Patient Charter

Patients’ Charter

All Members Of The Surgery Primary Care Team Are Dedicated To A Quality Policy To Achieve Health Services Which Meet The Patient’s Requirements.

Patients’ rights to General Medical Services:

 Patients have the rights to:

• be registered with a General Practitioner
• change doctor if desired
• be offered a health check on joining the practice
• receive urgent care at any time from the practice
• receive appropriate drugs and medicines
• be referred for specialist or second opinion if they and the GP agree
• have the right to view their medical records, subject to the Acts and associated procedure, and to know that those working for the NHS are under legal obligation to keep the contents confidential.

  With these rights come responsibilities and for the patients this means:

• Courtesy to the staff at all times – remember they are working under doctors’ orders.
• Responding in a positive way to questions asked by the reception staff.
•  To attend appointments on time or give the practice adequate notice that they wish to cancel. Someone else could use your appointment!
• An appointment is for one person only – where another member of the family needs to be seen or discussed, another appointment should be made and the Medical Record be made available.
• Patients should make every effort when consulting the surgery to make best use of nursing and medical time – home visits should be medically justifiable and not requested for social convenience.
• When patients are asked to give 48 hours notice for repeat prescriptions, please give us this time as it is to allow for accurate prescribing.
• Out-of-hours calls (e.g. evenings; nights & weekends) should only be requested if they are felt to be truly necessary

  Practice Leaflet:
  All new patients will receive a copy of our practice leaflet and copies will be displayed at the reception desk.
  
  Surgery Premises:
  Our surgery building will be welcoming, easy for patients to find their way around and appropriate to the needs of users, including the disabled.

  Appointments:
  Face to face, Phone and econsultations will be offered. Online booking will also be made available where possible.

With a Doctor:
For routine consultations we will endeavour to offer patients an appointment within two working days of the request. For medically urgent requests and failing a bookable appointment to be available, we will offer an appointment on the same day.

With a Practice Nurse & Other Clinicians:
For routine appointments we will offer an appointment within five working days usually much earlier. If there is a delay in the appointment wait (when you arrive) of more than 20 minutes, we will let you know. We are happy to update you on any delay situation if you feel that you have been waiting too long.

Home Visits:
We are unable to guarantee a specific doctor will visit you as this depends on availability and other factors. The decision to home visit will be at the doctors’ discretion.

Waiting Times:
• surgeries will normally start on time.
• we expect patients to be seen within twenty minutes of their appointment time, and in the event of a delay we will offer an explanation.
• when a doctor or clinician is called away on an emergency, we will inform the patients and give them an opportunity to book an alternative appointment, or if preferred, to be seen by another doctor or clinician.

Out of Hours Emergencies:
We will do everything possible to ensure that our system for contacting the duty doctor is easy to follow, reliable and effective. Changes to Procedures: When changes are introduced to practice procedures that affect patients, we will ensure that these are clearly explained, by means of a brochure; waiting room notice board or individual leaflets, giving as much notice as practicable.

Repeat Prescriptions:
To ensure the best possible outcomes we will review your records when prescriptions are requested and the Clinical Pharmacist or GP will sign your prescription and arrange any recalls for tests or reviews.

Referrals:
Urgent referrals to other health and social care agencies will be made within one working day of the patient consultation. Where requested, our GPs will refer you to a private health provider. We will normally process non-urgent referrals within five working days of the patient consultation or the doctor’s decision to refer.

Test Results:
When a doctor or nurse arranges for a test to the patient will be informed how to obtain the result. You will be able to view this on NHSApp.

Transfer of Medical Records:
The Practice will endeavour to dispatch any medical record required by the Health Authority within seven working days and same day if the request is urgent.

Privacy and Confidentiality:
We will respect our patients’ privacy, dignity and confidentiality at all times

Feedback:
We welcome positive and negative feedback to help improve services. Please raise concerns with any member of the team, write in or call the
Practice Manager
Jai Medical Centre (Brent)
82 Staglane,
Edgware
HA8 5LP