Patient Charter

How we will help you

All patients, their families and carers will be treated with courtesy and respect, irrespective of their age, gender, ethnic origin, religious beliefs or the nature of their health concern.
We accept our responsibility for protecting the confidentiality of patients and will comply with all relevant legislation in this regard.
We will work in partnership with patients to deliver the best possible medical care and clinical outcomes.
We will involve patients and listen to their opinions and views in all aspects of their care and treatment.
If you make a complaint, we will investigate the full circumstances and make sure you receive an apology when this is appropriate. We will also make sure you are not discriminated against, or subjected to any negative impact as a result of your complaint.
An urgent appointment with a doctor or nurse will be made available on the same day should a patient require one.
We aim to see patients within 20 minutes of their appointment time. If you have waited longer than this please ask at reception for an explanation.
Treatment and care will always be provided by a suitable and qualified person and no care or treatment will be provided without patient consent.
Those involved in the care of patients will offer their names and ensure patients know how to contact them.
We will provide full information about the services we offer and how to access them. All new patients will have access to our practice leaflet and copies will be displayed at the reception desk. This information will be provided in different formats if requested.
We will take whatever time is necessary to help patients understand their conditions, treatment options and medication and will answer all questions openly and honestly.

How patients can help us

Treat our staff with courtesy and respect, irrespective of their age, gender, ethnic origin, religious beliefs or role – they are all here to help.
Be on time for each and every appointment made for you.
Cancel any unwanted appointments in good time so that it can be allocated to others.
Be aware of the needs of your fellow patients and keep noise levels to a minimum when visiting the surgery.
Keep your children close by and well behaved when visiting the practice and do not let them play with any medical equipment in the consulting rooms.
Be informed about your health and answer questions about your care openly and honestly.
Let us know in good time if you are running late or are unable to attend.
Request a home visit only if you are genuinely too unwell to visit the surgery.
Make all requests for urgent or same day care as early in the day as possible.
Stay by the phone number provided to make it easier for us to return your call.
Do not smoke, drink alcohol or take recreational drugs on the premises or in the grounds of Eothen House.
Do not bring your pets into the surgery – assistance dogs are permitted

Zero Tolerance

The practice takes it very seriously if a member of staff or one of the doctors or nursing team is treated in an abusive or violent way.

The practice supports the government’s ‘Zero Tolerance’ campaign for Health Service Staff. This states that GPs and their staff have a right to care for others without fear of being attacked or abused. To successfully provide these services a mutual respect between all the staff and patients has to be in place. All our staff aim to be polite, helpful, and sensitive to all patients’ individual needs and circumstances and they are very often confronted with a multitude of varying and sometimes difficult tasks and situations, all at the same time. Staff understand that ill patients do not always act in a reasonable manner and will take this into consideration when trying to deal with a misunderstanding or complaint.

However, aggressive behaviour, be it violent or abusive, will not be tolerated and may result in a patient being removed from the practice list and, in extreme cases, the Police being contacted.

In order for the practice to maintain good relations with their patients the practice expects patients not to display the types of behaviour below that would be found unacceptable:

Using bad language or swearing at practice staff
Any physical violence towards any member of the Primary Health Care Team or other patients, such as pushing or shoving
Verbal abuse towards the staff in any form including verbally insulting the staff or making derogatory comments
Racial abuse and sexual harassment will not be tolerated within this practice
Persistent or unrealistic demands that cause stress to staff will not be accepted. Requests will be met wherever possible and explanations given when they cannot
Causing damage/stealing from the Practice’s premises, staff or patients
Obtaining drugs and/or medical services fraudulently

Removal from the Practice List

A good patient-doctor 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-practice relationship. When trust has irretrievably broken down, it is in the patient’s interest, just as much as that of the practice, that they should find a new practice.

Patients displaying any of the unacceptable behaviours listed above will be sent a zero tolerance notification and may be asked to enter into a behaviour contract with the practice. Further breaches will result in a patient being removed from the practise list. An exception to this is in cases of physical violence where immediate removal will occur.

Removing Other Members of the Household

In rare cases, however, because of the possible need to visit patients at home it may be necessary to terminate responsibility for other members of the family or the entire household. The prospect of visiting patients where a relative who is no longer a patient of the practice by virtue of their unacceptable behaviour resides, or being regularly confronted by the removed patient, may make it too difficult for the practice to continue to look after the whole family. This is particularly likely where the patient has been removed because of violence or threatening behaviour and keeping the other family members could put doctors or their staff at risk.