Policies – Princes Gardens Surgery

Patient Rights

You will be treated with respect and as a partner in your care. Being a partner means you have responsibilities too.

We will:

Ensure our patients have 24-hour access to medical advice.
Aim for you to have access to a suitably qualified medical professional within 48 hours of your initial contact during surgery hours, or in an urgent case, the same day.
Work in partnership with you to achieve the best medical care possible.
Involve you and listen to your opinions and views in all aspects of your medical care.
The prevention of disease, illness and injury is a primary concern.
The medical staff will advise and inform you of the steps you can take to promote good health and a healthy lifestyle. We would respectfully ask that you:
Let us know if you intend to cancel an appointment or are running late.
Treat staff with courtesy and respect. Reception staff may have to ask some personal questions to assist us in providing you with the best service
Inform the practice staff of any alterations in your circumstances, such as change of surname, address or telephone number. Please ensure that we have your correct telephone number, even if it’s ex-directory.

As patients, you are responsible for your own health and that of any dependents. It is important that you adhere to information and advice given to you by health professionals, and co-operate with the practice in endeavouring to keep you healthy.

Confidentiality

The practice complies with Data Protection and Access to Medical Records legislation. Identifiable information about you will be shared with others in the following circumstances:

To provide further medical treatment for you e.g. from district nurses and hospital services.
To help you get other services e.g. from the social work department. This requires your consent.
When we have a duty to others e.g. in child protection cases Anonymised patient information will also be used at local and national level to help the CCG and Government plan services e.g. for diabetic care.

If you do not wish anonymous information about you to be used in such a way, please let us know.

Reception and administration staff require access to your medical records in order to do their jobs. These members of staff are bound by the same rules of confidentiality as the medical staff.

Chaperone

If you would like a chaperone present during consultation, pelase inform reception, who will be more than happy to arrange this for you.

Violence Policy

The NHS operate a zero tolerance policy with regard to violence and abuse and the practice has the right to remove violent patients from the list with immediate effect in order to safeguard practice staff, patients and other persons. Violence in this context includes actual or threatened physical violence or verbal abuse which leads to fear for a person’s safety. In this situation we will notify the patient in writing of their removal from the list and record in the patient’s medical records the fact of the removal and the circumstances leading to it.

Did Not Attend (DNA) Policy

A DNA (Did Not Attend) occurs when an appointment is not attended and the Patient has not contacted the Practice in advance to cancel it, or, where the cancellation is so late as to make it impossible to allocate that time to another Patient who needs treatment.

The Practice will code this ‘DNA’, and this will prompt a retrospective check on the number of DNAs recorded against that person. Whilst we are primarily concerned with our own appointment observance, consideration may also be given to any hospital appointments where we have been notified that a Patient has failed to attend. A re-referral on the part of the GP (more GP time) will often be required by the hospital department so that the Patient can be recalled.

Compliments, Suggestions & Complaints

We strive to give the best possible care and treatment to our patients, and if you receive good treatment, please tell us!

All patients will be treated with respect, kindness and dignity, irrespective of ethnic origin, religion or cultural beliefs. We believe in continuity of care and you will be registered with a named doctor who will assume responsibility for overseeing your needs.