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General Information
Home Visits
Patients are requested to telephone the surgery before 10.30am on the day a home visit is required.
We would always request that apart from the genuinely housebound that all other patients try to attend the surgery rather than request a home visit because of the extra time home visiting takes.
On average six patients can be seen in surgery in the time it takes to do one house call. In addition any necessary examination may be limited at home due to lack of portable equipment such as the ECG machine.
Please note that the doctor may telephone you to discuss your problem, rather than visit you, if this is medically appropriate.
Home visits are usually dealt with after the morning surgery is finished and before the afternoon surgery begins. If a visit request is more urgent than this the Doctor will deal with it appropriately.
New Patients
If you are new to the area and wish to register as a patient at this surgery please bring your medical card with you to reception where a member of the reception team will be able to help you. If you do not have a medical card we can give you a substitute form to complete. All prospective patients are required to bring the following with them as evidence of their entitlement to NHS treatment:-
- Proof of identity: Good photo ID (a new driving licence or Passport) or Birth/marriage certificate
- Proof of address: Tenancy agreement or any utility bill with your name on
Patients from overseas will also need to bring additional evidence of entitlement:-
- Proof of status: Visa/residence permit/work permit
At the time of registering you will be invited to make an appointment with one of our nurses for a basic health check.
The procedure at this practice is to advise you of the name of the Doctor’s list you will be allocated to, but they work as a team and are happy to see any of our patients.
(You have the right to express a preference to receive services from a particular practitioner or class of practitioner either generally or in relation to any particular condition and we will record this preference. We will endeavour to comply with this but please note that we need not do so if the preferred practitioner has reasonable grounds for refusal to provide services to you or does not routinely perform the service in question within the practice.)
Obtaining Test Results
You may telephone the surgery any time after 10:30 for your test results.
For Blood test results, swab result, urine and faeces results please check with the Nurse or Doctor when these will be available so that you do not contact the surgery too soon.
For X ray and Ultra Sound results allow 12 working days before contacting the surgery.
All results will have to be seen by a Doctor before a receptionist can give you your result.
Changing Your Details
It is very important that your Medical records are kept up to date. If you change any part of your name, your address, or telephone number please notify the surgery as soon as possible.
This can be done by completing a form that is available from the reception desk.
Failure to keep us informed of the above changes may result in us not being able to advise you of appointment changes, both at the surgery and hospitals.
Clevedon Cottage Hospital
We have a 21 bedded community hospital within Clevedon to which all the towns GP’s have admitting rights. These beds are for patients who are either in need of rehabilitation and/or respite care, for those with acute medical conditions and the terminally ill.
The Partners use an outpatient facility at the hospital to carry out coil fitting procedures and other minor procedures for Sunnyside patients
The hospital also has a Minor Injuries Unit which is open from 7am to 9pm. This service is nurse led and a GP will be contacted if required. The nurses will also refer patients onto a District General Hospital if clinically necessary.
Data Protection/Confidentiality
All information held at the Practice about patients is confidential, whether held electronically or in hard copy. We comply with the Data Protection Act, 1998, which lays down the legal requirements for computer users such as ourselves. Our policy applies to all employees and Partners, and also other people who work at the Practice e.g. locum GPs, non-employed nursing staff, temporary staff and contractors.
The staff will not, under any circumstances, disclose patient information to anyone outside the Practice, except to other health professionals on a need to know basis, or where the patient has provided written consent.
Any breach of confidentiality will be considered as a serious disciplinary offence and may lead to dismissal
Staff will remain legally bound by the requirement to keep information confidential even if they are no longer employed by the Practice
Complaints Procedure
It is the policy of the surgery to give an effective, prompt and positive response to all complaints from patients and to ensure that such complaints assist the practice to improve its service in the future.
The NHS “Practice Based” complaints procedure has been designed so that complaints are dealt with faster and at Practice level where possible.
Written complaints will be acknowledged within 2 working days of receipt
Any investigation should be complete within 10 working days, if not then the patient will be informed of the delay and the reasons for it.
All complaints will be completed within 20 working days (one month) circumstances permitting.
Zero Tolerance Policy
In line with the NHS zero tolerance guidelines on abuse of patients and staff, this Practice will not tolerate any incidents of violence, aggression and/or rudeness by ANY patients to the Practice Staff and/or patients either physically or verbally.
In the event of a patient being rude to Practice Staff or to other patients within the surgery, or by patients using threatening and/or abusive language on the telephone, the Practice Manager will be informed by the staff member concerned. A letter will be dispatched to the patient requesting a written or personal verbal apology to the staff member concerned within a calendar week. If such an apology is appropriately given, we shall regard the incident as closed. However if no such apology is forthcoming, the patient will be informed by letter that he or she is being removed from the doctor’s list forthwith. The Primary Care Trust will then be informed by letter that the doctor wishes the patient to be ‘Removed at the Doctor’s Request’.
In the event that three such incidents for any individual are recorded, even when an apology has subsequently been tendered, a letter will be dispatched to that patient informing them of their removal from the list.
If patients continue to be abusive within the Practice premises, they will be informed that the Police will be notified and they will be escorted from the premises.
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