PRACTICE CHARTER

Our Commitment To You

The practice is dedicated to delivering a quality of service which meets the needs of our patients.

You will be treated as an individual and will be treated with courtesy and respect at all times irrespective of your ethnic origin, religious belief, personal attributes or the nature of your health problems.

Following discussion you will be given the most appropriate care, given by suitably qualified people. No care or treatment will be given without your consent.

You have the right to see your medical records, subject to any limitations in law, which will be kept confidential.

We will give you full information about the services we offer. Every effort will be made to ensure that you receive any information which directly affects your health and the care being offered.

When attending the surgery you can expect to be informed of any excessive delays. Some consultations are unexpectedly long and may lead to emergency admissions to hospital. This can cause clinics to run behind time; you will be informed of the delay and we ask that you are tolerant.

YOUR RESPONSIBILITY TO US

Come to the surgery whenever possible. If an appointment has been made you are responsible for keeping it. If you are unable to come please inform us. That time will then be available for somebody else.

If several family members are ill, make separate appointments for everyone.

The doctor can see many more patients at surgery than by going to visit at home. Most children can be brought to the surgery and this will enable a more prompt consultation than waiting for a home visit.

Please request your repeat prescriptions in good time - this will help avoid delays.

The NHS has made it clear that where a patient is violent or abusive to a doctor, his staff or other people on the premises, that patient can then be removed from the practice list without further notice. Turriff Medical Practice adheres to this principle.

COMMENTS, COMPLIMENTS, COMPLIMENTS

While we constantly strive to provide a friendly and efficient service, we do realise that occasionally things do not go as smoothly as we would like. If you think this has happened to you please let us know.

If you have any ideas which you feel would improve the service we provide, please complete a form and post in the box located on the reception desk.

Should you have any comments, compliments or complaints regarding the service you receive please direct them to :-

DATA PROTECTION / CONFIDENTIALITY

In order to provide care for you we are obliged to keep records. This is increasingly done using computers. We are obliged to comply with the Data Protection Act 1998 and other guidance on privacy and data confidentiality and we take this very seriously.

In order to manage services and improve the quality of care we provide we share some information on practice activity e.g. with CHPs, Health Boards and Primary Care Organisations, Scottish Office and Common Services Agency. Whenever possible this information is anonymised i.e. names and other identifying details are removed.

Information is NOT shared with any third party outside the Health Service (e.g. Insurance, Employer, Solicitor) without your explicit consent and agreement. We are obliged by law to provide certain information e.g. notification of certain infectious diseases.

Confidentiality is a professional obligation on all Clinicians. All non-clinical staff are made aware of the practice confidentiality policy during the induction process along with details of disciplinary procedures in the event of a breach of confidentiality.

If you have any questions or wish to know more please contact the Practice Manager