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Practice Charter StandardsThese are the local standards set within the 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 YouWe 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. 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 30 minutes in the waiting room without receiving an explanation for the delay. Access: You will have access to a doctor rapidly in case of emergency; within half a working day in cases of urgency; and otherwise within two working days. Home visits are strictly for severely ill and infirm patients. You have the right to express a preference of practitioner. Consultations are available to patients 16-75 years old who have not been seen by a health care professional or GP during the last three years and for over 75s who have not been seen during the last year. Telephone: We will try to answer the phone promptly and ensure that there are sufficient staff available to do this. You can to speak to a doctor by telephone Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday between 11.00 and 11.30am and 4.00 and 4.30pm, and on Wednesday between 10.30 and 11.00am for advice. Test Results: If you have undergone tests or x-rays by the practice, we will inform you of the result at your next appointment. If no further appointment needs to be arranged, we will advise you when and how to obtain the results. Alternatively, you can ring the surgery for test results between 6.00 - 6.30pm Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. Respect: Patients will be treated as individuals and partners in their healthcare. Treatment will be initiated after agreement with the patient or parents. Chaperone: If you wish to have a chaperone during an examination, please ask the receptionist. Generally, internal examinations are carried out in the presence of a chaperone. Information: We will give you full information about the services we offer. Every effort will be made to ensure that you receive the information which directly affects your health and the care being offered. Health Promotion: The practice will offer patients advice and information on:
Your Responsibilities To UsPlease 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. Tests 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. 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. If a hospital appointment has been booked by the doctor via Choose and Book, it is the patient’s responsibility to collect the paperwork from the surgery if it has not been given to them by the doctor during the appointment. It is also the responsibility of the patient to arrange their hospital appointment themselves. Confidentiality of Patient RecordsThis practice strictly adheres to patients' confidentiality. Everyone working for the NHS has a legal duty to keep information about you confidential. We ask you for information so that you can receive proper care and treatment. We keep this information, together with details of your care because it may be needed if we see you again. You have a right of access to your health records. You may be receiving care from other people as well as the NHS; so that we can all work together for your benefit, we may need to share some information about you. We only ever use or pass on information about you if people have genuine need for it and it is in your and everyone’s interest. Whenever we can we shall remove details which identify you. The sharing of some type of sensitive information is strictly controlled by law. Patients have the right to authorise or refuse the right of disclosure of information to third parties; anyone who receives information from us is under a legal duty to keep it confidential. Health RecordsYou have the right to see your health records, subject to limitations in the law. These will be kept confidential at all times. Your health records will be uploaded onto the National Spine automatically. Please notify the surgery in writing if you do not wish your records to be uploaded to the National Spine. Complaints ProcedureIf anyone has a complaint or suggestion to make regarding the practice arrangement, please write to the practice administrator. The practice follows an in-house complaints procedure as recommended by Eastern & Coastal Kent PCT who are based at: Brook House Telephone: 01227 795050 You can also contact PALS (Patient Advice and Liaison Service), an advice service specifically for the NHS at: Zero ToleranceTHIS PRACTICE HAS ZERO TOLERANCE TOWARDS VIOLENCE OR VERBAL ABUSE. Freedom Of Information - Publication SchemeThe Freedom of Information Act 2000 obliges the practice to produce a Publication Scheme. A Publication Scheme is a guide to the ‘classes’ of information the practice intends to routinely make
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