GP Training

Medical students and Nursing students attend the practice from time to time. We hope that you will co-operate with us and help the students to learn about general practice. However, you will be informed of their presence in advance, and if you do not want them to be present at a consultation, your wishes will be respected. This will not affect your treatment in any way.

Patients' Charter

• You can expect to be greeted in a friendly and welcoming manner and be treated with courtesy by everyone working at the Practice
• You can expect clean, comfortable premises, with good access for disabled people
• You can expect confidentiality to be maintained at all times
• You have a right to information, and are encouraged to ask questions about your health
• You can expect to be given an appointment with a primary care professional within 24 hours of a request, and a GP within 48 hours
• You can expect to be offered appropriate advice on how to stay healthy and avoid illness
• You are entitled to complain to the Practice Manager, who will see you as soon as possible, or respond to a written complaint within ten days

Patient's Responsibilities

• When you have been given an appointment you are responsible for keeping it or giving adequate notice that you wish to cancel the appointment, so that it can be made available for someone else
• You have a responsibility not to delay other people from seeing the doctor or nurse by keeping to your appointment time
• You have a responsibility to make more than one appointment if more than one patient needs to be seen when you come to the surgery
• You have a responsibility to come to the surgery for appointments unless you are prevented by serious illness or infirmity.  A doctor can see more patients in the surgery than when out visiting.
• You have a responsibility to be courteous and friendly to all the staff.

Ultimately, you are responsible for your own health, and should work with us to keep yourself healthy and avoid ill health

Zero Tolerance

Physical violence and verbal abuse are a growing concern. GPs, practice nurses and other practice staff have a right to care for others without fear of being attacked or abused. We ask that you treat your GP and practice staff properly - without violence or abuse

VIOLENT AND ABUSIVE PATIENTS WILL BE REPORTED TO THE
POLICE AND STRUCK OFF THEIR GP’s LIST

Access to Your Records

 You have a right to keep your personal health information confidential. All our employees are trained in information security and confidentiality. There are strict codes of conduct in place to ensure your information is safe, whether it is on paper or computer files. Where data is stored electronically we comply with the Data Protection Act 1998. Any information shared with other specific NHS organisations is also bound by strict regulations of confidentiality. Whenever we can we will remove details which identify you. Medical information requested by other sources, eg employers, insurance companies and solicitors is only provided with your written consent.

Your medical details will not be disclosed to your family, friends or colleagues unless we have your written consent to do so.

You are entitled to receive a copy of any letter that the Practice writes about you. This is usually in the form of referral letters to hospitals. The clinician writing the letter will ask whether you wish to receive a copy.

Under the Data Protection Act 1998, you are legally entitled to access your clinical records. If you wish to access your records, please contact the Practice Manager. All requests to view medical records should be made in writing to the surgery. The Practice is allowed, by law, to charge a fee to cover our administration costs.

Complaints

If you have a complaint or concern about the service you have received from the doctors or any of the staff working in this Practice, please let us know. We operate a Practice Complaints Procedure as part of the NHS system for dealing with complaints. Our complaints system meets national criteria.

How to Complain

We hope that most problems can be sorted out easily and quickly, often at the time they arise and with the person concerned. If your problem cannot be sorted out in this way and you wish to make a complaint, we would like you to let us know AS SOON AS POSSIBLE, ideally within a matter of days or at most a few weeks, because this will enable us to establish what happened more easily.

Please ask for an information leaflet and a complaints form, which you will need to complete. Complaints should be addressed to the Practice Manager or any of the Doctors. Alternatively you may ask for an appointment with the Practice Manager in order to discuss your concerns. She will explain the complaints procedure to you and will make sure your concerns are dealt with promptly.

We shall acknowledge your complaint within two working days and aim to have looked into your complaint within ten working days of the date you raised it with us.

We hope that, if you have a problem, you will use our Practice Complaints Procedure. We believe this gives us the best chance of putting right whatever has gone wrong and an opportunity to improve our practice. This does not, however, affect your right to approach the Primary Care Trust, if you feel that you cannot raise your complaint with us or you are dissatisfied with the result of our investigation.

The Leeds North West Primary Care Trust can be contacted on 0113 30577370 .