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 RESPONSIBILITY 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’ or nurses’ names are indicated on their surgery
doors.
Waiting Time: We run an appointment system in this practice.
You will be given a time at which the doctor or nurse hopes to be able to see
you. You should not wait more than 20 minutes in the waiting room beyond your
appointment time, without receiving an explanation for the delay.
Access: You will have access to a doctor rapidly in case of
emergency, the same day in cases of urgency, and otherwise within two working
days. We will arrange a home visit as appropriate for those who are too ill or
infirm to be brought to the surgery.
Telephone: We will try to answer the phone promptly and to ensure
that there are sufficient staff available to do this. You should be able to speak
to a doctor by telephone at the designated times (see Telephone Consultations).
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.
Health Records: You have the right to see your health records,
subject to limitations in the law. These will be kept confidential at all times.
YOUR RESPONSIBILITY 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
services 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.
Please ask if you wish to see your doctor.
Violent and abusive behaviour towards us or our staff will not be tolerated.
We reserve the right to remove such patients from our list
Confidentiality
We ask you for personal information so that you can receive appropriate care
and treatment. This information is recorded on computer and we are registered
under the Data Protection Act. The practice will ensure that patient confidentiality
is maintained at all times by all members of the practice team. However, for
the effective functioning of a multi-disciplinary team it is sometimes necessary that medical
information about you is shared between members of the team.
Disclosure
Of Patients Records
There may be circumstances in which your personal medical record or parts of
it may be disclosed to other people, apart from your GP and practice staff.
Usually, your notes would be disclosed in an anonymised form. However, there
are times when the record cannot be anonymised, either because it would be impractical
to do so or because the nature of the request is such that it is necessary for
your name to be disclosed.
Patients should be re-assured that any disclosure of patient information is conducted
within the rules of the Data Protection Act and records will only be disclosed
when the following conditions are met:
1.
The purpose of the request is to improve, manage or promote the provision of
healthcare. Examples of this may be:
• Where
the relevant Health Board wishes to ensure that the GP practice is meeting its
obligation to provide certain levels of care to patients or a particular group
of patients under the terms of their contract.
• Where a new treatment is available, and where the Health Board wishes
to inform patients who would benefit from it, the practice would provide name
and contact information.
2.
Any other valid exemption under the Data Protection Act applies.
3. Disclosure will only be made in response to appropriate requests made by the
relevant Health Board or people acting on their behalf, provided those people
are themselves bound legally to keep the information they receive confidential.
Patients'
Rights
If you want to obtain further information on the exact nature of any disclosure
in respect of your records, you should apply in writing to Miss Jackie Elvidge,
Practice Manager.
1. You may insist that any disclosures are only to be made with your written
consent.
2. You may inform the practice that on no account should the doctor disclose
any of
your patient information to anybody other than for the purposes of your care.
Please note that where there are reasonable grounds for suspicion that a serious
crime has been or is being committed, which would include fraud or any threat
to national security, by law consent of that individual does not have to be obtained.
The information contained on this page reflects the current legal situation and
not any specific policy of the practice. The practice shows it merely to draw
attention to its legal obligations, and of the consequences of these for patients.
Comments
and Suggestions
We are happy to accept and consider comments and suggestions from our patients.
Please present your views in writing at reception.
Complaints Procedure
We always try to provide the best service 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 Board.
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. A decision will then be made on how best to undertake the investigation.
We shall acknowledge your complaint within two working days and aim to have looked
into your complaint within 10 working days of the date you raised it with us.
We shall aim to give you an explanation, or offer a meeting with those involved
within 28 working days. In investigating your complaint, we shall aim to:
•
Find out what happened and what went wrong.
• Enable you to discuss the problem with those concerned, if you would
like this.
• Ensure you receive an apology, where this is appropriate.
• Identify what we can do to make sure the problem doesn't happen
again.
Freedom
of Information
The Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 recognises that members of the
public have the right to know how public services are organised and run, how
much they cost and how the decisions are made. The publication for Bydand Medical
Group can be accessed in hard copy from the practice manager.
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