Clinical Governance Policies & Procedures
Clinical governance issues are discussed on a weekly basis by the clinical and administration management team. All staff are advised to highlight any issues with respective members of staff so that any potential problems are identified and resolved at an early stage and policies put into practice to improve on the way that we deliver clinical care and highlight potential risks.
We have three dedicated training sessions per annum for all staff to discuss any issues of a wider nature and to ensure statutory training regulations are met. Additional education programmes are implemented as required for new technologies and as part of continuing professional education.
We have a dedicated team which takes the role in clinical governance responsibility with respect to fire checks, electrical appliance testing and keeping patient information updated and secure. We regularly update internal policies that underpin the clinical and administrative service provided.
Key Service Information
- CQC Documents / Statement of Purpose
- Complaints Policy
- GDPR Policies, Privacy Policy & Subject Access Requests
- Incident Management / Data Breach Reporting Resources
- Safeguarding Vulnerable Adults and Children / Prevent
- Patient Satisfaction, Friends and Family Test Information
- Service Quality Policies & Reports
- Medicines Management Resources
- Equality & Diversity Policy
- Raising Workers Concerns & GMC Staff Re-validation Policies
General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR), Confidentiality & Patient Privacy
All information held by the service is kept in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR), Data Protection Act, the NHS Constitution and the NHS Care Records Guarantee.
All patient data is stored securely and used only for the purposes of direct-care. We do not pass on any patient information to research companies or third parties. If you are a patient and you have any concerns regarding the use of data within the service then please contact us on 01903 703 281 (for NHS patients) or 01903 820 010 for private patients.
Our Privacy Policy also provides advice for patients on how to make a complaint, how to request a copy of your data and how we share you data. Further information about how we use our data, please see our privacy policies below:
- Privacy Policy – NHS Services
- Subject Access Policy
- Subject Access Request Form
- Data Security Protection Toolkit Assessment
- Cyber Essentials Plus certification
Medicines Management Resources
The service operates robust controls on Medicines Management and the links below may be informative for prescribers and medicines management teams.
Drug Safety Update Notices – MHRA / Gov.uk
https://www.gov.uk/drug-safety-update
Additional Medicines Management Guidelines
Care Quality Commission (CQC) Documents
An electronic copy of our statement of purpose can be found below:
Statement of Purpose
Complaints Policy and Procedures
If you have any queries or concerns about your care then please contact us below and we will respond in accordance to our Complaints Policy.
As a healthcare provider we are also regulated by the Care Quality Commission (CQC). You can make a complaint by email, letter or in person to the relevant service manager using the contact details below. All complaints will be acknowledged and investigated in accordance with our complaints policy.
The Care Quality Commission also provide additional guidance about how to make a complaint in their How to complain about a health or social care service booklet.
NHS Patients:
NHS Patients Tel: 01903 703 281
Head of NHS Operations & Quality: Anna Baldwin
Write to:
Anna Baldwin
Head of NHS Operations & Quality
Sussex Community Dermatology Service Administration Centre,
51 Chesswood Road
Worthing, West Sussex
BN11 2AA
Patient Satisfaction Surveys, Friends & Family Test
SCDS collects feedback from our NHS Patients using a patient satisfaction survey which is sent out via SMS. Patients are encouraged to complete the survey to provide the service with valuable feedback of their experience so we can make improvements to enhance services offered to our patients.
NHS Choices Friends and Family Test Information
The Service conducts an annual patient and GP satisfaction surveys across all locations to ensure that we are delivering the very best care to patients. Patient satisfaction surveys are SMS’s to all patients following their appointment and results are shared with ICB’s monthly. SCDS achieved a 94% overall satisfaction score in 2023/2024, with 95% of patients indicating they were either extremely likely or likely to recommend the service.
Vulnerable Adult and Child Safeguarding Resources
Reporting adult abuse and help and advice:
If you are at risk of abuse, or suspect someone else is please report it.
In an emergency dial 999 or adult social care on: 0300 200 1005, or if you need to speak to someone urgently, out of normal office hours our emergency duty team on: 01483 517898.
- West Sussex Safeguarding Contact Details
- East Sussex Safeguarding Contact Details
- Surrey Safeguarding Contact Details
- Kent Safeguarding Contact Details
- Domestic Abuse Support
Incident Reporting
If you need to report a data breach or clinical incident, please reference our policies below and use the appropriate form. For more information about completing these forms, please speak to a member of Senior Management. All incidents must be reported promptly to enable us to comply with our standard policies and legal obligations.
Service Policies & Reports
The service regularly publishes service quality and governance reports. Our publicly available reports can be found below:
Equality & Diversity Policies
We take care to ensure that our services, functions, policies and practices do not directly or indirectly, intentionally or unintentionally discriminate against our users or employees. All NHS organisations have a legal duty to analyse the impact of their policies, practices and services and to publish the results. Details of the Sussex Community Dermatology Service’s Equality Impact Assessment are available upon request.
Raising Workers Concerns / Re-validation Policies & Procedures
The service has a number of policies and procedures for SCDS staff to use internally. Members of the public should instead contact us on 01903 820 010 if they have any concerns regarding their care within the service.
Anna Baldwin
Head of NHS Operations & Quality, SCDS
51 Chesswood Road
Worthing
West Sussex
BN11 2AA