We provide comprehensive NHS primary care services to help you manage your health and
well-being.
Welcome to Downton Surgery. We are a GP surgery and dispensing doctors’ practice devoted to
prioritising your health and well-being.
See our full contact details, opening hours and building accessibility
Your named GP
Every registered patient has a named GP who is responsible for your overall care. This is
usually the GP you see most often.
If you’re not sure who your named GP is, ask at reception.
You can ask to change your named GP by completing a change of GP form at reception. We’ll
try to agree to this where possible, and we’ll explain if we can’t.
What your named GP does and doesn’t do:
Your named GP oversees your care, but:
- they don’t take responsibility for the work of other doctors or health professionals
- they’re not personally available 24 hours a day, or outside their normal working hours
- they won’t be the only clinician who treats you
If a GP leaves or joins the practice, patient lists are sometimes reallocated and your named
GP may change. We can’t contact every patient individually about this, but we’ll publicise
any changes — ask at reception if you want to check who your named GP is.
GP earnings
NHS England requires us to publish the average pay for GPs working at Downton Surgery.
Average GP pay at Downton Surgery, last financial year: £109,235 before tax and National
Insurance, for 5 part-time GPs who worked at the practice for six months or more.
This figure doesn’t account for how many hours each GP worked, so it shouldn’t be used to
judge individual GP earnings or to compare us with other practices.
Teaching and training
Downton Surgery is a teaching practice.
- Medical students sometimes sit in on appointments. Tell your doctor or receptionist if
you’d rather they didn’t. - GP registrars — fully qualified doctors gaining further experience — are often based
at the practice. - Video consultations: occasionally, a doctor may video a consultation as part of
ongoing training. We’ll always ask for your written consent first, and you’re free to
say no.
Our policies
Confidentiality and medical records
We follow data protection law. We may share identifiable information about you:
- to arrange further treatment, e.g. with district nurses or hospitals
- to help you access other services, e.g. social work — only with your consent
- where we have a legal duty to, e.g. child protection
We also use anonymous patient data to help plan NHS services locally and nationally. Let us
know if you’d rather your anonymous data wasn’t used this way.
Reception and admin staff can see your medical records to do their jobs, and they follow the
same confidentiality rules as clinical staff.
Freedom of Information
Some information about our GPs and the practice must be made available to the public by
law. To request this, contact the practice manager.
Access to your records
You can ask to see your medical records under the Data Protection Act 2018 and the Access to
Health Records Act. Contact the practice manager — there may be an admin charge, and we
won’t release your records without your consent unless we’re legally required to.
Making a complaint
We aim to give everyone the best possible service, but we know things can go wrong. If you
have a complaint, contact the practice manager, who will look into it.
Read our full complaints procedure
Zero tolerance of violence and abuse
We don’t tolerate violence or abuse toward our staff or patients. Read our full policy
You and Your General Practice
NHS England has published a short guide called You and Your General Practice, covering
what you can expect from us, what we ask of patients in return, and how to raise feedback or
concerns.