Patient Charter

Responsibilities of the Practice

• We aim to treat our patients with courtesy and respect at all times.
• The practice will not discriminate against patients on the grounds of race, gender, social class, age, religion, sexual orientation, appearance, disability or medical condition.
• At the reception desk you will be welcomed, acknowledged and dealt with promptly.
• The telephone will be answered promptly.
• Urgent medical conditions will be seen on the same day.
• You will be visited at home if the doctor considers you are too ill to be brought to the surgery.  On occasions you may be referred directly to hospital.
• We will explain the likely effects of drugs and review your long term medication needs on a regular basis.
• You have the right to ask for a second opinion.
• We have the right to remove patients from our practice list if they repeatedly and persistently ignore their responsibilities to us and other patients.
• We respect your right to privacy and keep all your information confidential and secure.
• All staff are aware of the need for confidentiality.  Breach of confidentiality is recognised as grounds for disciplinary action.
• You can speak to a receptionist in private, if requested.
• Information held on the computer system is protected under the Data Protection Act 1984
• Under the Data Protection Act you are entitled to access your clinical records or any other personal information held about you and you should contact the practice manager to make an appointment.

Responsibilities of the Patient

• Help us to help you.  We need your co-operation to help us maintain and develop our services.
• We ask that you treat the doctors, nurses and all practice Staff with courtesy and respect.  Any threatening, abusive or violent behaviour to staff or other patients will not be tolerated.  If an incident does occur the practice will immediately call the Police and also use the NHS Regulations to immediately remove the patient from the practice list.  This may lead to inconvenience for the patient in accessing medical care in the future.
• Please remember that the doctor or nurse of your choice may not always be available due to holidays and other practice commitments.
• Please do everything you can to keep appointments.  Tell us as soon as you can if you are unable to attend.
• Please tell us if you want a chaperone to accompany you during an examination.
• The less time a doctor spends travelling, the more time is available for seeing patients in the surgery.  Please do not ask for a home visit unless it is absolutely necessary.
• Please do not call out of hours except in real emergencies.  Where possible it is best to wait for the next surgery.
• If you are seriously unhappy with us or the services we provide we have a patient friendly practice complaints procedure – ask any of us for details.
• You have the right to leave our list and register with another practice.