Practice Charter Standards

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

We are committed to giving you the best possible service.

Names
People involved in your care will give you their names and ensure that you know how to contact them. The surgery should be well signposted and the doctors' or nurses' names indicated on their surgery doors.

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 20 minutes in the waiting room without receiving an explanation for the delay.

Access
You will have access to a doctor rapidly in case of an emergency and other cases within two working days. 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 are sufficient staff to do this. You should be able to speak to a doctor by telephone.

Respect
Patients will be treated as individuals and partners in their health care, 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.

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.

Test Results
Please telephone to ensure test results have been received before booking an appointment with the doctor to discuss them.

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 home visits by the doctor 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 the practice staff with courtesy and respect.
• Please read our practice booklet. This will help you to get the best out of the services we offer. It is important that you understand the information given to you. Please ask us questions if you are unsure of anything.
• Remember you are responsible for your own health and the health of your children. We will give you our professional help and advice. Please act upon it.
• Please ask if you wish to see your doctor.
• The practice has a zero tolerance policy to any perceived violence or aggression. This includes verbal or physical abuse. Any patient who is aggressive or abusive will firstly be warned by letter that their behaviour is unacceptable. If this behaviour is repeated they will be asked to leave the practice immediately and will be removed from our list.

Confidentiality

We ask you for information so that you can receive proper care and treatment. We keep this information together with details of your care, because it may be needed if we see you again.

We may use some of this information for other reasons: for example to help us protect the health of the public generally and to see that the NHS runs efficiently, plans for the future, trains its staff, pays its bills and can account for its actions. Information may also be needed to help educate tomorrow's clinical staff and to carry out medical and other health research for the benefit of everyone.

Sometimes the law requires us to pass on information: for example to notify a birth.

The NHS Central Register for England & Wales contains basic personal details of all patients registered with a general practitioner. The register does not contain clinical information.
You have a right of access to your health records.

EVERYONE WORKING FOR THE NHS HAS A LEGAL DUTY TO KEEP INFORMATION ABOUT YOU CONFIDENTIAL.

You may be receiving care from other people as well as the NHS. So that we can all work together for your benefit we may need to share some information about you.

We only ever use or pass on information about you if people have a genuine need for it in your and everyone's interests. Whenever we can we shall remove details which identify you. Law strictly controls the sharing of some types of very sensitive personal information.

Anyone who receives information from us is also under a legal duty to keep it confidential.

Comments & Suggestions

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

Complaints Procedure

We always try to provide the best services possible, but there may be times when you feel this has not happened. The following information explains our in-house complaints procedure, drawn up to respond to patient grievances. Our practice procedure is not able to deal with questions of legal liability or compensation. We hope you will use it to allow us to look into and, if necessary, correct any problems that you have identified, or mistakes that have been made. If you use this procedure it will not affect your right to complain to the Health Authority. Please note that we have to respect our duty of confidentiality to patients and a patient's consent will be necessary if a complaint is not made by the patient in person. If you wish to make a complaint, please telephone or write to our practice manager. Full details will be taken and a decision made on how best to undertake the investigation.

We believe it is important to deal with complaints swiftly, so you will be offered an appointment for a meeting to discuss the details within two days. Occasionally it may take longer, but we will keep you informed throughout. You may bring a friend or relative with you to the meeting. We will try to address your concerns, provide you with an explanation and discuss any action that may be needed.

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 from reception.

Patient Focus Group

We have an active patient focus group who meet every two months. If you would be interested in joining this group or think you might have any comments or suggestions, please ask our receptionist who can give you a contact number for one of our patient group representatives.