment to discuss them with a doctor if necessary.
Your practice should have strict policies on confidentiality and data
protection. They should only give out results to the person they
relate to unless that person has given prior permission for their
release or if they are not capable of understanding them. If the
person concerned is under 16, the results can be given to the parent
or guardian.
Paying for healthcare from your GP practice
GPs do not charge for basic NHS treatment. Your practice must tell
you if there is a charge for a service.
Vaccines which are offered to certain population groups at higher
risk, such as shingles, covid, flu and pneumonia, are free.
Some travel vaccines, for infectious diseases such as Hepatitis A,
typhoid and cholera are also free, but others, for diseases that are
unlikely to spread if someone catches them (e.g. rabies) must be
paid for.
If your GP thinks you need to see a specialist and you want to pay for it privately, they can refer you to a private consultant or specialist.
Some GP services, such as medical reports for employers or insurance purposes, are also not covered by the NHS and are
charged for.
Getting the information you need
GP practices must produce a practice leaflet, which describes the
services available to their patients, and provides information about
things like surgery times, clinics and home visits.
GP practices have a number of duties to provide accessible
information to patients and should make reasonable adjustments
(where required) to meet your needs.
Sensory loss
If you live with a form of sensory loss, it is important that you share
your information and communication needs with your practice.
Your practice should be able to meet your needs, e.g. by generating
letters in large print and adding prompts to your medical record
about your communication and information needs.
Practices are required to capture, record, highlight and share the
communication needs of patients with sensory loss, under the NHS
Wales Accessible Information Standard.
When a GP surgery refers you to a hospital, your information and
communication needs should be sent automatically with the referral.
Language
Your GP practice should ask you which language you prefer to use
and make a record of it. If you are not comfortable communicating in
English or Welsh, you should ask your practice about interpretation
services.
GP practices must undertake a number of duties relating to the
Welsh language, including:
- Providing a recorded greeting in English and Welsh on the
telephone. - Providing Welsh language versions of all documents or forms
provided by the local health board. - Encouraging staff to wear a badge or lanyard to show that
they are able to speak or learning Welsh, if they provide
services in Welsh. - Ensuring that any new sign or notice about NHS services
provided is bilingual.
There may be additional Welsh language arrangements in place if your practice is directly managed by a health board. The exact
requirements vary locally. Further information is available from the
office of the Welsh Language Commissioner (contact details are at
the end of this guide).
If you believe that your GP practice is not fulfilling its duties in
relation to the Welsh language, you can raise a complaint with the
health board. You can find out more about raising complaints below.
Non-digital access
You have a right to access information and services in a way that
suits you. If you do not use a computer or smartphone or are not
confident in doing so, you are entitled to receive the same level of
information and service as people who do.
If you have difficulty in accessing what you need, you should contact
the practice manager or ask for support through your health board
(contact details are at the end of this guide).
The Commissioner has published a separate guide on your rights to access the information and services you need via non-digital means.
Contact the Commissioner to receive a copy or visit the
Commissioner’s website. Details are on page 37.
Access to health records
You have a right under the Data Protection Act (DPA) 2018 and
General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) to access your personal information, or, in certain circumstances the health record of a deceased person.
If you want to see the health record created by your GP, you should
contact your practice direct and ask for a copy. They can give you a
printed copy of your record or send you a digital version.
When someone dies, their GP health record is stored by the NHS
Wales Shared Services Partnership, so you will need to contact
their local office if you wish to see this (contact details are at the end
of this guide).
How to make your voice heard at your practice
Giving feedback
All healthcare professionals have a duty to listen to patients,
recognising their knowledge and experience of their own health, and
acknowledging their concerns. If there is something you wish to say
to your professional, you are entitled to say it, provided you do so in
a polite, respectful way (professionals should make allowances for
the fact that you may be upset, worried, ill or in pain).
All GP practices are required to have a clear understanding of
patient needs within their practices and how these can be met.
Practices are expected to carry out a National Patient Experience
Survey, consider what their patients are telling them through the
survey, create an action plan based on the feedback and make
improvements. While the survey is running, your practice should
give you the opportunity to take part when you contact the practice.
If practices are making changes to how they operate or to the
services they deliver, they are expected to consult with the public in
their areas in a range of ways, e.g.
- Public meeting events
- Social media engagement
- Letter correspondence
- Posters
- Notices
- Local press announcements
- Patient surveys
Practices will use different combinations of methods and may not
use every method.
Patient Participation Groups
Some GP practices have a Patient Participation Group made up of volunteers from the patients registered with the practice, which meets regularly with members of the practice team.
The group represents patient views and makes suggestions about
improvement to the practice and discusses the practice’s policies
and services.
If your practice has a Patient Participation Group, you may want to consider joining or feeding in your views through one of the members to make your voice heard.
Llais
Llais is the national citizen voice body for health and social care in
Wales. Llais seeks to understand your views and experiences of
health and social care, and to make sure your feedback is used by
decision-makers to shape your services.
You can find contact details for Llais on page 38.
Raising concerns and making complaints
Raising concerns informally
If you have a concern about the service you have received from
your GP practice, you should talk to the staff involved with your care
as soon as possible, so that they can try to resolve your concerns
immediately. If you prefer, you can ask your health board complaints
team to do so. Health board contact details are on page 36.
If something goes wrong with your care or treatment, you should
receive an apology and the practice should tell you what it will do to
improve and stop the same thing happening to other people.
You should not be removed from a practice list simply because you
have raised a concern.
Raising concerns formally
There is an independent process for making complaints about the
NHS in Wales called ‘Putting Things Right’. Further information can
be found at the end of this guide.
If you wish to complain about the services provided by your GP
practice, you should raise these concerns directly with the practice
manager, within 12 months of the incident or problem occurring. If
you do not want to deal with the practice directly, you can contact
the complaints team at your local health board instead.
You can make a complaint yourself or ask a family member,
friend, or carer to represent you (you will need to give them written
permission to do this).
Llais also has independent and trained complaints advocates who
can support you in making a complaint.
Public Services Ombudsman for Wales
If you go through the Putting Things Right process and are not
satisfied with the final response to your complaint, you can address
your complaint directly to the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales.
The Ombudsman is independent of all government bodies and the
service provided is impartial and free of charge. Contact details for
the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales are at the end of this
guide.
Complaints against individual professionals
If you want to raise a concern about an individual healthcare
professional, you can contact the regulatory body for their profession. Further information is at the end of this guide.
Discrimination
If you think you have been discriminated against under the Equality
Act 2010, you should contact the Equality Advisory and Support
Service (EASS). Contact details are at the end of this guide.
Further information and useful contacts
Health information and advice (including finding a GP
practice)
NHS 111
Dial 111 on the telephone 111.wales.nhs.uk
(For urgent mental health support dial 111 and press OPTION 2)
NHS Wales Shared Services Partnership
01443 848585 nwssp.nhs.wales
Regional office contact details:
https://nwssp.nhs.wales/contact-us/public-information-contact-details/
Health Boards
Aneurin Bevan University Health Board
01873 732732 abuhb.nhs.wales
Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board
01248 384 384 bcuhb.nhs.wales
Cardiff & Vale University Health Board
029 2074 7747 cavuhb.nhs.wales
Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board
01443 744800 ctmuhb.nhs.wales
Hywel Dda University Health Board
01267 235151 hduhb.nhs.wales
Powys Teaching Health Board
01874 711661 pthb.nhs.wales
Swansea Bay University Health Board
01639 683344 sbuhb.nhs.wales
General advice and assistance
Older People’s Commissioner for Wales
03442 640 670 olderpeople.wales
Age Cymru
0300 303 4498 ageuk.org.uk/cymru
Carers Wales
029 2081 1370 carersuk.org/wales
Raising a concern
NHS Wales complaints and concerns: Putting Things Right
https://www.gov.wales/nhs-wales-complaints-and-concerns-putting-things-right#complaints
(printed copies available from Health Boards and from Llais)
Llais
02920 235 558 llaiswales.org
In Your Area regional team contact details: llaiswales.org/in-your-area
Public Services Ombudsman for Wales
0300 790 0203 ombudsman.wales
Welsh Language Commissioner
0345 6033 221 welshlanguagecommissioner.wales
Equality Advisory and Support Service
0808 800 0082 equalityadvisoryservice.com
39
Professional regulatory bodies
General Medical Council
0161 923 6602 gmc-uk.org
Nursing and Midwifery Council
020 7637 7181 rcn.org.uk
General Pharmaceutical Council
020 3713 8000 pharmacyregulation.org
Health and Care Professions Council
0300 500 6184 hcpc-uk.org
Appendix: Getting to know your practice team
In this section you can find information about the roles of different
healthcare professionals now present in many GP practices, and the
ways in which they can support your treatment and care.
Receptionist
Reception staff will often be your first point of contact with a GP
practice and are trained ‘care navigators’, which means they will
identify the best healthcare professional for you to see based on the
answers you give to their questions.
The more information you give the receptionist, the easier it
will be for them to identify the best professional for you to see.
Receptionists, like all practice staff, are required by law and by
contract to keep the information you give them confidential.
General Practitioner (GP)
Your GP is a doctor who specialises in general medicine, providing
medical treatment and care.
GPs discuss patients’ health and treatment in the practice, on the
phone or by video call and visit some people at home. They treat
acute and chronic illnesses, provide preventive care and health
education to patients, make and manage referrals to hospital, and
manage emergencies in the practice.
GPs prescribe and review medications, manage and deliver
immunisations and review laboratory, radiology and other results.
GPs also write letters in support of patients, issue death certificates
and liaise with the Coroner.
Physician Associate
Physician Associates are medically trained practitioners working
under the supervision and with the support of the GP. They are a
relatively new kind of healthcare professional but are becoming
more widespread.
Physician Associates are trained to help you in a range of ways,
including taking your medical history, carrying out physical
examinations, diagnosis, planning how to manage your health
condition, carrying out treatment procedures and providing you with
health promotion and disease prevention advice.
Advanced Nurse Practitioner (ANP)
Advanced Nurse Practitioners are highly skilled nurses who can
make their own assessments, diagnose, and interpret test results.
Your ANP can prescribe appropriate medication for you or refer you
to another specialist if necessary.
Practice Nurse
Practice nurses work with GPs and other healthcare professionals
in the practice team, as well as directly with patients, to provide and
co-ordinate assessment, treatment and care.
Practice Nurses are trained to help you in a range of ways, including
taking your medical history, carrying out physical examinations,
diagnosis, planning how to manage your health condition, carrying
out treatment procedures and providing you with health promotion
and disease prevention advice.
Other Nurses
Other types of nurses may also work in or closely with your GP
practice, including District Nurses, Community Nurses, Chronic
Conditions Nurses, members of Rapid Response Teams and Health
Care Support Workers. They are all healthcare professionals,
skilled in care that helps people to improve, maintain, or recover
their health, to cope with health problems, and to achieve the best
possible quality of life whatever their disease or disability.
Health Care Assistant
Health Care Assistants work alongside nurses in the practice team,
doing many nursing tasks such as taking your temperature and
pulse, checking your breathing and recording your weight, and
promoting positive mental and physical health.
Pharmacist
Your practice team may include a pharmacist, who is an expert on
medicines management.
Your practice pharmacist can help you with advice and support on
appropriate and safe use of medicines and medicines management,
while also prescribing certain medicines themselves for a range of
conditions, from minor ailments to long term illnesses.
If symptoms suggest it’s something more serious, pharmacists
have the right training to make sure you see the right healthcare
professional.
Physiotherapist
Your practice team may include a physiotherapist, who is the first
point of contact for people with musculoskeletal conditions (which
affect muscles, nerves, tendons, joints, cartilage, and spinal discs).
They also work with people who have neurological and respiratory
conditions.
Physiotherapists give expert advice to help to restore movement
and function when someone is affected by injury, illness, or disability. They may help you by: consulting on matters related to
fitness for work, assessment and diagnosis, referring you directly for
an x-ray, giving injections and prescribing certain medications, and
managing your condition early and preventing deterioration.
Occupational therapist
Occupational therapists provide practical support to help people to
recover from illness and injury and to overcome barriers preventing
them from doing the activities or occupations that matter to them.
They work with the general practice team to resolve various issues
related to frailty, mental health and fitness to work.
They will assess your needs, environment, and daily activities,
identifying both your strengths and challenges, to address
urgent concerns like difficulties managing at home or work.
Additionally, they will put in place practical support and resources,
including rehabilitation, home or workplace adaptations, and self-management strategies, to enable you to live and work more
independently and improve your mental health through various
wellness techniques.
Advanced Paramedic Practitioner (APP)
Advanced Paramedic Practitioners are trained to triage patients,
carry out assessments and examinations, review test results, carry
out medicine reviews, make decisions and in some cases prescribe
medication. They can also refer people to specialist services such
as rehabilitation, or for certain investigations.
APPs may make home visits, especially for chest pains and breathing difficulties. If you don’t need to go to hospital, an APP can provide immediate treatment and support. APPs may also run minor injury or illness clinics, help manage chronic conditions, provide end of life care and carry out minor operations.
Social prescribing (community referral) link worker or navigator
Your practice may have a dedicated link worker or navigator who will work with you to help you access community-based activities which will benefit your health and wellbeing.
These activities are typically provided by voluntary and community
sector organisations, and include volunteering, arts activities, group
learning, gardening, befriending, cookery, healthy eating advice and
a range of sports.
Your GP or any of the other staff in your practice may also refer you
to these activities