CMP Practice Charter

Practice Philosophy

Our aim is to offer the highest standard of healthcare and advice to our patients with the resources available to us. We have a team approach to patient care and continually monitor the service provided to patients to ensure that it meets current standards of excellence. We strive to deliver high quality care in an environment which is welcoming, accessible and supportive to both patients and staff.

Being a patient attending a busy GP surgery can be an anxious and worrying time for you. We aim to make your time here as helpful as possible. The following should help to explain what you, as a patient can expect from our staff and what we, the staff can expect from you.

Our Responsibilities to You

·       To treat you with respect and courtesy at all times.

·       To treat you as an individual and to discuss with you the care and treatment we can provide.

·       To give you full information on the services we offer.

·       To give you the most appropriate care by suitably qualified staff.

·       To refer you to hospital specialists when necessary.

·       To signpost you to other services appropriate to your needs.

·       To action repeat prescription requests within 3 working days.

·       To inform you if there is any delay of more than 30 minutes of your appointment time. We would ask you to be patient if the doctor is running late as this is often due to unforeseeable emergencies.

·       To give you access to your health records, in accordance with current legislation.

·       To hold all information in the strictest confidence.

·       To give you a full and prompt reply to any complaint you may make about our service.

Your Responsibilities as a Patient:

·       To treat our staff with respect and courtesy at all times.

·       To tell us if you are unsure about the treatment we are offering you.

·       To let us know if you have any hearing, visual, physical difficulties or learning disabilities so that we can enable you to fully use our services.

·       To ask for a home visit, only when you are unable to attend the practice through illness or infirmity.

·       To request a home visit if at all possible, before 10.00am.

·       To keep your appointments and to contact the Practice in advance if you cannot attend.

·       To attend your appointment on time. If you are late for your appointment, you may be asked to rebook for another time. Please let us know in advance if you are going to be unavoidably delayed so  that we can make alternative arrangements to help you.

·       To make a separate appointment for each patient that needs to be seen. This allows the clinician enough time to treat each patient with the time that they deserve.

·       To inform us of any changes in your circumstances such as change of address, surname or telephone number. Having up to date address details are important for home visits and to check if you remain within our catchment area.

·       To respect the premises which was built with you in mind.

Practice Charter Standards

The care of your health is a partnership between patient and the Practice team. Success of that partnership depends on a number of factors. Following discussion you will receive the most appropriate care, given by suitably qualified people. No care or treatment will be given without your informed consent. In the interest of your health, it is important for you to understand all the information given to you.

Patient Rights and Responsibilities

You have a right to expect a high standard of medical care from our Practice and we will always try to provide the very best care possible within the resources available. To assist us in this we require that you take full responsibility for ensuring that you do not abuse the service. For example, it is your responsibility to ensure that you keep medical appointments and follow the medical advice given.

Breakdown in Patient Relationship/Breach of Trust

Very occasionally a Practice/patient relationship breaks down completely. In this situation the patient may choose to register with a different Practice. The Practice also has the right to remove that patient from their list where there has been a breakdown in relationship or breach of trust. This would generally only follow a warning letter that had failed to remedy the situation and we would normally give the patient a specific reason for the removal.

Zero Tolerance – Physically or Verbally Violent Patients

The NHS operates a Zero Tolerance Policy with regard to violence and abuse and the Practice has the right to remove violent patients from the list with immediate effect in order to safeguard Practice staff, patients and other persons.

Violence in this context includes actual or verbally threatened physical violence or verbal abuse which leads to fear for a person's safety. In this situation we are obliged to notify the patient in writing of their removal from the list and record in the patient’s medical records the fact of the removal and circumstances leading to it.