Patient's Charter

Our practice booklet and this website describe the various services we offer, the surgery times and other general information about our practice. To complement this, our Patient’s Charter explains your rights, and the standard of healthcare that you should receive at this practice. The care of your health is a partnership between the practice team and yourself, and for this to be fully effective requires a certain degree of co-operation from you. Therefore this charter also includes what we need from you in order to meet our commitments fully.

Our Philosophy Of Care

To provide and improve the best care for patients.
A commitment to attaining the highest standard of clinical practice and encouraging health promotion.
To maintain a comfortable and supportive working environment for all the staff.
To keep a happy team spirit and empathy for patients and staff alike.
To ensure that communication is open between patients, staff and external parties (eg other professionals) at all times.

The Patient’s Rights

You will be treated in a friendly, courteous manner whenever you visit or telephone the surgery.
You have a right to confidentiality.
This practice will provide and maintain premises that are clean, comfortable, safe and easily accessible to all its patients, including those with mobility problems.
You will usually be offered a routine appointment with a doctor within three working days.
You will be offered a same-day emergency appointment if you need to see a doctor urgently.
You will usually be seen within 20 minutes of your appointment time. If a delay is unavoidable, we will keep you informed.
Written requests for repeat prescriptions, where agreed by the doctor, will be available for collection in three working days.
You have the right to see your health records, subject to the limitations of the law.
People involved in your care will give you their names and ensure that you know how to contact them. The surgery should be well signposted and the doctors’ or nurses’ names indicated on their surgery rooms.
Patients will be treated as individuals and partners in their healthcare, irrespective of their ethnic origin or religious or cultural beliefs.
We will try to answer the phone promptly and to ensure that there are sufficient staff available to do this.
The surgery will provide, through the Primary Care Trust, an interpreting service for our non-English-speaking patients, provided adequate notice is given as this service needs to be booked in advance.

The Patient’s Responsibilities

For our team to give you and fellow patients the best possible service, we would ask you to note the following guidelines:

Please read our practice booklet carefully, and retain it for future reference. Along with this website it will help you to get the best out of all the services we offer.
Please let us know if you change your name, address or telephone number.
Please ask for home visits only when the person is genuinely too ill to visit the surgery. Home visits take up a great deal more of a doctor’s time.
Please do not request a night visit unless it is strictly necessary.
Please keep your phone call brief and avoid calling during the peak morning time for non-urgent matters.
Please ensure you are punctual for your appointments. If you find you are unable to keep an appointment, please give us as much notice as possible.
Please remember that an appointment is for one person only. If another member of the family also needs to see the doctor, even if the symptoms are identical, another appointment should be made.
Please request repeat prescriptions in writing and at least two working days before they are needed.
Please direct enquiries about your hospital appointments directly to the hospital.
Whilst most of our patients are co-operative and supportive, occasionally we have abusive and violent patients. If this occurs and staff ask you to vacate the waiting room, please comply with their request quickly and quietly as it will have been made with your own safety in mind.
In line with the NHS zero tolerance policy, it is the policy of this practice that, if a patient is abusive, threatening or violent to any member of staff here at the Courtyard Surgery, they and their family will be immediately removed from the list.
Remember, you are responsible for your own health and the health of your children. We will give you our professional help and advice but need your co-operation to keep you healthy.
Please switch off your mobile phone when entering the premises.
Please do not request a sick note for periods of illness of less than seven days: self-certification forms should be used. If you require a private medical certificate, there will be a charge.

Confidentiality

Everyone has the right to privacy and confidentiality. All our staff have access to patient information at various levels. They all receive training aimed at ensuring confidentiality is maintained throughout the surgery at all times. Should the occasion arise that you wish to speak to a receptionist in private, please ask and we will do our utmost to accommodate your request. You can also ask for a confidentiality slip if you would prefer to write information down to hand to a receptionist.

In line with the above, we are unable to disclose any information regarding a patient, unless they are deemed a minor, to anyone other than the patient themselves, unless written consent is given that this disclosure can be made.

Please do not be offended if you are refused information regarding another patient, even if they are a family member or close friend. We have all of our patients’ best interests at heart.

How We Keep Your Records Confidential

Our guiding principle is that we are holding your records in strict confidence.
Everyone working for the NHS has a legal duty to keep information about you confidential.

Suggestions

We have a suggestions box in our reception area if you have any suggestions or comments you wish to make on how we might improve our service to you or for any other matters.

Complaints Procedure

We offer a Practice Complaints Procedure to deal with complaints about the services we provide. Our receptionists can give you further information. Our aim is to give you the highest possible standard of service and we will try to deal swiftly with any problems that may occur.

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.