Practice Charter Standards

Our Services To You The Patient

• We do our best to look after your health needs by treating and preventing illness. You should find our services helpful, kind, caring and absolutely confidential.
• You may expect us to respond immediately to an emergency situation requiring life-saving treatment.
• When you attend the surgery, we will provide you with service as promptly as possible and will not leave you waiting more than 30 minutes for your appointment without an explanation.   When you are medically unfit to come to the surgery you may expect a home visit, at your doctor’s discretion.
• You have a right to know as much about your medical condition as you want to know and we will always tell you the full truth, unless you ask us to do otherwise. We will not discuss your case with anybody else, unless you wish us to and have given your consent first
• You are welcome to see your health records and discuss the contents with the doctor if you wish.
• We have a complaints procedure and if you are not happy about any services you should tell us. We will take the matter seriously and do our best to set it right for you.

​Your Responsibilities As Patients Using Our Services

• Please do what you can to avoid wasting your own as well as the doctor’s time. Do not come with minor coughs and colds or tummy bugs which do not require a doctor’s help. A chemist can advise on simple measures and over the counter remedies.
• Try not to come to the doctor with problems which are not at all medical. Doctors are not lawyers, financial advisers or housing experts.
• If you cannot keep your appointment, please cancel it. It may then be given to someone else rather than wasted.
• Please do not abuse our services – in particular do not ask for home visits when you are able to travel to the surgery. Please do not call the doctor out after hours for routine matters or at night for problems which could easily wait until the morning.
• Please also take responsibility for your own health. Follow advice from the doctor or nurse. Take medication properly; keep follow up appointments and attend for screening procedures.
• Try not to abuse your body – think about your lifestyle.
• Please help the receptionists to help you. Do not mislead them by making a non-urgent matter seem like an emergency. It is unfair on the patients who really are emergencies, and who have to wait longer while the doctor deals with you.
• Please be sure to attend appointments made for you at the hospital, unless you no longer need to, in which case inform both us and the hospital. Millions of pounds are wasted each year by patients who fail to keep appointments.
• We will not tolerate verbal or physical abuse towards any staff member. We reserve the right to immediately remove such patients from the practice list.
• Thank you for giving these points your attention. Your co-operation is greatly appreciated by all of us at the practice.