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PRACTICE
CHARTER
OUR
SERVICES TO YOU THE PATIENT
We do our best to look after your health needs by treating and preventing illness.
You should find our services helpful, kind, caring and absolutely confidential.
You may expect us to respond immediately to an emergency situation requiring life-saving
treatment. For problems that you feel are urgent we will see you within 24 hours.
Please appreciate that occasionally all appointments for a day are taken up. We
would therefore have to defer non-urgent appointments.
When you attend the surgery we will provide you with service as promptly as possible.
When you are medically unfit to come to the surgery you may expect a home visit
at your doctor’s discretion.
You have a right to know as much about your medical condition as you want to know
and we will always tell you the full truth unless you ask us to do otherwise.
We will not discuss your case with anyone else unless you wish us to and have
given us your consent first.
You are welcome to see your health records and discuss
its contents with the doctor if you wish.
We have a complaints procedure and, if you are not happy about any services, you
should tell us. We will take the matter seriously and do our best to set it right
for you.
We will do our best to provide excellent health care within the constraints the
NHS imposes on us.
YOUR RESPONSIBILITIES AS PATIENTS USING OUR SERVICES
Please do what you can to avoid wasting your own as well as the doctors’
time. Do not come with minor coughs and colds and tummy bugs which do not require
a doctor’s help.
The pharmacist at your local chemist can advise on simple measures and over the counter remedies.
Try not to come to the doctor with problems which are not at all medical. Doctors
are not lawyers, financial advisers or housing experts.
If you cannot keep an appointment, please cancel it. It may then be given to someone
else rather than be wasted.
Please do not abuse our services - in particular, do not ask for home visits when
you are able to travel to the surgery. Please do not call the doctor out after
hours for routine matters or at night for problems that could easily wait until
the morning.
Please also take responsibility for your own health. Follow advice from the doctor
or nurse.
Take medication properly; keep follow-up appointments and attend for screening
procedures.
Try not to abuse your body - think about your lifestyle.
Please help the receptionists to help you. Do not mislead them by making a non-urgent
matter seem like an emergency. It is unfair on the patients who really are emergencies
and who have to wait longer while the doctor deals with you.
Please be sure to attend appointments made for you at the hospital unless you
no longer need to, in which case inform both the hospital and us. Millions of
pounds are wasted each year by patients who fail to keep appointments.
We will not tolerate verbal or physical abuse towards any staff member. We reserve
the right to immediately remove such patients from the practice list.
Thank you for giving these points your attention. Your co-operation is greatly
appreciated by all of us at the practice.
PRACTICE
COMPLAINTS PROCEDURE
We
operate a practice complaints procedure as part of the NHS system for dealing
with complaints. Our complaints system meets national criteria. If you have a
complaint, please contact our office manager in order to discuss your concerns.
They will explain the complaints procedure to you and will make sure your concerns
are dealt with appropriately. It would be a great help if you are as specific
as possible about your complaint.
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.
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