Cruddas Park Surgery

The Team

We have a large team of medical and admin staff

Doctors

Dr Richard Croft (Partner)

Dr Fiona Malcolm (Partner)

Dr Matt Kaczmar (Partner)

Dr John McGonigle (Partner)

Dr Dan Jary (GP)

Dr Mike Dowrick (GP)

Dr Hannah Roberts (GP)

Dr Karen Hutchinson (GP)

Dr Claire Norman (GP)

Dr Matt Armstrong (GP)

Dr Emily Watson (GP)

Nurses & Healthcare Assistants

Gemma O'Keefe - Practice Nurse
Katie Matthews - Practice Nurse
Lynne Bulman - HCA
Carolyn Tubman - HCA

Pharmacists

Jyhshin Shim - Pharmacist
Elizabeth Stuart - Pharmacist
Louise Riley - Pharmacy Technician

Administration Team

Susan Wheatley - Practice Manager
Claire Fulthorpe - PA to practice manager

Physiotherapist

Rachel Cook
Ceri Glennie

Mental Health Worker

Emma Docherty

Our practice charter

These are the local standards set within this practice for the benefit of our patients

It is our job to give you treatment and advice. Following discussion with you, you will receive the most appropriate care, given by suitably qualified people. No care or treatment will be given without your informed consent. In the interest of your health it is important for you to understand all the information given to you. Please ask us questions if you are unsure of anything.

Practice Charter

These are the local standards set within this practice for the benefit of our patients. It is our job to give you treatment and advice. Following discussion with you, you will receive the most appropriate care, given by suitably qualified people. No care or treatment will be given without your informed consent. In the interest of your health it is important for you to understand all the information given to you. Please ask us questions if you are unsure of anything.

Our responsibility to you:

Names: People involved in your care will give you their name and ensure you know how to contact them.
Waiting time: We run an appointment system in this practice. You will be given a time at which the doctor or nurse hopes to be able to see you. You should not wait more than 30 minutes in the waiting room without receiving an explanation for the delay.
Access: In the case of an urgent medical problem, you will be offered same-day access to a doctor, or if we are over capacity you will receive sign-posting to another appropriate source of urgent medical help. We will arrange a home visit as appropriate for those who are too ill or infirm to be brought to the surgery.
Telephone: We will try to answer the phone promptly and to ensure that there is sufficient staff available to do this. You should be able to speak to a doctor by telephone.
Test Results: If you have undergone tests ordered by the practice, we will inform you about test results within 2 weeks of the practice receiving them. This will usually be by text message, but may also be by telephone, letter or in a booked appointment. Please inform us if you have a preference on how to receive these results, at the time the test is ordered.
Respect: Patients will be treated as individuals, irrespective of their ethnic origin or religious and cultural beliefs.
Information: We will give you full information about the services we offer. Every effort will be made to ensure that you receive that information which directly affects your health and the care being offered by leaflets, posters and our notice board.
Health Promotion: The practice will offer patients advice and information on: steps they can take to promote good health and avoid illness; self-help which can be undertaken without reference to a doctor in the case of minor ailments.
Health Records: You have the right to see your health records, subject to limitations in the law. These will be kept confidential at all times.

Your responsibility to us:

Help us to help you.
Please let us know if you change your name, address or telephone number.
Please do everything you can to keep appointments. Tell us as soon as possible if you cannot. Otherwise, other patients may have to wait longer.
We need help too. Please ask for a home visit by the doctors only when the person is too ill to visit the surgery.
Please keep your phone call brief and avoid calling during the peak morning time for non-urgent matters.
Test results take time to reach us, so please do not ring before you have been asked to do so.
Enquiries about tests ordered by the hospital should be directed to the hospital, not the practice.
We ask that you treat the doctors and practice staff with courtesy and respect.
Please read our practice leaflet and browse this website. This will help you to get the best out of the service we offer.
It is important to understand the information given to you. Please ask us questions if you are unsure of anything.

Practice policies

Our aim is to treat all patirents equally and to the highest professional standards

Named Accountable GP

As part of our GMS contract, we are required to allocate a named, accountable GP to all of our patients, including children. All patients at this practice are allocated a named, accountable GP. When you are next at reception or contact us by telephone please ask who your named GP is, the receptionist will be able to give you this information. If you wish to change the name of your named, accountable GP to another GP we will do our best to accommodate your request. Please be aware that this does not restrict you to that named GP, you are free to see whichever GP you wish.

Publication of GP Net Earnings

NHS England requires that the net earnings of doctors engaged in the practice is publicised, and the required disclosure is shown below. However it should be noted that the prescribed method for calculating earnings 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 judgement about GP earnings, nor to make any comparison with any other practice.

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.

The average pay for GPs working in this practice in the last full financial year was £73,002.92 before Tax and National Insurance. This is for 4 full time GPs, 3 part time GPs and one locum GP who worked in the practice for more than six months.

Chaperone Policy

Cruddas Park and Hillsview surgeries are committed to providing a safe, comfortable environment where patients and staff can be confident that best practice is being followed at all times and the safety of everyone is of paramount importance.

All patients are entitled to have a chaperone present at any consultation, examination or procedure. The chaperone may be a family member or friend or if you prefer a formal chaperone to be present you can request a trained member of our staff.

Wherever possible we would ask you to make this request at the time of booking your appointment so that your appointment is not delayed in any way.

Your healthcare professional may also require a chaperone to be present for certain consultations in accordance with our chaperone policy.

Complaints Procedure:

We welcome feedback about our service. We work hard to give the best possible service to our patients. However, we are aware that sometimes we may not get everything right, and if you tell us about a problem you have encountered in your care, we will investigate this and aim to improve our service in any way we can.

If you wish to make a complaint, you can do this verbally or in writing. Please speak to Reception if you would like to arrange to speak to our Practice Manager, Susan Wheatley, or you can submit a complaint in writing to Reception, or by email to nencicb-ng.cruddaspark-surgery@nhs.net

Comments and Suggestions

We are happy to accept and consider comments and suggestions from our patients. Please present your views in writing and put it in our suggestion box at the reception.

Teaching and training

We are proud to be a training practice

Medical student teaching

We are involved in teaching medical students who are studying their undergraduate degree in Medicine at Newcastle University Medical School.

Sometimes we ask patients if they would be willing to kindly speak to students about their experience of their health conditions. This is a very valuable learning experience for students and helps them to develop as future doctors, but it is entirely optional and there is no expectation on you to agree to this.

Sometimes students sit in with GPs during their surgery. You will be told if a GP has a student sitting in with them, and you have the right to ask for the student not to be present for your consultation. Simply inform the receptionist of this before your appointment - this will not affect your care in any way.

GP Registrar Training

We usually have one or two GP registrars working on placement at the practice. GP registrars are qualified doctors who are undergoing further training under the supervision of a GP trainer, to prepare for a career as an independent GP. Occasionally, GP registrars may request your permission to video their consultation with you for training purposes or for them to have assessment of their skills. You have the right to refuse permission at any time and this will not affect your care in any way. These videos remain strictly confidential and are only viewed by GPs within the practice or by examiners, and are destroyed after use.

Disability access

We work hard to make any individual reasonable adjustments which enable patients to access our service

Both sites:

The front door has an automatic opening button for easy access
All corridors are wide enough to allow easy access throughout the building for wheelchairs and mobility scooters
Access to BSL interpreters via a video interpreting service
Guide dogs are welcome
Hearing aid loop system at Reception

Cruddas Park site:

There is an accessibility ramp outside, providing step-free access to the front door
There is step-free access to all ground floor consultation rooms. If a patient ever needs to be seen in one of the first floor consultation rooms in the extension (this is rare), there is a lift
Disabled toilets – there is one in the main building on the ground floor, and one in the extension on the first floor (accessible by lift)
'Quiet waiting room' – there is a designated quieter waiting room in the ground floor of the extension which can be used by patients who would find this helpful

Hillsview Surgery site

There is step-free access to the front door
All areas accessed by patients are on the ground floor
Disabled toilet