The Hive is a forward thinking medical practice based in Middleton. Since Dr Stockton and Dr Thompson formed their partnership in 2008 the practice has grown from caring for 1800 patients to circa 5000 patients. Known as a friendly practice with a community feel, a positive reputation has accompanied our growth in size. The Practice has also continued to also grow as a team and now employ salaried GPs, a Practice Nurse, Health Care Assistants and a number of administrative staff members.

Looking ahead the Practice will move into a brand new, state of the art, purpose-built medical centre in the not-too-distant future. This will lead to a further increase in the size of our patient base, as the Practice will also serve patients from Chadderton, Oldham and the surrounding areas.

The Practice is keen to maximise the opportunities of the new building, which could potentially lead to us offering further enhanced services in addition the core and enhanced services we already offer. We also aspire to become a hub of the community, offering a range of activities and services to benefit patients on a holistic level, from cradle to grave.

• To be the heart of the community; providing excellent healthcare for all.
• Healthy and happy community
• To provide and promote holistic health care from cradle to grave
• To promote health to our patients
• Break down barriers to access health services GP lead family healthcare
• Friendly service to allow accessible healthcare

As a team we have set out a series of standards for our provision of healthcare which we feel will enable us to provide our patients and stakeholders with the best possible service by suitably qualified people. In the interest of your health, it is important for you to understand all the information given to you. Please ask questions if you are unsure of anything.

To provide you and your family with the best possible care the practice, we aim to adhere to the following conditions:

• We aim to provide a personal, friendly and confidential service to our patients.
• We will treat you with courtesy and respect at all times irrespective of your age, sex, race, religion, sexuality or the nature of your problem.
• We aim to support patients in leading a healthier lifestyle and provide information so that an informed choice may be made.
• We will monitor and improve our systems to ensure we operate as efficiently as possible within the resources available to us.
• We earn the trust placed in us by insisting on quality and striving to get the basics of quality of care – safety, effectiveness and patient experience – right every time. We encourage and welcome feedback from patients, families, carers, staff and the public. We use this to improve the care we provide and build on our successes.
• In the unfortunate event that you are not happy with our services. Your complaints will be investigated thoroughly and promptly as per NHS complaints procedure. We endeavour to resolve complaints verbally but where a complaint requires investigation we will write to you with the outcome.
• Your records, both written and computerised, will be kept secure and confidential at all times, in line with data protection guidelines, and NHS confidentiality policy

To help us provide you and your family with the best possible care, we ask that you adhere to the following conditions:

• Be prepared to advise the Receptionist what your problem is – the Doctors insist upon this, so that they can prepare for the consultation and ensure that the time available is used most effectively to provide the best care for you.
• Report to receptionist on arrival , Keep appointments made with us or You will notify us as soon as possible if they are unable to keep an appointment as this allows other patients to be seen and keeps waiting times down.
• Bear with us if there is a delay – this may be due to another patient needing additional time or an emergency. We will try and keep you informed of anticipated delays.
• Please provide accurate information about your health, condition and status. Keep us informed of any name. Address and telephone number changes.
• Use other avenues of help – pharmacy, NHS Direct etc where appropriate.
• You will respect that we are working very hard to provide the best service we can for all our patients, and any violent, aggressive or abusive behavior may lead to being removed from the practice list, and/or police involvement

The practice would like to be the Hub of the Middleton community and the surrounding areas. We have been actively involved in a number of community initiatives, including helping out at a local community centre, the Lighthouse Project, including by helping to decorate their new building; by raising awareness of and helping the homeless through a number of outreach projects; and by raising money for various charities through participation in a number of charity races and events.

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All GP practices are required to declare the mean earnings (e.g. average pay) for GPs working to deliver NHS services to patients at each practice.

It should be noted that the prescribed method for calculating earning is potentially misleading because it takes no account of how much time doctors spend working in the practice, and should not be used to form any judgment about GP earnings, nor to make any comparison with any other practice.

Our aim is to provide high quality care and a friendly, efficient service. If you feel that we have not done our best, our management team is available if you wish to make any enquiries about aspects of your health and treatment via: thehive@nhs.net

If you have a complaint or concern about the service you have received from the doctors or any of the staff working in this Practice, I would firstly like to apologise for the issues that you feel you have experienced. The practice does appreciate feedback both negative and positive; we see feedback as a tool in improving our services. We operate a Practice Complaints Procedure as part of the NHS system for dealing with complaints. Our complaints system meets national criteria.

To raise a compliant with NHS England please follow this link for more information

The Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) offers confidential advice, support and information on health-related matters.

Problems can often be sorted out easily and quickly, and often at the time they arise and with the person concerned. If your problem cannot be sorted out in this way and you wish to make a complaint, we would like you to let us know as soon as possible because this will enable us to establish what happened more easily.

Complaints should be addressed to the Management team or either of the Partner GPs.

We shall acknowledge your complaint within three working days and do our best to respond as soon as possible after a detailed investiagtion.

We hope that, if you have a problem, you will use our Practice Complaints Procedure. We believe this gives us the best chance of putting right whatever has gone wrong and an opportunity to improve our practice. This does not, however, affect your right to approach NHS England , if you feel that you cannot raise your complaint with us or you are dissatisfied with the result of our investigation.

If you remain dissatisfied with the response to your complaint and do not wish to allow us the opportunity to resolve with you any outstanding concerns, you also have the right to ask the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman to review your case within 12 months from the date that your initial concerns were raised to the practice. The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman is an independent body that carries out independent investigations into complaints about UK Government departments and their agencies, and the NHS in England. You can contact the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman on Helpline on 0345 015 4033 if you would like further help or advice in this respect.