Practice Charter

You will be treated as an individual and given courtesy and respect regardless of your
background, ethnicity, religious belief, personal situation, or the nature of your health
problem.
We ask that you treat all the staff with the same courtesy and respect.

We will involve you fully in planning and agreeing your treatment and will explain it to you.
You are encouraged to share responsibility for your health, which includes making appointments
in time for repeat medication or reviews and vaccinations.

You have a right to see your health records in accordance with the law;
Your records are confidential and disclosure of details from them require
your written permission.

We will give you full information about the services we offer;
Please read and keep our practice booklet and be aware of our notice boards.

All staff involved in your care will have received appropriate training and will be identified by name if asked;
Please tell us if you change your name or address.

We will arrange specialist or hospital treatment as necessary. If a second opinion is appropriate, we will arrange this;
Please keep your hospital appointment - at present up to one in five appointments is not kept.

You will have the right to choose whether or not to take part in training or research;
We greatly appreciate the help patients have given us in the past in these areas.

We will endeavour to see you at a convenient time and without due delay;
Please try to keep your appointment, or tell us if you cannot. We will give you a routine
appointment within two working days of a request for one, although it may not always be possible
to see a specific doctor within this time;

Urgent or emergency cases will always be given priority. We will try not to keep you waiting
longer than we can;
We will make sure that you are seen on the same day as your urgent request. Please be
patient, as on other occasions it might be you who needs to be seen urgently.

We will ensure that you can speak to a doctor over the telephone for advice;
The doctor/nurse will normally speak to you when he/she has finished her surgery session in
the morning. The receptionist may ask you to ring back later or provide a contact number.
The doctors now offer a telephone appointment service within morning surgeries for clinical
concerns that can be dealt with over the telephone.

We will visit you at home if your illness prevents you from attending the surgery;
Please do not ask for a home visit unless your medical condition warrants it. Home visits are at
the discretion of the doctor who will telephone you beforehand.

We will try to provide a comfortable environment for you whilst waiting for your
appointment;
Please supervise your child/children whilst waiting to see the doctor and discourage them from
wandering around the building.

When the practice is closed our Out-Of-Hours Service is available;
Please help us to keep this service efficient by only asking for a visit during the evening or at
night if the problem cannot wait until morning.

We will tell you how to make suggestions or complaints about our services;
Details are available from our practice manager.

If you are dissatisfied with us, you have the right to leave our list and register with another practice;
We also have the right to ask patients who ignore their responsibilities to us and to other
patients to leave our list, but will only use this in exceptional circumstances.

We will endeavour to answer the telephone efficiently and courteously as soon as possible;
We would ask patients to request results after 2.00pm as the volume of telephone calls up to that time can be high.

Patient Satisfaction

Under the new regulations for GPs, it is necessary to record patients’ positive views and comments on the services provided. We would welcome any comments you may have, submitted through the practice manager or the GPs.

Letters and cards forwarded to GPs and staff expressing thanks, may be kept as evidence of patient satisfaction.

Patients may also submit their views via the Patient Participation Group (details may be obtained from the practice manager).

Complaints Procedure

In the first instance, patients may write expressing their views to the practice manager. If the situation cannot be resolved by direct communication with the person(s) involved, the matter may then be referred to a different GP partner not involved in the case


If you wish to make a complaint about any aspect of the service in the Health Centre or its staff, you should:

• Contact the practice manager in writing, or by telephone, email, or in person (by appointment).
• You may also contact any of the GP Partners, by appointment.

On receipt or notification of a complaint the Health Centre will:

• Acknowledge your complaint within two working days.
• Investigate your complaint to the best of our ability.
• Notify you of any outcome or changes in practice as a direct result of your complaint.
  

The investigation will aim to:

• Find out the exact circumstances.
• Hear all sides.
• Give you the opportunity to discuss your complaint.
• Resolve the situation to the satisfaction of all.

We hope that if you unfortunately have a problem, or a view regarding the practice, you will use the appropriate procedure. We feel this will give our patients and ourselves the best opportunity to resolve any issue and, where necessary, amend practice or policy to prevent a recurrence, and to inform our staff of patient views.

Confidentiality

GP practice staff will keep personal information about your health strictly confidential.

The Data Protection Act 1998 gives you the right to see personal health information about yourself. This Act aims to protect your personal privacy. Personal information includes records held by GPs, hospitals and health professionals.

A health record is any record, whether on computer or paper, which includes information about your physical or mental health or condition, and is made by, or for, a health professional involved in your care. So it includes your clinical notes, letters to and from other health professionals, x-rays, results of laboratory tests and MRI scans.

A health professional includes GPs, Health visitors, Dieticians, Podiatrists, Clinical psychologists, Midwives, Hospital doctors, Physiotherapists, Dentists, Occupational therapists, Chiropractor and Nurses

The GPs and staff in the Health Centre are responsible for the care and security of this information.

Patient Participation Group

We are encouraging a Patient Participation Group, which may meet every six months to look at patient satisfaction regarding services and complaints. If you wish to contribute to the group please contact the practice manager.

Zero Tolerance

This practice considers aggressive behaviour to be any personal, abusive or threatening comments, bad language, physical contact and aggressive gestures. In keeping with the rest of the National Health Service we operate a zero tolerance policy with respect to the protection of all staff. This means that no abuse of doctors or staff is acceptable, whether verbal or physical and any patient behaving in this manner will be removed from the practice list with immediate effect.