Being a patient
attending a busy GP surgery can be an anxious and worrying time for you. We aim to make your patient experience with us as
effective as possible and we hope you will appreciate that there will be times
when the practice may not be able to meet your expectations even though we
always aim to provide the best patient care. The following should
help to explain what we, as a practice, expect from you and what you, as a
patient can expect from our staff!
Your Responsibilities as a Patient:
We ask you to:
- Treat all staff and premises with respect and courtesy at all times
- Let us know if you are unable to keep an appointment and if you attend an appointment turn up on time – the Practice has the right to remove you from our patient list if you continually do not attend.
- Keep us informed of any changes to your contact details, such as address, telephone number, email address
- Let us know if you are unsure about the treatment we are offering you
- Ask for a home visit only when you are unable to attend the medical centre through illness or infirmity – request such a visit if at all possible before 10.00am
- Ask for an out-of-hours visit only when necessary
- Keep all telephone calls as brief as possible and try to avoid calling during peak morning time for non-urgent matters
- Remember that you share responsibility for your own health and that of your children
Responsibilities of the Doctor and Practice Staff:
We will
- Treat you with respect and courtesy at all times and as an individual, and discuss with you the care and treatment we can provide.
- Maintain confidentiality at all times.
- Hold all your information in the strictest confidence
- Give you full information on the services we offer
- Try to see you as near to your appointment time as possible – in the event of an unavoidable delay we will endeavour to keep you fully advised and offer an explanation
- Give you the most appropriate care by suitably qualified staff
- Give you access to your health records, subject to any limitations in the law
- Deal with any suggestions or complaints that you may have and inform you of our findings promptly
Zero Tolerance
A zero tolerance policy towards violent, threatening and abusive behaviour is now in place throughout the NHS. Violence in this context includes actual or threatened physical violence or verbal abuse which leads to fear for the person’s safety. The doctors, nurses and staff in this practice have the right to do their work in an environment free from violent, threatening or abusive behaviour and everything will be done to protect that right. At no time will any such behaviour be tolerated in this Practice. If you do not respect the rights of the staff we may choose to inform the police and make arrangements for you to be removed from our patient list.
For more details of practice services, opening hours and operational details please see our Practice leaflet or look on our website www.elhamsurgery.co.uk
