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’ names are indicated on their surgery rooms.

Waiting Time
We run an appointment system in this practice. You will be given a time at which the doctor or nurse expects to see you. You should not wait more than 30 minutes in the waiting room without receiving an explanation for the delay.

Access
We offer a same day service where possible with the doctor of your choice.

Telephone
We will try to answer the telephone promptly and to ensure that there are sufficient staff available to do this.

Test Results
If you have undergone tests or x-rays ordered by the practice, we will 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. 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 and avoid illness and self-help which can be undertaken without reference to a doctor in the case of minor ailments.

Health Records
You have the right to see your health records, subject to limitations in the law. Such records are kept confidential at all times.

The practice has a Code of Practice for the confidentiality of all information pertaining to individual patients, whether on paper, computer discs, print-outs or any other format. All NHS employees have a common law duty to maintain strict patient confidentiality and a contractual obligation to follow confidentiality procedures. Disclosure of personal information to third parties is on a strict “need to know” basis. Only the minimum necessary information is disclosed. It will be anonymised where the recipient does not need to know the person’s identity, for example when the patient information is required in connection with the contracting and purchasing of healthcare, for the Primary Care Trust Finance and Commissioning Department, for training, audit or research purposes. Where it is necessary to identify the patient, consent must be obtained for the patient's records to be used for this purpose.

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.

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, so 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 courtesy and respect.

Please read our practice booklet. This will help you to get the best out of the service we offer. It is important that 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.

COMPLAINTS PROCEDURE
We always try to provide the best services possible, but there may be times when you feel this has not happened. The following information explains our in-house complaints procedure, drawn up to respond to patient grievances.

Our practice procedure is not able to deal with questions of legal liability or compensation. We hope you will use it to allow us to look into and, if necessary, correct any problems that you have identified, or mistakes that have been made. If you use this procedure it will not affect your right to complain to the Health Services Authority.

Please note that we have to respect our duty of confidentiality to patients and a patient’s consent will be necessary if a complaint is not made by the patient in person. If you wish to make a complaint, please write to our practice manager. Full details will be taken and a decision made on how best to undertake the investigation. We believe it is important to deal with complaints swiftly, so you will have a response within seven days. Occasionally it may take longer, but we will keep you informed throughout. We will try to address your concerns, provide you with an explanation and discuss any action that may be needed.

COMMENTS AND SUGGESTIONS
We are happy to accept and consider comments and suggestions from our patients. Please present your views in writing at reception.