Practice Charter

Introduction

This practice strives to provide an exemplary Primary Health Care Service to all patients registered with us.

In line with recent trends in the UK regarding the rights of the patient we have decided to produce this practice charter. This is a wholly voluntary undertaking to which we are fully committed, as we believe it will benefit both you the patient and the practice.

We have called our practice charter “Our Standard Contract of Care” because, in defining the standard we aim to achieve, we have included your responsibilities to the practice. We are committed to giving the best possible service which we feel can only be achieved by the patient and the practice working together.

Each section will outline the standards we aim to achieve and will also detail your responsibilities to us. By agreeing to a few simple guidelines you can help us to provide the best possible service to you.

Telephone Access

Calls will be answered and dealt with as efficiently and as soon as possible. Staff will be courteous at all times.

Your responsibilities are:

  • To remain patient and keep calls as brief as possible
  • To avoid calling at peak times for non-urgent matters

Patient’s Rights to General Medical Services

  • To have appropriate drugs and medicine prescribed
  • To be referred to a consultant acceptable to them when they and their GP thinks it is necessary, and to be referred for a second opinion if they and their GP think it advisable.
  • To have access to their Health Records, subject to any limitations of the law, and to know that those working for the NHS are under a legal duty to keep those records confidential.
  • To choose whether to take part in research or medical student training.
  • To receive a copy of the practice leaflet, setting out the services that the practice provides.
  • To receive a full and prompt reply to any complaints they make about the care they receive at the practice.

Appointments

We will endeavour to offer appointments as follows:

  • In an emergency – Straight away.
  • Urgent requests – Will be allocated via a doctor and given according to clinical need.
  • Nurses – We will endeavour to have an appointment available to see the practice nurse within 3 days.

Your responsibilities to us are:

  • To attend appointments on time
  • To cancel if you are unable to attend
  • Not to request urgent appointments for routine matters
  • To observe the “One appointment – one patient with one problem.”
  • If necessary, request a double appointment
  • If you are late for your appointment please do not be offended if you are asked to re-book for another time. Try to let us know in advance if you are going to be unavoidably delayed, so we can make alternative arrangements to help you

Home Visits

A home visit is only to be requested for those who are unable to come to the surgery because of serious illness or infirmity. Please contact the appropriate surgery before 11:00 if at all possible.

Repeat Prescriptions

Patients may order repeat prescriptions by sending a request to the appropriate surgery, by telephone/fax, NHS mobile app or online by registering for SystmOne Access. Prescriptions will normally be ready for collection 48 hrs following request except at weekends and Bank Holidays.

Your responsibilities to us are:

  • To give reasonable notice when ordering repeat prescriptions.
  • If on continuous medication upon registration please introduce yourself to the practice staff to enable your medication to be ordered.

Waiting Times

Patients will be seen within a reasonable time of their appointment. We will always keep you informed if appointments are running late so that you can re-book your appointment if necessary.

Your responsibilities to us are:

  • To attend punctually for appointments and to cancel if unable to attend.
  • To book in at reception to confirm your arrival for your appointment.

Contract of Care

The care of patients is fundamental to the service we provide and for your own well being. We may prescribe treatments to aid a particular complaint or condition and make recommendations to changes and/or modifications to lifestyle to promote the patient’s wellbeing.

Your responsibilities to us are:

  • To comply with any treatment recommended or prescribed.
  • To try and live as healthy a lifestyle as possible and ask for help and advice if necessary.

Referrals

From time to time it may be necessary to refer patients to a consultant for further care. In such cases we will do our utmost to ensure referral letters are sent promptly from this practice.

Your responsibilities to us are:

  • To ensure you notify the practice of any long periods of absence or holiday, or when you know that you will be unable to attend the given date.
  • To recognise that there may be some delay before you receive the appointment.
  • To attend any outpatient appointment arranged for you.

Investigations/Results

Any tests undertaken will be dealt with promptly and you will be advised of the usual length of time before we could expect the results.

Your responsibilities to us are:

  • To recognise that results will not be released over the telephone to third parties.
  • If requested – when notified of your tests results you will arrange a follow-up appointment at the earliest opportunity.

Courtesy

  • Please act in a responsible and courteous manner whilst on the premises for the safety and comfort of others.
  • We would ask you to be patient if the doctor or nurse is running late. This is often due to unforeseeable emergencies but please ask for an explanation at reception.

Violence/Abuse

We aim to treat all our patients courteously irrespective of race, colour, creed or sexual orientation and we expect patients to behave towards our staff in a similarly respectful manner.

Anyone attending the practice who abuses GP’s, staff or other patients in a threatening, abusive or violent manner or who displays discriminatory behaviour will risk immediate removal from our practice list. We have a zero tolerance policy.

Comments, Complaints and Suggestions

Comments, suggestions and complaints are always welcome and may be made in writing to the practice manager. Complaints should be made through the practice complaints manager. All complaints will be treated seriously and dealt with as soon as possible. You will find details of our complaints procedure at reception and in the patient waiting room.

Your responsibilities to us are:

  • To recognise that problems can usually be resolved immediately within the practice.
  • To address complaints to the practice complaints manager.
  • To try and understand that practice staff are busy and not to make complaints about minor matters beyond our control.
  • To understand that we have no responsibility for other areas of the NHS such as hospital waiting lists.

Your practice complaints manager is: Charlie McDowell.

Procedure

The Practice will acknowledge your complaint within 3 working day and look to resolve your complaint within 14 working days.

In the event third party information is required which may delay the response the Practice will keep you informed.

The Practice Manager will look at your complaint and decide how best to resolve it.  This may mean one or more of the following:

  • a verbal explanation
  • a written reply
  • a meeting with the Practice Manager
  • a meeting with a Doctor

We will try to address your concerns with a full explanation and discuss any action which could follow.

It is our aim to answer all your questions. If there are any outstanding issues to your complaint and a resolution has not been achieved, please request a further response from the practice to address your concerns or attend a meeting to try and achieve a resolution.

If, following a second response or meeting, a resolution has still not been achieved, you can approach the Ombudsman to request that they investigate the complaint.

Alternatively, if you do not wish to make your complaint directly to the practice, you should contact NHS England as follows:

Customer Contact Centre NHS England

P O Box 16738
Redditch
B97 9PT

FAO: The Complaints Manager

The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman

Care Quality Commission

Advocacy Service for NHS Complaints

This is a national service that supports people who want to make a complaint about their NHS care or treatment.

Confidentiality

Patients should be aware that all staff employed at East Harling and Kenninghall Medical Practice have access to medical records. In the course of their duties it may from time to time be necessary for them to access information from your records.

All staff in the practice are bound to maintain patient confidentiality at all times. Any proven breach of confidentiality will be treated extremely seriously. Confidentiality also extends to the patients family members; therefore medical information about you will not be divulged to any family member without your written consent.

Access to Records

In accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998 and Access to Health Records Act 1990, a patient may request to see their medical records.

Such requests are to be made through the practice manager. Information is only ever released with your consent unless we are legally obliged to do so.

Disabled Access

The practice has suitable access for all disabled patients and will continue to monitor requirements.

If any disabled patient has difficulty with access within the practice please inform the practice manager so the problem may be investigated.

Review and Monitoring

We will review and monitor the services we provide. This will ensure that our commitment to high quality patient care remains constant.

Your views are important to us, as is your co-operation in achieving these aims. Positive and negative feedback will help us to be in a position to judge if we are meeting our standards.

Should you have any comments positive or negative then please address them to either the practice manager or his/her deputy.