Practice Charter
Help Us To Help You
The staff are here to help you. Please understand the difficulties they
sometimes face when trying to please everybody. Please be patient if the surgery
is running late (it could be due to an unforeseen emergency) and make every effort
to be punctual for your appointment. Arriving late for an appointment may require
you to re-book your appointment.
It is important that you notify us of any change
to your details (name, address, and/or telephone number) in order for us to amend
our records.
The practice reserves the right to remove any patient who is physically or verbally
aggressive to a member of staff or fellow patient.
Confidentiality
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 team.
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 suggestions
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 Services
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.
Your complaint will be acknowledged
within two working days and you should expect to receive a full response within
10 days. Occasionally, it may take longer, but we will keep you informed throughout.
We will try to address your concerns, provide you with an explanation and discuss
any action that may be needed.
We operate a practice complaints procedure as part of the NHS system for dealing
with complaints.
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, will risk removal from the practice list. In extreme
cases we may summon the police to remove offenders from the practice premises.
Freedom Of Information
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.
Access To Medical Records
If you wish to have access to your
medical records, you should make your application to your own doctor in writing.
An administration charge will be made for this.
We are registered under the Data Protection Act and have systems in place to
protect confidentiality. Personal health information is used to monitor the practice’s
screening activities. Occasionally, anonymous health information is sent to the
PCT to monitor quality standards and for post-payment verification purposes.
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