Patient's Charter

At our surgery we aim to provide our patients with the best quality care available. Our charter is a statement of what you can expect from this practice and what we feel we can expect in return from you.

Our premises will be clean and comfortable and have facilities for the disabled
All patients will be greeted in a friendly manner and be treated with courtesy by everyone in the practice
Strictest confidentiality may be expected
Patients will be informed of any delay of more than 20 minutes
Patients will be offered advice about how to stay healthy and avoid illness
New patients registering with the practice will be offered a health check
Patients will be referred to a consultant when the doctor feels this is necessary
Complaints will be dealt with by our practice manager who will refer complaints to the doctors where appropriate

We Aim:

To offer patients an appointment with a healthcare professional within 48 hours
To see all patients with genuine urgent problems as soon as possible
For all staff in the practice to wear identification badges indicating their name and job title

Policy On Patient's Rights

In relation to primary care, patients have certain rights.

A Patient:

Has the right to be on a GP list
Has a right to see a GP (this does not need to be their named GP) at the surgery during surgery hours. If an appointment system is operated and the patient does not have one, an appointment for a later surgery should be offered as long as the delay will not result in a risk to health
Should have access to a telephone number where a GP can be reached 24 hours a day, every day of the year
Should have a home visit, if considered necessary by the GP
If temporarily away from home must receive treatment if it is considered to be required immediately, though the GP is not bound to accept them as a temporary resident
Has the right to change GP, by applying to another GP. No reason is required
Requires to give consent before being examined or treated. However, a visit to the GP is considered to constitute consent
Is entitled to a chaperone during intimate examinations
Is not bound legally to accept treatment. However, a doctor can give essential treatment if the patient is temporarily incapable of understanding or consenting to treatment as per the Adults with Incapacity Act
May refuse to be examined when a medical student is present
Is entitled to a full and truthful answer to questions unless the answers would result in anxiety, which may injure the person’s health
Has the right to complain about their GP if he has not followed his terms of service or behaves in an unprofessional or unethical way. The patient should then be kept informed about how the complaint is being dealt with and told of the outcome
Has the right to see medical reports requested by insurance companies or employers before they are forwarded. However, a GP may withhold them if access may cause harm to the patient or if they contain information regarding a third party
Has the right to confidentiality

With These Rights Come Responsibilities

We ask that patients attend their appointments at the arranged time. If they cannot attend they will inform the surgery immediately
We expect that patients will understand that appointments are for one person only. Additional appointments will be made if more than one person needs to be seen
Patients are responsible for their own health and the health of their children and should co- operate with the practice in endeavouring to keep themselves healthy
We ask that requests for help or advice for non-urgent matters be made during surgery hours
Home visits should only be requested for patients who are seriously ill. It is important to bear in mind that most medical problems are dealt with more effectively in the clinical setting of a well-equipped surgery
Patients should realise that home visits are made at the doctor’s discretion
Requests for night visits should only be made for emergencies
Many problems can be solved by advice alone, therefore patients should not always expect a prescription at every consultation
We ask that patients treat the doctors and staff with courtesy and respect
Patients must inform the practice staff of any alterations in their circumstances, such as change of surname, address or telephone number, even if it is ex-directory

Suggestions

We welcome comments on the services provided. These should be directed to one of the partners or to the practice manager, Mrs Elspeth McKay.

Complaints

We always try to provide the best service possible, but there may be times when you feel this has not happened. The following information explains our in-house complaints procedure, drawn up to respond to patient grievances. We hope you will use it to allow us to look into, and, if necessary, correct any problems that you have identified, or mistakes that have been made. Any complaints should be addressed either by telephone or in writing to our practice manager, Mrs Elspeth McKay.

In line with our complaints procedure you should have any complaint acknowledged within 48 hours and we should resolve the complaint and reply to you in writing within 10 days. This process may include a meeting between you and the manager and/or doctor.

Most complaints are resolved within our in-house complaints procedure, but should you feel that we have not dealt with your complaint adequately then you have the right to make representation to the Ombudsman at the following address:

Scottish Public Services Ombudsman, FREEPOST EH641, Edinburgh EH3 0BR.
Email: enquiries@scottishombudsman.org.uk
Website: www.scottishombudsman.org.uk

Confidentiality And Your Personal Health Information

To provide you with the care you need, we hold the details of your consultations, illnesses, tests, prescriptions and other treatments that have been recorded by everyone involved in your care and treatment, eg GP, health visitor, practice nurse. This information may be stored on paper or electronically on computer files by practice staff.

We sometimes disclose some of your personal health information to other organisations involved in your care. For example, when your GP refers you to a specialist at the hospital we will send relevant details about you in the referral letter and receive information about you from them. Our practice also participates in regional and national programmes such as the cervical cytology screening service and your name and address, date of birth and health number will be given to them in order to send an invitation to you.

We need to use some of your personal health information for administrative purposes. In order to receive payment for services provided to you, we have to disclose basic details about you to the GGNHSB and to the Common Services Agency for the Scottish Health Service. These organisations have a role in protecting public funds, and are authorised to check that payments are being properly made. We are required to co-operate with these checks and the disclosure of your data is a necessary part of our provision of healthcare services.

Sometimes, we may participate in studies that are designed to improve the way services are provided to you or to check that our performance meets required standards and benchmarks. Whenever we take part in activities such as these we will ensure that as far as possible any details that may identify you are not disclosed.

We are sometimes involved in health research and the teaching of student nurses, doctors and other health professionals. We will not use or disclose your personal health information for these purposes unless you have been informed beforehand and given your consent for us to do so. Anonymised patient information will also be at local and national level to help the Health Board and Government plan services eg for diabetic care. If you do not wish anonymous information about you to be used in such a way, please let us know.

When you need a service jointly provided with a local authority we will seek your permission before giving them your details.

Sometimes we are required by law to pass on information eg the notification of births and deaths and certain diseases or crimes to the government is a legal requirement.

Our use of your personal health information is covered by a duty of confidentiality and is regulated by the Data Protection Act. The Data Protection Act gives you a number of rights in relation to how your personal information is used, including a right to access the information we hold about you.

Everyone working for the NHS has a legal duty to keep information about you confidential and adheres to a Code of Practice on protecting patient confidentiality. Further information on this can be found at www.nhsis.co.uk/confidentiality

Anyone who receives information from us is also under a legal duty to keep it confidential.