Practice Standards of Care

All members of our primary care team would like to give you good service. We will try to keep to good standards of care. In particular:

1. We should greet you politely.
2. Your medical history should be completely confidential.
3. We will begin surgeries on time. We will only start late if we are held up by an emergency. When we are more than 20 minutes late, the receptionist should tell you so that you can make a new appointment if you want to.
4. We should give you information about your health, particularly:- * Your illness and its treatment. * Alternative sorts of treatment. * What is likely to happen during an illness.
5. You should be allowed to see your health records, subject to any limitation in the law.
6. The practice will tell you about: * What you can do to stay healthy and to avoid illness. For example, take plenty of exercise and don't smoke. * What you can do yourself when you have a minor illness.
7. The practice will tell you of the services we can give you by means of our booklet, notice board and leaflets.
8. If you have an urgent medical problem, we will deal with it quickly, even if people with less serious problems have to wait.
9. You may choose not to take part if we are doing research or training.
10. If you make a suggestion about improving the way we work, we will consider it and give you a reply.
11. You should be able to see a named doctor within five working days (except when a doctor is on holiday or having study leave).
12. If you ask for a repeat prescription, you should be able to collect it in 5 working days. Please allow an additional 24hrs if collecting from the pharmacy. This is only for prescriptions that you normally have repeated. We do review repeat prescriptions at times, so you may occasionally be asked to see a doctor.

With These Rights Come Responsibilities. For You This Means:

1. Please be polite to the staff always - remember they are following the doctors' instructions.
2. Please be on time for appointments. Please tell the practice in plenty of time if you need to cancel an appointment. If you are late, or do not turn up, this wastes an appointment and is a nuisance to other patients.
3. Please make a separate appointment for everyone who needs to be seen. An appointment is for one person only. GP appointments are 15 minutes long, please be realistic with what you would like to be achieved in that time.
4. Please try to come to the surgery if you can. House calls take up a lot of our time. They should be for people who really cannot come to the surgery, not just because it is more convenient for you.
5. Please ask for repeat prescriptions at least one week before you need them.