Patient Charter

The Charter sets out patients‘ rights in the NHSE and the standards of service they can expect to receive in areas addressing, among others, waiting times; information about services and treatment; and privacy and dignity of the patient.

Our responsibilities to you

• To be registered with a General Practitioner and have a named GP
• To specify to see a particular doctor, We like to offer you your named GP, or GP of choice, where possible, for continuity of care
• To be treated courteously, with kindness & dignity, irrespective of ethnic origin, religion, cultural beliefs, sex or age.
• To communicate in a way that works for you. We will adapt our communications to best meet your needs. We want to make it as easy as possible for you to understand the information we give you and the decisions we make. You can speak to us on the telephone, write or send an email.
• To have your records treated confidentially, and subject to your wishes to have relatives and friends informed of the progress of your treatment.
• To have the right to view your medical records, subject to the Acts and associated procedure, and to know that those working for the NHS are under legal obligation to keep the contents confidential.
• To be seen the same day for conditions you and your doctor agree are urgent. 
• To be seen within thirty minutes of any appointment you are offered at the surgery, and failing this to be offered an explanation.
• The clinicians are here to give you treatment and advice. We will listen to you and involve you in decision making regarding your treatment options. To be referred to a specialist if your GP thinks it necessary and referred for a second opinion if you and your doctor think it is desirable. It is important that you understand the information given to you. If you are unsure about your treatment please ask for more information.
• We aim to support patients in leading a healthier lifestyle and provide information so that an informed choice can be made
• To have your long-term medication and treatment reviewed at agreed intervals.
• To process prescription requests within 3 working days
• We aim to keep patients informed of your services, their rights and any other information which directly affects health treatment.
• We will keep abreast of advancements by attending regular training sessions and updates
• To receive healthcare in safe, comfortable and appropriate surroundings
• To have a culture of openness and honesty at all level
• We operate a practice complaints procedure which may be used in confidence
• We welcome and consider all feedback from patients and make best use of our Patient Participation Group (PPG) when making decisions that affect our patients

Your responsibilities to us

• To treat all clinicians and practice staff courteously at all times. We operate a zero tolerance policy for abuse of our staff and clinicians. Aggressive, abusive or threatening behaviour will not be tolerated and may result in removal for our list, please see our Zero Tolerance Policy for more information.
• Our system is designed to improve patient continuity of care and we ask for your patient in waiting longer to see the clinician most active in your care.
• Please respond in a positive way to questions asked by the reception team. Medical receptionists are not clinically trained but as care coordinators they are able to use the information that you provide to allocate an appointment with the correct clinician.
• Utilise the services of other professional surgery staff - the GP is not necessarily the most appropriate clinician to see.
• Please be punctual for your appointment, attendance for any clinical appointment later than 10 minutes may not be able to be accommodated.
• If you are unable to attend or be available for your telephone appointment please cancel your appointment with a minimum of 48 hours when ever possible. See our Did Not Attend (DNA) Policy.
• To understand if appointment times are running late, clinicians may be dealing with an emergency or another patient needing additional time.
• To ask for a home visit only if housebound or if the illness completely prevents you from attending the surgery, please call before 10:30am to book a sameday home visit.
• To make more than one appointment whenever more than one person needs to be seen.
• To make more than one appointment if you have a number of issues to discuss or to be prepared to make further appointments if required.
• Follow up on your test results a week after your test. You will be contacted promptly by us should there be any serious abnormalities but normal results are viewed by GP's and filed and you will not be contacted unless further action is required. More information regarding blood tests and how to view your results via NHS App can be found here.
• Follow up on a referral made if you have not heard back from within the timescale advised. At the time of the referral, you will be supplied with details of the organisation that will be able to help with following up your referrals. For patients not able to make contact themselves our medical secretaries will endeavour to support you.
• Allow sufficient time for processing repeat prescription requests and do not pressure staff to process unauthorised medication requests. The optimum time to allow from ordering to collection is 5 working days. Repeat prescription requests can be made via the NHS App or in writing but we are not able to accept prescription requests over the telephone.
• Please do not ask for information about anyone other than yourself as we are bound by the Duty of Confidentiality.
• Please notify the surgery if you change your address or any other contact details.

Learning from your experience with us

We may not always be able to provide the outcome or answer that you would prefer but we do want to learn from your experience and welcome all feedback both positive and negative. If you do have a concern please see use our contact us submission link to write a message to us or call the surgery on 01959 564949.