Practice Charter

CHILDREN

When you are attending the surgery for appointments, or for any other reason, please can you ensure your children are kept under adequate control and direct supervision whilst in the building. Please do not send children to the surgery unaccompanied. For legal reasons, it is sometimes necessary for us to ascertain that the adult accompanying the child has parental responsibility before treatment can be given. This is on occasion embarrassing for all concerned, and it is also sometimes necessary to make further checks.

PATIENT FORUM

The practice now has a patient forum and welcomes any new members. If you think you would like to be involved in this group, please ask at reception or contact the practice manager for more information. The plan is to meet about three times a year.

COMPLAINTS AND SUGGESTIONS

We welcome any helpful suggestions or constructive criticism to improve the service we offer, but if you do have a complaint, we would be grateful if you could contact the person concerned or the practice manager to discuss it. We have a suggestion box in reception. Please feel free to put any constructive comments in this box. We are all human and mistakes can happen. Please feel free to discuss any problem with your doctor. Sadly, even with the best medical care some diseases are not preventable or curable. It is also important to note that symptoms at the beginning of an illness can be very non-specific and may not indicate a serious problem. However, sometimes things can change very quickly, and unexpectedly, and if you have ongoing concerns we would want you to make contact again. If you are not happy with the explanation provided to you or you have ongoing concerns, please say so at the time, or come back soon. You are welcome to see another Practitioner for a second opinion. We believe that both our patients and our staff have the right to be treated with courtesy.

PRIMARY CARE TRUST

We are part of the Eastern and Coastal Kent Primary Care Trust (PCT) and have no direct funding for services ourselves. We make referrals to where the Trust has arranged contracts and offer choice to our patients at the point of referal. Waiting lists are outside our control and you should write to the local MP if you are unhappy with any aspect of referrals, waiting lists etc.

ECKPCT can be contacted at: Brook House, John Wilson Business Park, Reeves Way, Chestfield, Whitstable CT5 3QT. Telephone: 01227 795050.

CONFIDENTIALITY

All patient notes are treated with the strictest confidentiality and we comply with the Data Protection Act 1998. Our staff are very aware of this. We do ask details of visits and emergencies to be disclosed to our staff in order to ensure appropriate use of resources. You have the right to see the records kept about you. Please ask at reception if you have any questions about this.

If you would like to speak to a receptionist privately, please ask at reception.Members of the Primary Care Agency and a qualified team from the Eastern and Coastal Kent PCT come into the practice from time to time to carry out a post-payment verification audit. The doctors are paid for certain services provided to our patients and the agency needs to check records to ensure that these claims have been made honestly.

The practice undergoes regular verification and revalidation checks and some medical records will be inspected at random to facilitate this. If you would rather your notes are not included in this process please inform your doctor.

CONFIDENTIALITY FOR YOUNG PEOPLE

The policy of confidentiality extends to our younger patients consulting on their own (the basis of this policy is defined in law). Any matter discussed by a younger patient during a consultation will not be disclosed to a third party. We believe that our younger patients are competent enough to make an informed choice on their own though we would, in some circumstances, encourage them to discuss matters with their parents.

NATIONAL PROGRAMME FOR IT

Your medical records are held in the surgery on a stand-alone computer system which can only be accessed by members of the surgery team. Your name and address details are held centrally on the Connecting for Health computer system or 'National Spine'. The Government is rolling out a national programme to have everyone's important clinical information available via the National Spine. This means that should you need to be seen in an emergency away from the practice, but in England, your up-to-date medical history will be available at the time. At the moment it is everyoneís right to opt out of this 'summary care record' should they wish to do so. Opting out does not remove your right to have electronic transfer of prescriptions or any other aspect of your care. Should you wish to find out more about this, please see www.healthspace.nhs.uk.

RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE PATIENT

Failure to Keep Appointments

If you are unable to keep an appointment with any member of the team you should let the practice know immediately so that your appointment can be offered to someone else. Patients who consistently fail to keep their appointment without good reason may be contacted by one of the doctors and could be asked to register elsewhere.

Zero Tolerance Policy

This practice will not tolerate any verbal or physical abuse of its staff. All incidents will be reported to the practice manager who will keep a log of such incidents. Physical abuse or threatening behaviour will automatically be reported to the Police. The patient will then be removed from the practice list and the Eastern and Coastal Kent PCT will inform the patient that they need to register with a new doctor. Verbal abuse recorded in the incident log by the practice manager may be discussed with the GPs and the patient may receive a formal letter. If this occurs repeatedly then the patient may be removed from the practice list as above.

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.