You and your doctor are partners in your health care. Being a partner means that we have responsibilities towards each other.
Appointments
We will try to ensure that you may see your choice of doctor within six working days, but please remember that the doctor may not always be available due to other commitments such as holidays.
We will try to see you within twenty minutes of your appointment time. If you cannot keep an appointment please let us know as soon as possible. Please make one appointment for each member of the family who needs to be seen.
Courtesy
You are an individual and have the right to confidentiality and will be given courtesy and respect at all times. Please afford the partners and practice staff the same courtesy and respect that you expect from them.
Treatment
We will explain the effects of any drugs you are prescribed and will review your long term medical needs at agreed times. You should not expect to receive a prescription each time you visit the doctor. Please make sure that you order repeat prescriptions in advance and make an appointment for the doctor to review your treatment when indicated on your prescription counterfoil. If we believe that you need a second specialist opinion we will try to help you obtain this. You have the right to ask for a second opinion.
Emergencies
We will visit you at home if you are too ill or infirm to be brought to the surgery. Doctors can make more effective examination at the surgery where they have proper facilities. Less time is available for the doctor's patients if time is taken up travelling unnecessarily.
Outside practice hours you will receive advice or treatment from a doctor who may be from another Kingston practice. Please do not call out of hours except in the case of a medical emergency.
Problems
We have a practice procedure for dealing with complaints that meets Government guidelines. Please read below for details. Doctors may ask the Health Authority to remove from their list those patients who repeatedly ignore their responsibilities to them, their staff or to other patients. If you are seriously unhappy with the service we provide, you have the right to ask another practice to accept you onto their list.
Equal Opportunities
Please click on link below:
Equal Opportunties for website.docx
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.
Confidentiality
The staff at reception will assist you when making emergency and routine appointments to see a doctor or nurse. They answer numerous and varied questions and offer help and assistance at all times.
However, the more information you give them helps in their difficult job as the interface between doctors and patients. We have a legal requirement to maintain the highest level of patient confidentiality.
Patients have a right to expect that information about them will be held in strict confidence by their doctor. Whilst we continue to presume you are happy for us to share relevant details to those to whom you agree to be referred, we can assure you that private medical information will never be released to non-medical third parties (such as your insurance company), without your signed consent.
If we are asked to provide information about patients we will:
- Seek their consent to disclosure of information wherever possible, whether or not we judge that patients can be identified from the disclosure.
- Ensure that the person given access to the records will be subject to a duty of confidentiality.
- Anonymise data where unidentifiable data will serve the purpose. (Anonymised information about patients may be used to protect public health, to undertake research and audit, to teach or train medical staff and students and to plan and organise health care services.)
- Keep disclosures to the minimum necessary.
Patients do have the right to object to such a process. Any objections will be respected, except where the disclosure is essential to protect the patient, or someone else, from risk of death or serious harm.
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.