Travel
vaccination and health advice:
-
Please contact us at least 8 weeks before travelling. Some
vaccinations and all malaria tablets are not available on the NHS,
therefore a charge will be made.
Changes to
services or the way we work:
- When changes are introduced to our methods of working or services
that affect patients, we will explain these changes clearly in our
practice leaflet/newsletter, on
posters on the waiting room notice board or in separate leaflets.
Referrals to other
doctors or healthcare professionals:
- Patients are encouraged to discuss
with their doctor their choice of hospital.
- Urgent referrals to other health
or social care agencies will be made within 1 working day of the
patient consultation.
- We will normally process
non-urgent referrals within 5 working days of the patient
consultation or the doctor’s decision to refer.
Your Rights
to Primary Medical Care:
As a patient you have the right to:
- Be registered with a Practice.
- See the doctor of your choice,
subject to availability.
- Be offered a health check on joining the practice.
- Receive emergency care.
- Receive appropriate drugs and medicines.
- Be referred for specialist or second opinion if they and the GP
agrees.
- See your medical records or have a copy, subject to certain laws.
- Know that, by law, everyone working for the NHS must keep the
contents of your medical records private.
Your Right to see
your Medical Records:
- The Practice Manager will help any
patient to see their own medical records, subject to the laws which
apply.
- The patient’s doctor will be available to explain medical terms and
words within 40 working days.
- There is a charge for this
service.
Waiting Times:
- Surgeries will normally start on
time.
- We usually expect patients to be seen within 20 minutes of their
appointment time. Please ask at reception if you are kept waiting
longer than this.
- When a doctor is called away on an emergency, we will inform you.
We will then give you the chance to book another appointment, or if
you wish, to be seen by another doctor.
Out of Hours Emergencies:
- We will do all we can to make sure that our system for contacting
the duty doctor service is easy to follow, reliable and effective.
Practice Leaflet:
- All new patients will receive a copy of our practice leaflet. Copies
will be available at the reception desk and you are advised to
obtain updated copies as they become
available.
Surgery Premises:
- Our surgery will be a clean and
friendly place, where it is easy for all patients to find their way
around. It will
provide trouble free access for all.
Patient
Responsibilities
With these rights come responsibilities and for you, the patient,
this means we would ask you to please:
- Be courteous to all the staff at all times. Please remember they are
trying to help you. There is no place for aggressive or rude
attitudes at our surgery; it upsets the other patients too. We want
our practice to be a friendly place for all.
- Be on time for your appointments.
- Cancel your appointments in plenty of time. Someone else could use
your appointment !
- Make separate appointments for each member of the family who needs
to be seen. An appointment is for one person only.
- Try to make best use of nursing and medical time by making an effort
to come to the surgery. Home visits should be for medical reasons
and not requested to suit your social needs.
- Give 48 hours notice for repeat prescriptions. This time allows us
to make sure your medicines are correct.
- Only ask for a doctor at night (after 6.30pm) or at weekends if it is
urgent.
- Read the practice leaflets and other information we give you. They
are there to help you use our services. Please ask us if you do not
understand them, this will help us make them easy to read.
Comments,
Suggestions & Complaints:
- The Practice Manager handles all
comments or complaints about our services.
- We record all complaints.
We write to say we have received a written complaint within two
working days of receiving it. We respond to all complaints within
ten
working days.
- Where a complaint is about a doctor, you have the right to choose to
discuss this with another doctor in the practice if you wish.
- Use of the practice complaints procedure does not take away your
right to make a complaint to other NHS bodies. However, we find that
the sooner we are made aware of your problem, the sooner we can
solve it and make sure that it does not happen again. This is your
practice and we want to work with you to make it the best. A leaflet
containing full information on our complaints procedure is available
in reception.
Protection
and Use of Information:
- We will respect our patients’ privacy and confidentiality at all
times. All our staff are bound by the same rules of confidentiality
as the doctors and nurses.
- 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.
- 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 that identify you. Anyone who receives
information from us is also under a legal duty to keep it
confidential.
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