Chaperone Policy

At Kings Lane  Medical Practice, we 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 for any consultation, examination or procedure where they feel one is required. This chaperone may be a family member or friend. On occasions a patient may prefer a formal chaperone to be present (i.e. a trained member of staff). Wherever possible, the patient should make this request at the time of booking appointment so that arrangements can be made and that the appointment is not delayed in any way. Where this is not possible, we will endeavour to provide a formal chaperone at the time of request, but it may be necessary to reschedule the appointment.

a chaperone is ‘an independent person, appropriately trained, whose role is to observe independently the examination/procedure undertaken by the doctor/health professional to assist the appropriate doctor-patient relationship.

a chaperone may help out with other things like helping the patient undress, assisting with the examination or investigation, attending to the patient’s comfort, explaining or interpreting and providing emotional support.

All staff at the surgery will have training with respect to the chaperone role. As a result, they will have an understanding of the role of the chaperone and the procedures for raising concerns. Our training includes the following:

• What is meant by the term chaperone
• What is an ‘intimate examination’
• Why chaperones need to be present
• The rights of the patient
• Their role and responsibility
• Policy and mechanism for raising concerns

Chaperone poster