Practice

Helping Us

We try to provide the best service we can; you can help us and our other patients by following a few suggestions:

• If you are unable to keep your appointment, please notify us in plenty of time as another patient may be able to take your place. 
• If you need to be seen because your condition is urgent, and cannot wait, please inform the receptionist. 
• If you are bringing to the surgery an ill child who is restless and uncomfortable and will cause you some difficulty in managing in the waiting room, please tell one of the receptionists so that we can either find a quiet spot for you to wait in. 
• If you are disabled (or are accompanying a disabled person), especially with sight or hearing problems, please inform reception on arrival. 
• We understand that children can be noisy and active. For the sake of those who are unwell, we would ask that noise is kept to a minimum, for example by reading to them or bringing a suitable toy.  
• The doctors respect your time and try not to keep you waiting too long. However, emergencies do arise and have to be given priority and some patients may need slightly longer than anticipated with the doctor. We hope that you will be understanding if you are inconvenienced. 
• Please inform the reception staff if you change your address, telephone number or personal details. 
• If you have been in hospital please make sure your doctor receives your discharge note as soon as possible. 
• Please make separate appointments for each person to be seen and request a longer appointment for a private medical examination. 
• Inform the receptionist if the appointment is for an operation or other practical procedure which will need special arrangements. Please note that you will be required to give your written consent before any minor surgery is carried out.
• We ask that you treat the doctors and practice staff with courtesy and respect. Our staff are here to help you but their job can be difficult and they often work under pressure. We would appreciate your patience and understanding at busy times and do welcome your comments and suggestions. These can be directed to our Practice Manager, Mrs Alison Kirk. Our staff are always happy to try and assist patients. We ask that you are polite to them and treat them with respect.
• All acts of violence within the practice are taken seriously and will be investigated. Any patients found to have been violent or abusive (either verbally of physically) towards any member of the team, either clinical or non-clinical, may be removed from our list of patients and the police may be notified.
  

Change of Details

Please advise us immediately of any change of name, address or telephone number. It is very important that we have up-to-date information. In an emergency this could be vital.

Please print off and complete this form to notify us of any change of name, address or telephone number. Completed forms should then be returned to the practice for processing. Please note that we require supporting evidence for all name changes (e.g. marriage certificate) before being able to change our records. Please note that we shall contact you if we are unable to accept you at your new address. This form is also available from Reception.

Confidentiality

We ask for your personal information so that you can receive appropriate care and treatment. This information is recorded on computer and we are registered under the Data Protection Act. The practice will ensure that patient confidentiality is maintained at all times by all members of the practice team. This includes doctors, nurses, receptionists, administrators, District Nurses and Health Visitors. However, for the effective functioning of a multi-disciplinary team it is sometimes necessary that medical information about you is shared between members of the team. In some instances the law requires us to pass on information, e.g. to notify a birth. All persons receiving information will also have a responsibility to keep it confidential.

Your information may also be used to: improve the health of the general public; to help in the management of the NHS and in planning for future services; to prepare statistics on NHS performance and activity; to investigate complaints; to support clinical audit; to enable training and education. Everyone working for the NHS has a legal duty to keep information about you confidential. We hold information for the purposes specified in our notification made to the Data Protection Commissioner, who ensures that it is kept legally and fairly. Information is only passed on where people have a genuine need for it in your and everyone's interests. 

Complaints

Our aim is to provide you with comprehensive, high quality general medical care. We are always trying to improve our services; if you have any comments or suggestions, we would be happy to hear from you. These can be made either verbally or in writing to the Practice Manager, Mrs Alison Kirk, or to one of the doctors.

If you feel that any aspect of our service has been less then adequate, we would invite you to discuss this with our Practice Manager, or one of the doctors (by arrangement with reception). Contact can be made either verbally or in writing if you wish.

We offer a practice complaints procedure. Our Practice Manager, Mrs Alison Kirk, is able to provide further information. Our aim is to give you the highest possible standard of service and we try to deal swiftly with any problems that may occur. Please note that we have to respect our duty of confidentiality to our patients and a patient's consent will be necessary if a complaint is made by someone other than the patient, except in the case of children under the age of 16.