A teaching and training practice

Clarence Medical Centre supports the education of undergraduate medical students. As part of their training, students may spend time at the practice observing consultations and learning about healthcare in general practice.

Medical students benefit enormously from seeing how illnesses, long-term conditions and healthcare are managed in a real general practice environment.

What might a student do?

Depending on their stage of training and the type of consultation, a medical student may:

• observe your consultation with a clinician;
• speak with you about your symptoms or medical history;
• undertake parts of an examination with your agreement and appropriate supervision;
• discuss your care with the supervising clinician as part of their learning.

Consent

If a student is going to be involved in your consultation, you should be made aware of this. You can ask for the student to leave at any point or request to see the clinician alone.

There may also be occasions when you are invited to speak with a medical student before seeing the supervising clinician. You are free to decline.

Confidentiality

Medical students are required to respect patient confidentiality and professional standards. Information discussed during your consultation must be treated confidentially.

Why does the practice support training?

General practice is an important part of medical education. Giving students experience of primary care helps them understand how patients are cared for in the community and how GPs and other healthcare professionals manage a wide range of conditions.

We are grateful to patients who choose to support medical education by allowing students to take part in their care.

Accessing the practice

GP practices in Wales are expected to provide patients with clear and appropriate ways of contacting their practice and accessing primary care services.

Clarence Medical Centre provides patients with several ways to contact the practice, including telephone and online services. Requests are considered according to the nature of the patient's needs so that they can be directed to the most appropriate member of the team or service.

The right response for your needs

Providing access does not necessarily mean that every request requires a same-day face-to-face GP appointment.

Depending on your needs, the most appropriate response may include:

• advice from a clinician;
• a telephone consultation;
• a face-to-face appointment;
• an appointment with another member of the healthcare team;
• a routine appointment with the clinician already managing your condition;
• signposting to another appropriate NHS or community service.

Continuity of care

Where possible and clinically appropriate, we aim to support continuity of care. If a clinician is already managing an ongoing condition or investigation, it may be more appropriate for that clinician to continue dealing with the issue rather than transferring it to another clinician.

Our commitment

Clarence Medical Centre will continue to review how patients access the practice and how requests are managed so that our services remain safe, appropriate and responsive to patient need.