PRACTICE
CHARTER STANDARDS
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 Responsibilities
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 on their surgery rooms
where appropriate.
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 30 minutes in the waiting room without
receiving an explanation for the delay.
Access:
You will have access to a doctor
rapidly in case of emergency, within a working day in cases of urgency and otherwise
within three working days. You may have to wait longer to see the doctor of your
choice.
Telephone:
We will try to answer the phone promptly.
You should be able to speak to a doctor and nurse by telephone and will be advised
by the receptionist of a suitable time.
Test Results:
If you have undergone tests or x-rays
ordered by the practice, we should be able to inform you of the results at your
next appointment. If no further appointment needs to be arranged, we will advise
you when and how to obtain the results.
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 and 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.
Complaints:
We will provide you with information
about how to make suggestions or complaints about the care we offer. We want to
improve services, so we welcome any comments you have. Please contact our practice
manager.
Your
Responsibilities 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. Requests should be made before 9.30am whenever possible. Please
do not ask for an urgent appointment unless you really need one.
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; 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 the same 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 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.
Suggestions
and Complaints
We constantly strive to give you
the best possible care and attention. If you have any suggestions to make or if
you are unhappy about any aspect of our service, please ask to see the practice
manager, who will be happy to listen to your suggestions and criticisms. She will
inform you of the Practice Complaints Procedure which operates within the practice,
if appropriate. You may contact her by telephoning 01706 213060 or she will be
happy to see you.
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.
The
Computer
A summary of your medical records
will be held on computer - these are strictly confidential.
The Protection
And Use Of Patient Information
We ask you for information about
yourself so that you can receive proper care and treatment. We keep this information,
together with details of your care, because it may be needed if we see you again.
We may use some of this information
for other reasons; for example, to help us protect the health of the public generally
and to see that the NHS runs efficiently, plans for the future, trains its staff,
pays its bills and can account for its actions. Information may also be needed
to help educate tomorrow's clinical staff and to carry out medical and other health
research for the benefit of everyone.
Sometimes the law requires us to
pass on information: for example, to notify a birth.
The NHS Central Register for England
and Wales contains basic personal details of all patients registered with general
practitioners. The register does not contain clinical information. You have a
right of access to your health records.
EVERYONE WORKING FOR THE NHS HAS
A LEGAL DUTY TO KEEP INFORMATION ABOUT YOU CONFIDENTIAL.
You may be receiving care from other
people as well as the NHS. So that we can all work together for your benefit we
may need to share some information about you.
We only ever use or pass on information
about you if people have a genuine need for it in your and everyone's interests.
Whenever we can we shall remove details which identify you.
Law strictly controls the sharing of some types of very sensitive personal information.
Anyone who receives information from
us is also under a legal duty to keep that information confidential.
THE MAIN REASONS FOR WHICH YOUR
INFORMATION MAY BE NEEDED
* Giving you healthcare and treatment
* Looking after the health of the
general public
* Managing and planning the NHS. For
example:
- Making sure that our services can meet patient needs in future
- Paying your doctor, nurse, dentist, or other staff, and the hospital, which
treats you for the care they provide, eg post-payment verification visits by the
health authority
- Auditing accounts
- Preparing statistics on NHS performance and activity (where steps will be
taken to ensure that you cannot be identified)
- Investigating complaints and legal claims
- Helping staff to review the care they provide to make sure it is of the highest
standard, eg significant event audits
* Training and educating staff (though
you can choose whether or not to be involved personally)
* Research approved by the local
research and ethics committee. (If anything to do with research would involve
you personally, you would be contacted to see if you are willing to take part.
You will not be identified in any published results without your agreement.)
• If you agree, your relatives,
friends and carers will be kept up to date with the progress of your treatment.
If at any time you would like
to know more about how we use your information you can speak to the person in
charge of your care or to Mrs Jones, the practice manager.
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