Patients' Charter

PATIENTS' CHARTER

This is our interpretation of the Patients' Charter as it applies to this Practice and to the service we deliver.

• You will be treated as an individual and given courtesy and respect regardless of your background, ethnicity, religious belief, personal situation, or the nature of your health problem.

We ask that you treat all the staff with the same courtesy and respect.

• We will involve you fully in planning and agreeing your treatment and will explain it to you.

You are encouraged to share responsibility for your health.

• You have a right to see your health records in accordance with the law.

No-one else can see them or obtain details from them without your written permission.

• We will give you full information about the services we offer.

Please read and keep our Practice folder and be aware of our notice boards. Information is also available on the television displays and on our website - www.thehadleighpractice.com

• All staff involved in your care will have received appropriate training and will be identified by name.

Please tell us if you change your name or address.

• We will arrange specialist or hospital treatment as necessary. If a second opinion is appropriate, we will arrange this.

Please keep your hospital appointment (at present 1 in 5 appointments are not kept).

• You will have the right to choose whether or not to take part in training or research.

We greatly appreciate the help patients have given us in the past in these areas.

• We will endeavour to see you at a convenient time and without due delay.

Please try to keep your appointment, or tell us if you cannot. We will give you a routine appointment within 2 working days of a request for one, although it may not always be possible to see a specific doctor within this time.

• Urgent or emergency cases will always be given priority. We will try not to keep you waiting longer than 30 minutes after your appointment time, without giving you an explanation.

We will make sure that you are seen on the same day as your urgent request. Please be a patient patient as on another occasion it might be you who needs to be seen urgently.

• We will ensure that you can speak to a doctor over the telephone for advice.

The doctor will normally speak to you when he/she has finished her surgery session in the morning. The Receptionist may ask you to ring back later.
The doctors now offer a telephone appointment service within morning surgeries for clinical concerns that can be dealt with over the telephone.

• We will visit you at home if your illness prevents you from attending the surgery.

Please do not ask for a home visit unless your medical condition warrants it.

• We will provide a comfortable and relaxed environment for you whilst waiting for your appointment.

Please supervise your child/children whilst waiting to see the doctor and discourage them from wandering around the building. A 'children's play area' is provided.

• When the medical service is closed your local Primary Care Trust is responsible for your medical service. This service is carried out by Dorset Emergency Care Service.

Please help us to keep this service efficient by only asking for a visit during the evening or at night if the problem cannot wait until morning.

• We will tell you how to make suggestions or complaints about our services.

Details are in our folder.

• If you are dissatisfied with us, you have the right to leave our list and register with another Practice.

We also have the right to ask patients who ignore their responsibilities to us and to other patients to leave our list, but will only use this in exceptional circumstances.

• We will endeavour to answer the telephone efficiently and courteously as soon as possible.