Patient Rights and Responsibilities
Help Us To Help You
All members of the surgery primary care team are dedicated to a quality policy to achieve health services which meet the patient's requirements. A copy of the Patients' Charter is available from reception.
To get the best out of our services:
Please let us know if you change your name, address, telephone number, mobile number or email address.
Please do everything you can to keep appointments. Tell us as soon as possible if you cannot, so we can offer the appointment to another patient who needs it.
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 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. Along with this website it 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 dependants. We will give you our professional help and advice - please act upon it.
Confidentiality
We ask you for personal information so that you can receive appropriate care and treatment. The information is recorded on computer and we are registered under the Data Protection Act (1998). The practice will ensure that patient confidentiality is maintained at all times by all members of the practice team. However, for the effective functioning and audit of a multidisciplinary team it may sometimes be necessary for medical information about you to be shared between members of the health team.
Anonymised patient data may be used for audit & evaluation purposes. If you do not wish your anonymised data to be included, please inform the Practice Manager in writing.
Telephone numbers will usually be included in referral information to third parties. Please tell us if you do not wish your telephone number to be passed on this way.
Comments, Suggestions And Complaints
We always try to provide the best services possible, but there may be times when you feel that this has not happened. The following information explains our in-house complaints procedure, drawn up to respond to patient concerns. We hope that 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. We have to respect our duty of confidentiality to patients and a patient’s consent will be necessary if the complaint is being made by someone other than the patient.
If you wish to make a complaint please telephone or write to our practice manager or request a complaint form at the reception desk. Full details will be taken and a decision made on how best to undertake the investigation. We believe it is important to deal with complaints swiftly so we will acknowledge your complaint and will aim to give a full response within an agreed timescale . We will keep you informed throughout. You may be offered a meeting to discuss the details in which case you may bring a friend or relative with you. We will try to address your concerns, provide you with an explanation and discuss any action that may be needed. Please note: if you remain dissatisfied with our response to your concerns you have the right to ask the Health Service Ombudsman for England to review your case. This should be done within two months of receipt of our final response to your complaint, when we will remind you of this facility again. The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman is an independent body established to promote improvements in healthcare through the assessment of the performance of those who provide services.
You can contact the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman for England on 0345 015 4033 or write to them at – the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman for England, Millbank Tower, Millbank, London, SW1P 4QP or visit their website at www.ombudsman.org.uk.
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 whatsoever, 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 - 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.
