Albert Road Medical Centre

Practice Charter

Introduction

This medical practice aims to provide a high quality, individual service. We seek to provide each patient with as much time as is necessary according to their needs. As needs vary it may be difficult to stick rigidly to appointment times. You will appreciate that unexpected emergencies, telephone calls and clinical needs are apt to throw out the best intentions!

Appointments

We Will - Try to see you as soon after your appointment time as possible or provide an explanation if we are over 30 minutes late.

We Ask You - To arrive on time.

- Not to ask for extra people to be fitted in at the last minute.

- Not to ask for prescriptions for different members of your family at your appointment.

- To cancel if you cannot attend, by calling 01743 281950.

- To remember that one appointment is for one patient.

Same Day Appointments

"Same day " is taken to mean any medical condition that cannot wait until the next day.

We Will - Always see a patient the same day if required.

We Ask You - To help us by only requesting same day appointments if it is really necessary.

Explanations

We Will - Always seek to explain the treatment to you.

We Ask You - To ask the doctor or other member of staff if you are unsure about anything.

Home Visits

We Will - Always visit if it is necessary.

(We cannot guarantee that visits will be done by the doctor of your choice especially if they are requested after 11.30am.)

We Ask You - To request visits before 11.30am if at all possible.

- To come in to surgery if at all possible.

- To be prepared to explain to the receptionist why you need a visit as this helps the doctor to plan the order of visits.

Confidentiality

All information and records will always be treated with the strictest confidence.

Complaints

We Will - Always take complaints seriously and seek to resolve them if at all possible.

We Ask You - If you have complaints relating to organisational matters, to ask to speak to the practice manager.

If you have a complaint about a medical matter, to ask to speak to a doctor.

We aim to treat patients courteously and with respect, we ask you to treat our doctors and staff the same way.

Protection & Use Of Your Information - Your Records Are Safe With Us

We ask for information about yourself so that you can receive the best possible care and treatment. We keep this information, together with details of your care, to ensure that your doctor or nurse has accurate and up-to-date information; it also may be needed if we see you again.

We only use or pass on information about you to people who have a genuine need for it. Whenever we can we shall remove details that identify you as an individual.

Everyone working for the NHS has a legal duty to maintain the highest level of confidentiality about patient information.

If at any time you would like to know more about how we use your information, you can ask to speak to the practice manager.

For further information please refer to the leaflets held in reception entitled “Your Records are Safe with Us”.

Freedom Of Information - Publication Scheme

The 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 available.
This scheme is available from reception.

Zero Tolerance

We strongly support the NHS policy on zero tolerance. Anyone attending the surgery who abuses the GPs, staff or other patients be it verbally, physically or in any threatening manner whatsoever, will risk removal from the practice list. In extreme cases we may summon the police to remove offenders from the practice premises.

A Final Word...

If you have comments or criticisms about the service provided, please talk to the practice manager or the doctors. They will do their best to sort things out. A leaflet is available from reception if you wish for more information. All the partners are committed Christians, and we seek to uphold the highest possible professional and moral standards.