Patients'
Rights
All
members of the Practice Primary Care Team are dedicated to achieve a quality health
service, which meets the patients' needs.
You, the patient are entitled
to:
* Be treated with courtesy and respect
* Absolute confidentiality
*
Expect doctors and nurses to begin surgeries at the appointed time; any delay
will be due to medical necessity or unforeseen circumstances
* Be offered
a health check on joining the practice
* Have appropriate drugs and medicines
prescribed and to have a clear explanation of any treatment proposed
*
The opportunity to choose whether to be involved in research or medical training
*
Be referred to a consultant acceptable to you when your GP feels it necessary,
and to be referred for a second opinion if both you and your GP agree it is desirable
*
See your health records, subject to any limitation in the law. A fee may be charged
to cover costs
* Be offered appropriate levels of advice by the Primary
Care Team regarding steps you may take to promote good health and avoid illness,
eg smoking, exercise, diet and immunisation
* Expect that patients with
urgent medical conditions will be given priority and will be seen as soon as possible,
even when this will cause delay to booked appointments
* Be seen within
one working day should you have a medically urgent complaint
* Have any
suggestions you may make to improve the service considered by the appropriate
team members and to be given a response
* A reply to a written complaint,
from the practice manager, within seven days
* Be treated as an equal
Patients'
Responsibilities
The Practice Primary Care Team has made
certain undertakings to you.
In return we expect you:
* To be courteous
to staff at all times - they are working under the doctor's orders in the best
interest of all our patients
* To call before 10.00am where possible, for
house calls to ensure that we can plan our day effectively to everyone's benefit
*
To attend appointments on time or to give the practice adequate notice that you
wish to cancel - lateness or non-attendance inconveniences other patients and
wastes appointment time
* To make an appointment for one person only -
where another member of the family needs to be seen or discussed, another appointment
should be made and the notes will be made available
* To make every effort
to consult at the surgery to ensure the best use of medical time and nursing facilities
- home visits should be medically justifiable and not requested for social convenience
*
To bring all relevant information to surgery to make consultations as effective
as possible
* To only make out-of-hours calls (evenings, nights, weekends
and bank holidays) if they are truly felt necessary
* To inform us
if you change your address or telephone number as we may need to contact you
urgently
* In the same way that patients choose their surgery, the doctors
reserve the right to remove a patient from their list if the patient does
not feel able to meet their responsibilities
Complaints
Whilst we constantly strive to provide a friendly and efficient service we realise that occasionally things do not go as smoothly as we would like.
We operate an internal complaints procedure. This does not affect a patient's right to pursue a more formal complaint but does recognise the fact that lengthy official complaints procedures are a cause of stress to all parties involved.
Most grievances are resolved to the satisfaction of all concerned by an explanation of what went wrong, a speedy apology and an assurance that steps will be taken to avoid repetition. If you have a grievance or complaint please ask at reception for a leaflet on our complaints procedure.
Zero
Tolerance
Brook Lane Surgery aims to provide the best possible
health care for its patients. However, there may be circumstances when it would
be considered reasonable, or in the best interests of the patient, to remove patients
from the list.
We will remove a patient from our list if that patient:
• Is physically violent or threatening towards a doctor, practice
staff or other patients on the practice premises.
• Causes
physical damage to practice premises or other patient's property.
• Gives verbal abuse or makes threats towards the doctor, practice staff or other
patients.
• Gives racist abuse, orally or physically.
• Is violent or uses or condones threatening behaviour to doctors (or some other
members of the primary health care team) while they are visiting the patient's
home.
Such behaviour may involve the patient, a relative, a household
member, or pets (such as unchained dogs).
Patient
Records
The personal data we hold on our patients will:
• Be accurate
• Not be kept for longer than necessary
• Be processed
for limited purposes
• Not be transferred to other countries without
adequate protection
• Be held securely
• Be processed in accordance
with your rights
• Be fairly and lawfully processed
• Be adequate,
relevant and not excessive
• Only be used when absolutely necessary
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.
PRIMARY
CARE TRUST
Brook Lane Surgery is part of the Hampshire PCT whose address and telephone number are:
Hampshire Primary Care Trust
Headquarters
Omega House
112 southampton Road
Eastleigh
Hampshire
SO50 5 PB
Tel: 023 8064 4789
CONFIDENTIALITY
The
practice computer is registered under the Data Protection Act 1998 and strict confidentiality
is maintained. All staff are bound by strict rules of confidentiality.
THE
PROTECTION AND USE OF INFORMATION WE HOLD ABOUT YOU
When
we ask for information this is to enable us to give you the best health care and
treatment.
We then keep this information, together with details of your care,
because it may be needed if we see you again, and some of this we will need to
pass on to others concerned with your care.
There are times when we may use
some of this information, in an anonymised form (ie no patient names), for other
reasons. These are, for example:
• To help us protect the health
of the public
• The efficient running of the NHS, ie planning for
the future
• Training staff
• Carrying out medical and
other health research approved by the Local Research Ethics Committee
Sometimes
the law requires us to pass on information, for example to notify a birth or death.
We
would also like you to be aware that:
• If you should want your relatives
or carers to be kept up to date with progress of your treatment please discuss
this with the doctor or nurse delivering your care.
• The NHS Central
Register for England and Wales contains basic personal details of all patients
registered with a general practitioner.
• Everyone working for the
NHS has a legal duty to keep information about you confidential; anyone who receives information from us is also under a legal duty to keep it confidential.
• You have the right of access to your health records.
If at any time you
would like to know more about how we use information about you please ask to speak
to the practice manager.
