Patient Charter

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Standards of Patient Service you can expect

At all times, we will:

• Treat you fairly and with respect
• Be positive and helpful. Meeting the needs of our patients is our number one priority, and where we cannot help directly, we will refer you, where possible, to other services or organisations
• Offer a friendly and polite service and be sensitive to your needs
• Deal with your letters, phone calls and visits to our offices promptly
• Provide easy-to-understand information and keep you up to date about services we provide
• Deal with your feedback positively and quickly
• Keep your details confidential
• Make sure our staff have the skills they need to do their jobs properly and considerately
• Inform you if your appointment time is delayed by more than 30 minutes
• Offer an urgent, same day appointment with a doctor if required, or refer you to the telephone duty doctor
• Offer the opportunity to a book and appointment with a doctor or nurse of your choice; although you may have to wait longer for this type of appointment
• Allow access to your health records subject to any limitation in the law and to know that those working in the practice are under a legal duty to keep the contents confidential

Customer Service Charter

Our staff will:

• Behave professionally and politely
• Dress smartly
• Wear a name badge or tell you who they are
• Show you a form of identification when they visit your home

Our reception areas will:

• Be accessible and welcoming
• Be tidy, clean and safe
• Have useful information on display

Our clinical team will:

Offer you a high standard of clinical care
Be accessible and welcoming
Answer questions about your health, illness and treatment
Offer information to you on steps you can take to promote good health and avoid illness
Prescribe drugs and medicines when necessary, and explain possible side effects of treatment
Refer you to a consultant if appropriate
Offer home visits for those too ill or infirm to attend the surgery (please phone the surgery to book visit by 10am where possible)

When contacting us by telephone

We will:

• Answer the phone politely, identifying the surgery name
• Give you our name when we answer
• Offer to help to take a message if the person you need to speak to is not available or arrange for the person to ring you back
• Only use our answer phones occasionally (for short periods such as staff meetings or short training sessions)
• Return your phone calls within three working days, or if this is not possible due to annual leave or other absence, we will try to give you a timescale of when you can expect a response from our team

When writing to us

We will:

• Aim to give you a full response to your letters within 10 working days
• Send an acknowledgment for all letters that we receive within 5 working days
• Let you know when you can expect a full reply if we cannot reply within 10 working days
• Make sure we use language that is easy to read and understand
• Tell you in our letters who is dealing with your enquiry

When sending us an email

We will:

• Reply within four working days when you e-mail our customer enquiry e-mail address through our web-site (if we cannot give you a full reply within four working days, we will let you know when you can expect a full reply)
• Make sure we use language that is easy to read and understand
• Let you know who is dealing with your enquiry

What the Doctors and Staff should reasonably expect from you

• We ask that you treat all staff with courtesy and respect at all times. The practice supports the government's 'Zero Tolerance' campaign for Health Service Staff - this states that GPs and their staff have a right to care for others without fear of being attacked or abused. 
• The clinical team has instructed the reception team to ask certain questions so that may deal with your request in accordance with the practice policies
• If you cannot keep an appointment, please let us know as soon as possible. Please arrive on time and if the doctors are running late, please do not blame the reception team
• Please let us know if you change any of your personal details or address
• Accept any invitation for screening issued by the Practice or Health Authority, or for your children are vaccinated and immunized.
• You are ultimately responsible for your own health and that of your family. Please help us to help you.

When reviewing or changing the facilities & services we provide

We will:

• Provide information to our patient community in a variety of ways depending on the circumstance. This may be either be via email, posters, text messages, newsletters and website.

We want to hear from you if you have a complaint, or wish to make a comment or compliment.

We will:

• Welcome all feedback, including complaints, and deal with it positively
• Try to sort complaints out informally and as soon as possible
• Display guidelines on customer-feedback (which include our complaints procedure) in our reception area and on the Practice website
• Tell you, when we get your complaint, if we need to deal with it under separate procedures

Data Protection

If you request access to your personal medical information we will respond within 40 calendar days, as defined by the Data Protection Act 1998. Please put requests in writing for the attention of the administration co-ordinator if you would like copies of your records. You may be asked to provide ID to confirm your identity and there will be a charge for both paper and electronic records as agreed by the Information Commissioner.