The practice is registered and complies with the Data Protection Act 1998. Any request for access to notes by a patient, patient’s representative or outside body will be dealt with in accordance with the Act.

If you wish to request access to the records held by the practice, please contact our reception staff on 01274 957908 / 01274 957909.

The Accessible Information Standard aims to ensure that patients (or their carers) who have a disability or sensory loss receive information they can access and understand, for example in large print, braille or via email, and professional communication support if they need it, for example from a British Sign Language interpreter.

This applies to patients and their carers who have information and / or communication needs relating to a disability, impairment or sensory loss. It also applies to parents and carers of patients / service users who have such information and / or communication needs, where appropriate.

Individuals most likely to be affected by the Standard include people who are blind or deaf, who have some hearing and / or visual loss, people who are deaf blind and people with a learning disability. However, this list is not exhaustive.

If you feel that this applies to you or someone in your care please complete the attached form and hand it in at the surgery or collect a form from surgery if you wish.

Chaperones

It is policy of this practice to respect the privacy, dignity, religious and cultural beliefs of our patients.

If you feel you would like a chaperone to be present during a physical examination by a doctor or any other health professional you may be consulting at the surgery ( or if you would prefer to be examined by a doctor or heath professional of the same sex as yourself). Please let us know and we will do our best to comply with your wishes.

There are occasions when patients need to be assessed by a doctor which might involve intimate examinations.

This Practice is committed to putting patients at ease whenever possible, and if you wish a chaperone to be present during your examination please do not hesitate to ask the doctor. It may not be possible for such a chaperone to be provided immediately and you might have to return for the examination to be carried out at a mutually convenient time.

Trust is important in the relationship between GP and patient and we would, at all times, wish you to feel able to ask for a chaperone, should you require it.

We always welcome constructive feedback from our patients. Should you have any suggestions on improving our service – or should you wish to complain about any aspects of the care you receive – please ask to speak to the Practice Manager.

We will always aim to resolve any complaints as promptly and professionally as possible.

Please Note

Due to an increase in the number of wasted appointments through patient’s failing to attend without informing the surgery it has become necessary to implement the following policy:

“If you repeatedly fail to attend appointments you may be removed from this practice list and will have to find an alternative doctor”.

If you cannot attend your appointments for any reason please let us know as soon as possible, we can then offer the appointment to someone else.

Thank you for your co-operation

New Service for Patients

The practice is providing all their patients  with a named GP who will have overall responsibility for the care and support that our surgery provides to them.

The named Gp will have overall responsibility for the care and support that our surgery provides to the patient. This does not prevent the patients from seeing any GP in the practice as you currently do.

You Can Expect:

An Equal Opportunities Service regardless of age, sex, race or sexual orientation. Patient Confidentiality is strictly adhered to by all members of Practice staff, in accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998.

We Expect:

• Patients to notify us if they cannot attend an appointment since patients who regularly miss appointments – wasting doctor & nurse time – may risk removal from the Practice list.
• Patients to inform the Practice of any change in circumstances such as name & address.
• Patients to be polite and courteous to all members of surgery staff at all times.
• This practice has a Zero Tolerance policy to abusive or aggressive behaviour and patients displaying these traits will be removed from the Practice list at the GPs discretion.

In the UK a doctor’s medical certificate (Med 3 – fit for work) is ONLY issued after a period of 7 consecutive days of absence due to illness. If you are going to be off more than 7 days please make an appointment to see your GP who may need to examine you before issuing your certificate. Please note these are valid from the day on which they are signed and cannot be backdated.

If you are absent from work for less than 7 days your employer should issue you with a “Self-Certificate” (SC2) to fill out stating how long you were off, and why.

If your employer insists on a medical certificate for sick leave which has been less than 7 days you may be charged for a private sick note.

If you are absent from work for less than 7 days your employer should issue you with a “Self-Certificate” (SC2) to fill out stating how long you were off, and why.

On occasions we are asked to issue a backdated sick note for longer periods of absence  from work. We can only do this if the patient concerned has had previous contact with another doctor/specialist, with documented notes regarding the condition concerned, and where it would have been reasonable to advise the patient to be off work from the date given.