Practice Charter

As your registered GP Practice we strive to provide you, our patients, with a level of Health Care that improves continually.

As our patient you have a right to:

·	be treated as an individual, with courtesy, respect and dignity at all times

·	be given the names of people involved in your care

·	be seen, under normal circumstances, within 30 minutes of appointment or given the reason for delay and have the right to make another appointment

·	be given, under normal circumstances, an urgent appointment within the same day and a routine appointment within 48 hours. Appointments with named Doctors are subject to the availability of the relevant Doctor

·	be seen without an appointment when warranted by an Emergency condition

·	receive advice or action you can take to promote good health

·	be given the most appropriate care by suitably qualified people; no care or treatment will be given without your informed consent

·	be referred to a Consultant acceptable to you when your Doctor feels that such that such a course of action necessary

·	choose whether or not to take part in medical research or medical student training

·	to receive medical advice over the telephone

·	to have access to your medical records subject to limitations by law

·	to have access to a Doctor at all times for emergencies

·	expect a complaint to be treated in accordance with Health Service guide-lines and to receive a leaflet describing the process

·	a copy of the practice leaflet, from Reception, which will give you details of all practice services etc, that are available to you.

What we expect from you:

·	to ask for an Emergency night visit only when its truly necessary and when you are too ill to attend the surgery

·	to ask for an Urgent Surgery appointment only for urgent matters

·	to attend Surgery instead of requesting a home visit, when at all possible, to gain benefit from the practice facilities available; a Doctor can see 5 patients in the surgery for every one house visit

·	to request Routine House-calls before 10am when possible

·	to keep, and be on time, for appointments or let us know if you cannot attend

·	request only those drugs, on Repeat Prescription, which you intend taking that month; many drugs are not often taken, costing the Health Services large sums of money that could be better spent

·	to treat our staff with courtesy and understanding