Practice Charter


 

Mission Statement - All members of the Practice Primary Care Team are dedicated to achieve quality health services, tailored to meet our patients' needs. We strive to practice in an up to date evidence based fashion making efficient use of available resources.

 

As a patient you are entitled to: -

1. Be treated with courtesy and respect.

2. Absolute confidentiality by doctors and their staff,

3. Expect doctors and nurses to start surgeries on time. Delays will be due to medical

     necessity or unforeseen circumstances

4. Consultation with a male or female doctor (subject to the availability of our female doctors);

5. Have appropriate treatment prescribed and clearly explained

6. Be referred to a consultant acceptable to you when your GP feels it necessary and be referred for a  second opinion if both you and your GP agree this is desirable  

7. See your health records, subject to any limitation in the law. A fee may be charged to cover costs

8. Be offered appropriate advice by the Primary Care Team regarding steps you may take to promote good health and avoid illness. e.g. smoking, exercise, diet and immunisation;

9.  Expect that patients with urgent medical conditions will be given priority and will be seen as soon as possible, even when this will cause delay to booked appointments;

10.  Be seen the same day should you have a medically urgent complaint, though you may not be able to see your own doctor

11.  Have any suggestions you may make to improve the service considered by the appropriate team members and to be given a response

12.  Acknowledgement of a written complaint within three working days and a response to the complaint as soon as is practical, preferably within 13 working days

13 Be treated as an equal.  In the same way as patients can choose their doctor the doctors reserve the right to accept or remove a patient from their list. This may occur if the patient is unable to work cooperatively with the practice

14. If you have had x-rays or tests performed we will try to inform you of any important abnormal results but it is wise for you to ask at reception about the results of any tests done.

 

The practice Primary Care Team has made undertakings to you. In return we ask you to share with us in a partnership for your care.

 

We expect you to: -

1.  Extend the same courtesy and politeness to the practice team, as you would expect to receive. The receptionists in particular have the difficult task of fitting our patients' wishes to real and limited resources

2.  Call between 8.30 am and 11.00 am where possible for house calls to ensure we can plan our day effectively

3.  Attend appointments on time or give the practice adequate notice that you wish to cancel

4.  Make appointments for each person about whom you wish to consult and bring along all relevant information to make consultations as effective as possible

5.  Ask for a longer appointment if you have much to discuss

6.  Make every effort to consult at the surgery to make best use of medical time and nursing facilities - home visits should be medically justifiable and not requested just for convenience;

7.  Make out-of-hours calls (evening and weekend) only if they are felt truly to be necessary

8.  Give good notice of repeat prescriptions required - more than two working days if possible

9.  Inform us if you change your address or telephone number, as we may need to contact you urgently