Practice Charter

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 are 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 beyond your appointment time, without receiving an explanation for the delay.

Access: You will have access to a doctor rapidly in case of emergency, the same day in cases of urgency, and otherwise 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 available to do this. You should be able to speak to a doctor by telephone at the designated times (see Telephone Consultations).

Respect: Patients will be treated as individuals and partners in their healthcare, 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.

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.

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 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.
• Violent and abusive behaviour towards us or our staff will not be tolerated. We reserve the right to remove such patients from our list

Patients’ Rights

If you want to obtain further information on the exact nature of any disclosure in respect of your records, you should apply in writing to Miss Jackie Elvidge or Miss Shonagh Strathdee, Practice Manager.

1. You may insist that any disclosures are only to be made with your written consent.

2. You may inform the practice that on no account should the doctor disclose any of your patient information to anybody other than for the purposes of your care.

Please note that where there are reasonable grounds for suspicion that a serious crime has been or is being committed, which would include fraud or any threat to national security, by law consent of that individual does not have to be obtained.

The information contained on this page reflects the current legal situation and not any specific policy of the practice. The practice shows it merely to draw attention to its legal obligations, and of the consequences of these for patients.