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Practice
Charter
Our
Responsibilities To You
We
are committed to giving you the best possible service. This will be achieved by
working together.
You will be treated as an individual and will be given courtesy and respect at
all times, irrespective of your ethnic origin, religious belief etc.
Following discussion you will receive the most appropriate care, given by suitably
qualified people. No care or treatment will be given without your informed consent.
You have the right to see your confidential health records, subject to any limitations
in the law.
Every effort will be made to ensure that you receive that information which directly
affects your health and the care being offered.
People involved in your care will give you their names and how to contact them.
It is our job to give you treatment and advice. In the interest of your health
it is important for you to understand all the information given to you.
We will arrange a home visit as appropriate for those patients who are too ill
or infirm to be brought to the surgery. Outside surgery hours care is provided
by On Call Care on behalf of the Primary Care Trust.
We run an appointment system in this practice. You will be given a time at which
the doctor or nurse hopes to see you.
Genuine urgent cases will be seen on the same day with the duty doctors if you
cannot wait until the next free appointment.
We will try and ensure that you are seen on time, but some consultations take
longer than others. If there is a patient with an emergency, we will give them
priority. When there is a prolonged delay of more than 20 minutes, an explanation
will be given by the receptionist.
We will provide you with information about how to make suggestions or complaints.
We want to improve services, and therefore welcome any comments you have.
We will try to answer the phone within 30 seconds and ensure there are sufficient
staff to do this.
If
you have undergone tests or x-rays ordered by the practice, we will inform you
of the results at your next appointment or advise you when and how to obtain the
results.
If we consider that you need a second opinion or treatment not available in the
practice we will try to inform you of the best way of achieving this.
The practice will offer patients advice and information on steps they can take
to promote good health and avoid illness, and self-help, which you can undertake
in the case of minor ailments.
We have the right to have patients removed from our list, in general only in the
case of patients who repeatedly and persistently ignore their own responsibilities
to us and to other patients. We will immediately remove patients from our list
who are violent or seriously abusive towards any of the practice staff.
Your
Responsibilities To Us
Help
us to help you. We have responsibilities to each other.
We ask that you treat the doctors', all practice staff and their families with
the same courtesy and respect.
We would ask you to try and follow the medical advice offered, and to
take any medication as advised.
Please read our practice booklet. Along with this website it will help you to get the best out of the
services we offer.
Please let us know if you change your name and address.
Please ask us questions if you are unsure of anything.
Please ask for a home visit only when patients are too ill to visit the surgery.
Please ensure that your request for a home visit reaches the surgery before 10.00am.
Please do everything you can to keep appointments, tell us as soon as possible
if you cannot.
Be realistic about the urgency of a problem as unscheduled appointments give the
doctor less time for visiting and hospital work.
Please try and be punctual; if you arrive later than your appointment this may
cause delays and inconvenience to other patients. If we are running late, please
be patient, it might one day be you that needs the extra time. Please don’t
blame the receptionist.
Please make yourself familiar with the procedure for making comments and complaints (see below).
Please keep your phone calls brief and avoid calling during the peak morning times
for non-urgent matters.
Please do not ring before the stated time. Enquiries about tests ordered by the
hospital should be directed to the hospital, not the practice.
Please do not arrange a specialist appointment without discussing the matter fully
with your own doctor.
You are responsible for your own health and that of your children and should take
appropriate action and advice.
If you are totally dissatisfied with us or the services we provide, you have the
right at any time to register with another practice.
Your
Comments And Complaints
We
are proud of the service we provide and strive to make the best use of the available
resources. To help us do that, we are always happy to receive your comments.
If you need help with any complaints about administrative or any aspects of the
service we provide please put the matter in writing to the practice manager. (There are
forms available at the reception.) Our complaints procedure accords with national criteria.
Patient
Confidentiality And Data Protection
We ask you for personal information so that you can receive appropriate care and
treatment. This information is recorded on computer and we are registered under
the Data Protection Act. The practice will ensure that patient confidentiality
is maintained at all times by all members of the practice team. However, for the
effective functioning of a multi-disciplinary team it is sometimes necessary that
medical information about you is shared between members of the practice team.
Freedom
Of Information – Publication Scheme
The
Freedom of Information Act 2000 obliges the practice to produce a Publication
Scheme. A Publication Scheme is a guide to the ‘classes’ of information
the practice intends to routinely make available. This scheme is available upon
request.
Access
To Patients' Records
The practice is registered under the Data Protection Act and information is only
released to third parties following signed consent of the patient. However, anonymised
information is sometimes collated for the Department of Health statistical analysis.
Zero Tolerance
We strongly support the NHS policy on zero tolerance. Anyone attending the surgery who abuses the GPs, staff or other patients be it verbally, physically or in any threatening manner whatsoever, will risk removal from the practice list. In extreme cases we may summon the police to remove offenders from the practice premises.
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