RESPONSIBILITIES

OUR RESPONSIBILITY TO YOU AS A PATIENT

· You will be greeted courteously
· You have a right to confidentiality
· You have the right to see your medical records subject to the limitation of the law.
· You will be seen the same day if your problem is urgent
· You will be seen by your own doctor whenever possible
· You will be informed if there will be a delay of more than 20 minutes for your appointment
· You will be referred to a consultant when your GP thinks it necessary
· You will be given the result of any test or investigation on request or at your next appointment.
· Your repeat prescription will be ready for collection within two working days of your request
· Your suggestions and comments about the services offered will be considered sympathetically and any complaints dealt with quickly.


YOUR RESPONSIBILITY TO US AS A PATIENT

· Please treat all staff with the same respect we are all just doing our job.
· To attend appointments on time or give the practice adequate notice that they wish to cancel. Someone else could use your appointment!
· Do not ask for information about anyone other than yourself.
· Tell us of any change of name, address or telephone number, so that our records are accurate.
· Only request an urgent appointment if appropriate. Home visits should only be requested if you are really too ill to attend the surgery, and night visits should be for emergencies only Please be punctual, but be prepared to wait if your own consultation is delayed by an unexpected emergency.
· Please allow sufficient time for your consultant's letter or the results of any test to reach us.
· When patients are asked to give two working days notice for repeat prescriptions, please give us this time as it is to allow for accurate prescribing.
· Do let us know whenever you feel we have not met our responsibility to you.
· We would, of course, be pleased to hear when you feel praise is due as well.


We hope that you will enjoy good health whilst a patient of the practice.

COMPLAINTS PROCEDURE

The doctors and staff will try to provide the best treatment for all patients at all times. If anyone has a complaint about the treatment they have received we provide a surgery based complaints procedure.

All complaints will be investigated by the practice manager or the doctor in the practice nominated to deal with complaints. All complaints will be responded to within 5 days and investigated and reported back to the patient within 4 weeks. This procedure is part of the NHS system for dealing with complaints and has been approved by the PCSA. If you feel your complaint has not been satisfactorily dealt with you have the right to complain formally to the PCSA. We can advise you of the procedure should you feel this is best for you.

We welcome any suggestion on how we can improve the services we offer.


VIOLENT OR AGGRESSIVE BEHAVIOUR

Unacceptable behaviour that causes harm or fear of harm to any person within the surgery, its car parking area and grounds, will not be tolerated.

Practice procedures following any incidence of violence or aggressive behaviour will be:-
· To review the incident with the practice partners in order to determine it's severity
· To determine if the patient should be removed from the practice list forthwith.
· To decide if a written warning should be given
· To take no further action as the matter has been sufficiently dealt with by the advice already given.