Keighley Road Surgery

PATIENTS' CHARTER

This charter sets out the standards we expect to reach and the standards we, in turn, expect from our patients, to enable us to provide the most efficient service possible for you. This is only possible with your assistance.

Practice - Our Responsibilities

1. You will be treated as an individual and be given courtesy and respect at all times. You have the right to absolute confidentiality.

2. A routine appointment will normally be obtainable with a doctor within five working days.

3. An urgent appointment will be obtainable the same day (excluding Saturdays, Sundays and Bank Holidays).

4. Home visits will be provided the same day for urgent medical cases (provided the request is made before 10.00am). Emergency visits will be provided the same day at the discretion of the doctor on duty.

5. Explanation will be given if a surgery is running over 30 minutes late.

6. 24-hour on-call response for emergencies is provided, by calling 0345 605 9999 when the surgery is closed.

7. Suggestions/complaints are to be directed to our practice manager (Mr Steve Mitchell) or to any of the partners. A full and prompt reply to a written complaint will be made by the practice within 10 working days whenever possible.

8. The doctors or nurses will indicate when and how the results of any investigations carried out can be obtained.

9. Patients with urgent medical conditions will be given priority or be seen as soon as possible, even when this may cause delay to booked appointments.

10. Repeat prescriptions will be available within 48 hours - delay may be caused when patients have not attended for review as requested.

11. You have the right to be referred to a consultant acceptable to you with your doctor's agreement.

12. You have the right to see your health records subject to the limitation of the law.

Patients - Your Responsibilities

1. Attend your appointment on time, or make every effort to give one working day's notice of cancellation.

2. Make appointments for one person only. If you wish another family member to be seen, ensure you state how many people will be attending when making the appointment.

3. Attend the surgery whenever possible as attendance at the surgery presents the best opportunity for diagnosis and treatment.

4. Make requests for home visits between 8.00 and 10.00am if you are too ill to attend the surgery.

5. Make requests for repeat prescriptions between 11.00am and 5.45pm, on 0844 477 3417 (option 3).

6. Treat practice staff with the same courtesy and friendliness as you would expect from them.

7. Home visits are a service for those TOO ILL to attend surgery. They are time consuming and misuse can disadvantage those in genuine need.

8. Please be prepared to give additional information to practice staff when requested. Additional information will only be requested when it is necessary for a doctor to make a proper decision on how to proceed.

9. Please don't ask GPs to address more than two health issues in one consultation as this will cause other appointments to run late.

10. If you change your address please contact the surgery to ascertain whether you will still reside within our practice boundary. If this is not the case you should register immediately with a new doctor so that your records can be transferred without delay and are to hand at your new surgery when needed.

11. Under the government’s Zero Tolerance scheme, abuse or violence towards anyone employed in the NHS will not be tolerated. Any occurrence of this may result in your status as a registered patient being immediately revoked.

12. WE WELCOME SUGGESTIONS FROM PATIENTS AS TO HOW WE CAN CONTINUE TO IMPROVE THE SERVICE OFFERED AND WOULD LIKE TO THANK YOU FOR TAKING THE TIME TO READ THE PATIENTS' CHARTER.

COMMENTS OR COMPLAINTS

Please address correspondence to our practice manager, Steve Mitchell, or request a meeting with him.
An acknowledgement will be made within two working days of any complaints received with a meeting offered if this is appropriate. The target for completion of any issues is 10 working days. If satisfaction is not achieved, complaints can then be sent to the Primary Care Trust or the Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS). To maintain our duty of patient confidentiality, where a complaint concerns another person, their written consent will have to be obtained prior to any information being disclosed. This complaints procedure does not deal with matters of legal liability or compensation.

COMPUTERISATION

The surgery has a computerised patient database and is registered under the Data Protection Act 1998.

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 will soon be available from reception or, alternatively, by applying in writing to the practice manager.