Practice Charter Standards

 

Clarendon Medical Centre strives to be fully compliant with the Department of Health Patient’s Charter which sets out quality standards for all areas involved in the provision of healthcare.

 

 

 

 

 

The standards are articulated below:

YOUR RIGHTS

As a patient using general medical services of the National Health Service you have the following rights:

  • To be registered with a family doctor.
  • To change your doctor easily and quickly.
  • To be offered a health check:
    – When joining a doctor’s list for the first time.
    – At a yearly home visit if you are aged 75 years or over and cannot get to the surgery; available on request.
  • To receive emergency care at any time through a family doctor.
  • To have appropriate drugs and medicines prescribed.
  • To be referred to a consultant acceptable to you when your family doctor thinks it necessary, and to be referred for a second opinion if you and your family doctor agree this is desirable.
  • To have access to your health records, subject to any limitations in law.
  • To know that those working for the NHS are under a legal duty to keep the contents of your health records confidential.
  • To choose whether or not to take part in medical research or medical student training.
  • To be given detailed information about local family doctor services through the Clinical Commissioning Groups’ local directory.
  • To receive a copy of the doctor’s practice booklet, setting out the services they provide.
  • To receive a full and prompt reply to any complaint you make about NHS services.

QUALITY SERVICES FOR PATIENTS

  • The practice is dedicated to a quality policy to achieve the health services which meet the requirements of our patients.
  • In particular:
    – Patients have a right to be greeted in a friendly and welcoming manner in all circumstances.
    – Patients have a right to confidentiality.
    – Patients should usually be seen within 20 minutes of their appointment time. Where there is likely to be a longer delay, the patients have a right to be informed.
    – Patients have the right to be informed of the likely waiting time on arrival for their appointment.
    – Patients have the right to be treated with courtesy by GPs, employees and other providers of health services both inside and outside the practice.
    – Patients have the right to information about their own health; particularly any illness and its treatment; alternative forms of treatment; possible side effects of treatment; duration and development of the illness; likelihood of recovery; how to prevent or avoid the illness recurring; and any other information the patient deems appropriate to request from any GP, consultant or other doctor in the health service. Above all, patients have the right to ask questions, and have them answered, about their own health.
    – The practice will offer advice and seek to inform patients of steps they can take to promote good health and avoid illness.
    – The practice will offer advice on self-help which can be undertaken without reference to a doctor in the case of minor ailments.
    – The practice will inform patients of developments in the practice by means of leaflets which are made available in the practice.
  • With these rights come responsibilities and for the patients this means:
    – Where an appointment has been made, either at the practice or the hospital, a patient is responsible for keeping it or giving adequate notice to the practice or hospital that they wish to cancel, in order that it may be made available to someone else.
    – A doctor’s time is limited and they have many patients to see. It is a responsibility of patients not to delay the doctor unnecessarily and to be aware of other patients’ needs to consult.
    – Each patient should show consideration for other patients. Delays can be reduced by remembering that an appointment is for one person only. Where another member of the family needs to be seen, even if it is regarding childhood ailments or if their symptoms are the same as the first person’s, another appointment needs to be made.
    – A doctor can see many more patients within surgery than when out visiting. It is therefore a responsibility of patients to come to the surgery for appointments when not prevented by serious illness or infirmity.
    – During the course of any surgery there are some patients who need long consultations because of the nature of their illness. A doctor does not know in advance who they might be. Patients in the waiting room should take this into consideration and be patient, for another time, you may need a long consultation which delays other patients.
    – If a patient is aware that their consultation may be protracted, they should advise reception at the time of making their appointment.
    – As the receptionists should treat the patients with courtesy and friendliness, so should the patients treat the receptionists. It is not the receptionist’s fault if the doctor is delayed.
    – Each person is responsible for their own health and should take appropriate action (with advice from the practice where necessary) to prevent ill health eg by not smoking.
  • Patients’ views on the quality and type of services available, both within the practice and from other health service providers, are welcome.

PATIENTS’ INFORMATION/CONFIDENTIALITY

You have the right to confidentiality under the Date Protection Act 1998 (DPA), the Human Rights Act 1998 and the common law duty of confidence (the Disability Discrimination and the Race Relations Acts may also apply).

You also have the right to ask for a copy of all records about you (you may have to pay a fee).

Everyone working for the NHS has a legal duty to keep information about you confidential. We have a duty to:

  • Maintain full and accurate records of the care we provide to you
  • Keep records about you confidential, secure and accurate
  • Provide information in a format that is accessible to you (ie, in large type if you are partially sighted).

We may share information with the following main partner organisations:

  • Strategic Health Authorities
  • NHS Trusts (Hospital, PCT)
  • General Practitioners (GPs)
  • Special Health Authorities
  • Ambulance Service
  • Out-of-Hours Services

We may also share your information, with your consent and subject to strict sharing protocols about how it will be used, with Social Services, Education Services, Local Authorities, Voluntary Sector Providers, Private Sector.

We will not share information that identifies you for any reason unless: you ask us to do so; we ask and you give us specific permission; we have to do this by law; we have special permission for health or research purposes or we have special permission because the interests of the public are thought to be of greater importance than your confidentiality.

The people who care for you use your records to:

  • Provide a good basis for all health decisions made by you and care professionals
  • Allow you to work with those providing care
  • Make sure your care is safe and effective
  • Work effectively with others providing you with care

Please ask at reception for a leaflet giving further information about patient information and confidentiality.

HOW WE USE YOUR HEALTH RECORDS

Please ask at reception for a leaflet that explains:

  • Why the NHS collects information
  • About you and how it is used
  • With whom we may share information
  • Your right to see your health record
  • How we keep your records confidential

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.

PATIENTS’ SUGGESTIONS AND COMPLAINTS

We are committed to improving patient care with better use of resources within the NHS. You can see, therefore, that we aim to provide a high quality service and we are very interested in hearing any constructive comments you may have.

A suggestion box for this purpose is situated in the waiting area.

The practice has a complaints procedure and we always welcome the opportunity to deal with any part of our service that is causing you concern.

Please contact our Complaints Officer Sarah Johnston by letter to take advantage of this service. Your complaint will be investigated quickly and we will advise you of the findings within 20 working days. You will also be advised on how to proceed should you wish to take your complaint further.

PATIENTS WHO FAIL TO ATTEND APPOINTMENTS

If you cannot attend your appointment, please let us know in good time, so that we can offer that appointment to another patient. Should you repeatedly fail to attend or cancel appointments, we will have no alternative but to remove you from our patient register.

Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs)

CCGs were developed in 2013, the members of Bradford City CCG are 25 GP practices that serve the local population. The CCGs role is to plan and buy services to meet the needs and improve health and wellbeing of our local population. They plan and buy services such as:

  • GP primary care services (on 1 April 2015 NHS England granted us full delegated responsibility for commissioning these services).
  • rehabilitation services (such as physiotherapy and occupational therapy)
  • most community services (district nursing services, for example)
  • urgent and emergency care, including A&E, ambulances and GP out-of-hours services
  • mental health services
  • maternity services
  • continuing healthcare (a package of care provided outside hospital for people with ongoing health needs)

The CCG work closely with other CCGs in West Yorkshire and Harrogate, as well as Bradford Council, NHS England and the public.

They bring together healthcare professionals, local communities and managers so patients have more control of their own care; to provide greater focus on healthcare and quality; to increase the involvement doctors and nurses have in the care of services delivered; and to improve the health and experiences of local people.

Scorex House, West
1 Bolton Rd, Bradford
BD1 4AS
01274 237290

ZERO TOLERANCE POLICY

We operate a Zero Tolerance Policy. Should a patient/visitor become violent or abusive, to any member of staff or other persons present on the premises, or in a place where treatment is provided; they will be removed from the practice list immediately and legal action may be taken against them.