Queensway Medical Centre

• Treat you to the very best of our ability, within the resources available to us.
  
• Treat you with courtesy and respect at all times.
  
• Visit you in your home only when you are too ill to come to the surgery.
  
• Provide you with emergency care.
  
• See urgent cases at the earliest opportunity.
  
• Maintain confidentiality.
  
• Deal with complaints promptly.

What We Expect From You

• Treat us with respect and courtesy at all times.
  
• Help the receptionist to help you. Please do not give misleading information in order to secure an urgent appointment if a routine appointment will suffice.
  
• Ask for night visits only when absolutely necessary. Please do not call out the duty doctor after hours for routine/non-urgent matters.
  
• Do not request a home visit unless you are too ill or unfit to travel.
• Familiarise yourself with our appointment system and keep your appointment on time.
  
• Let us know when you no longer need an appointment or cannot keep it so that it can be offered to someone else.
  
• Do not ask doctors to see more than one person during one appointment.
  
• Co-operate and be understanding when we are busy or over-stretched and remember that delays can happen, usually because someone needs our help more urgently or is needing more time during a consultation.

ZERO TOLERANCE

We strongly support the NHS policy on zero tolerance. Anyone attending the surgery who abuses the GPs, staff or other patients be it verbally, physically or in any threatening manner whatsoever, will risk removal from the practice list. In extreme cases we may summon the police to remove offenders from the practice premises.

COMMENTS, SUGGESTIONS AND COMPLAINTS

We are always interested to know what you think of the services we offer. We realise that there are times when you may need to comment about our work and others when you may have cause for complaint. If you have a comment or suggestion, please write to the practice manager, Carol Willis.

If you are not satisfied with our service, please tell any member of staff. You will be asked for a few details and these will be passed straight to the practice manager. You will also be given a copy of our formal complaints procedure.

We expect that any grievance or misunderstanding can be resolved by this method.

In keeping with the NHS policy regarding the protection of its entire staff, anyone who is violent or abusive in any way to any member of staff may be removed from the practice list with immediate effect and without a second chance. Extreme cases will result in being reported to the police. This applies to all patients and all members of staff, not just the GPs, and includes contact over the phone.

CONFIDENTIALITY OF PATIENT RECORDS

We ask you for information so that you can receive proper care and treatment.

We keep this information, together with details of your care, because it may be needed if we see you again.

We may use some of this information for other reasons: for example, to help us protect the health of the public generally and to see that the NHS runs efficiently, plans for the future, trains its staff, pays its bills and can account for its actions. Information may also be needed to help educate tomorrow's clinical staff and to carry out medical and other health research for the benefit of everyone.

Sometimes the law requires us to pass on information: for example, to notify a birth.

The NHS Central Register for England and Wales contains basic personal details of all patients registered with a general practitioner. The register does not contain clinical information.

You have a right of access to your health records.

EVERYONE WORKING FOR THE NHS HAS A LEGAL DUTY TO KEEP INFORMATION ABOUT YOU CONFIDENTIAL.

You may be receiving care from other people as well as the NHS. So that we can all work together for your benefit we may need to share some information about you. We only ever use or pass on information about you if people have a genuine need for it in your and everyone's interests. Whenever we can we shall remove details which identify you.

The sharing of some types of very sensitive personal information is strictly controlled by law.

Anyone who receives information from us is under a legal duty to keep it 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.