Patient Notices And
General clinic Policy

Confidentiality

 

The Clinic complies with the Data Protection Act. All information about patients is confidential: from the most sensitive diagnosis, to the fact of having visited the Clinic or being registered at the Practice. All patients can expect that their personal information will not be disclosed without their permission except in the most exceptional of circumstances, when somebody is at grave risk of serious harm.

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All members of the primary health care team (from reception to consultants) in the course of their duties will have access to your medical records. They all adhere to the highest standards of maintaining confidentiality.

 

As our reception area is a little public, if you wish to discuss something of a confidential nature please mention it to one of the reception team who will make arrangements for you to have the necessary privacy.

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Infection Control Statement

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We aim to keep our Clinic clean and tidy and offer a safe environment to our patients and staff. We are proud of our Clinic and endeavour to keep it clean and well maintained at all times.

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If you have any concerns about cleanliness or infection control, please report these to our Reception staff.

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Our consultants and support staff follow our Infection Control Policy to ensure the care we deliver and the equipment we use is safe.

 

We take additional measures to ensure we maintain the highest standards:

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• Encourage staff and patients to raise any issues or report any incidents relating to cleanliness and infection control. We can discuss these and identify improvements we can make to avoid any future problems.

• Carry out an annual infection control audit to make sure our infection control procedures are working.

• Provide annual staff updates and training on cleanliness and infection control

• Review our policies and procedures to make sure they are adequate and meet national guidance.

• Maintain the premises and equipment to a high standard within the available financial

  resources and ensure that all reasonable steps are taken to reduce or remove all infection risk.

• Use washable or disposable materials for items such as examination utensils, combs, towels

  etc., and ensure that these are laundered, cleaned or changed frequently to minimise risk of infection.

• Make Alcohol Hand Rub Gel available throughout the building

 

 

Suggestions, Comments and Complaints

 

We welcome all comments on the services provided by the Clinic.

 

We are continually looking to turn out patients’ feedback into real improvements in the services we provide. We use it to focus on the things that matter most to our patients, carers and their families.

 

We would like to hear from you if you have a suggestion on how we can do things better to improve our patients’ experiences.

 

We’d also like to hear from you if you are pleased with the service you’ve received. We’ll let the staff involved know and share their good practice across our teams.

 

You may write to us or contact us online.
 

Our details can be found on our Contact page.

 

 

Your Rights and Responsibilities

 

Patient’s Rights

 

We are committed to giving you the best possible service. This will be achieved by working together. Help us to help you. You have a right to, and the practice will try to ensure that:

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• You will be treated with courtesy and respect

• You will be treated as a partner in the care and attention that you receive

• All aspects of your visit will be dealt with in privacy and confidence

• You will be seen by a consultant of your choice subject to availability

• You can bring someone with you, however, you may be asked to be seen on your own during the consultation

• Repeat prescriptions will normally be available for collection within two working days of your request

• Information about our services on offer will be made available to you by way of posters, notice boards and newsletters

• You have the right to see your medical records or have a copy subject to certain laws.

 

Patient’s Responsibilities

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With these rights come responsibilities and for patients we would respectfully request that you:

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• Treat Clinic staff and consultants with the same consideration and courtesy that you would like yourself. Remember that they are trying to help you.

• Please ensure that you order your repeat medication in plenty of time allowing 48 working hours.

• Please attend any specialist appointments that have been arranged for you or cancel them if your condition has resolved or you no longer wish to attend.

• Please follow up any test or investigations done for you with the person who has requested the investigation.

• Attend appointments on time and check in with Reception.

• Patients who are more than 15 minutes late for their appointment may not be seen.

• If you are unable to make your appointment or no longer need it, please give the practice adequate notice that you wish to cancel. Appointments are heavily in demand and missed appointments waste time and delay patients receiving the treatment they need

• An appointment is for one person only. Where another family member or friend needs to be seen or discussed, another appointment should be made.

• Please inform us when you move home, change your name or telephone number, so that we can keep our records correct and up to date.

• Read the practice leaflets and other information that we give you. They are there to help you use our services. If you do not understand their content, please tell us.

• Let us have your views. Your ideas and suggestions whether complimentary or critical are important in helping us to provide a first class, safe, friendly service in pleasant surroundings.

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Zero Tolerance

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We opperare a Zero Tolerance Policy. The aim of this policy is to ensure that consultants and their staff have a right to care for others without fear of being attacked or abused.

 

We ask you to treat our consultants and their staff courteously and act reasonably.

 

All incidents will be followed up and you will be sent a formal warning, after a second incident you may removed from the practice if your behaviour has been unreasonable.

 

However, aggressive behaviour, be it violent or verbal abusive, will not be tolerated and may result in you being removed from the Clinic list and, in extreme cases, the Police will be contacted if an incident is taking place and the patient is posing a threat to staff or other patients.

 

Removal from the Practice List

 

A good patient-consultant relationship, based on mutual respect and trust, is the cornerstone of good patient care. The removal of patients from our list is an exceptional and rare event and is a last resort in an impaired patient-clinic relationship. When trust has irretrievably broken down, it is in the patient’s interest, just as much as that of The Clinic, that they should find help elsewhere. An exception to this is on immediate removal on the grounds of violence e.g. when the Police are involved.