Rosehill Surgery

PATIENTS’ RESPONSIBILITIES

• To act in a civil and courteous manner to all members of our team.
• To inform the practice of any change in name, address or telephone number
• Be patient if surgery is running late, as this means that we may be dealing with complex or urgent cases.
• Cancel your appointment if you are unable to keep it, or no longer require it.
• The practice has a DNA policy which is strictly adhered to.
• Make a double appointment if you have a number of issues to discuss with the doctor.
• Don’t ask for another member of your family to be seen at your appointment without making prior arrangements.

Patients’ Rights

• To be treated in a courteous, civil and cooperative manner.
• To be given clear explanation of, and advice on, their medical condition and on any proposed treatment.
• Absolute confidentiality of medical records maintained by the practice, subject to any provisions for disclosure imposed or allowed by law.
• Access to their own medical records, in accordance with the Data Protection Act. (There may be a fee for this.)
• To be informed if the health care professional they are seeing is running more than 20 minutes late. If you use the self check-in you should be given the current waiting time when you confirm your appointment.

Violent Or Abusive Patients

The practice is committed to caring for the health & safety of its staff. Aggression, violence and threatening behaviour will not be tolerated.

Those patients who are violent or abusive to any member of the surgery team will be asked to seek their health care elsewhere.

Protection And Use Of Patient Information

Patient information is personal information obtained during the course of your care and treatment. It is stored in GP records, and may also be stored electronically on our computer system.

The use of patient information is built on three principles:

• Informed consent
• Code of confidentiality
• Respect for the privacy of patients

Everyone working within the NHS has a duty to keep information about you confidential.

If you agree, your relatives, friends or carers can be kept up to date with the progress of your treatment.

If at any time you would like any further information, or wish to access your health records, please speak to our practice manager.

Details Of Your Local Primary Care Trust

East Lancs PCT can be contacted at:

Walshaw House,
Regent Street,
Nelson,
Lancashire
BB9 8SQ
Tel: 01282 644700

Website: www.eastlancspct.nhs.uk

Freedom of information – Model 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.

Complaints Procedure

We operate an in-house complaints procedure which complies with the NHS complaints policy. If you have a complaint about the service you have received you may ask to speak to the practice manager, but you may also put any complaints or comments in writing for the attention of Mrs Carol Tillotson.

If you have a complaint or concern about the service you have received from the doctors or any of the staff working in this practice, please let us know. We operate a practice complaints procedure as part of the NHS system for dealing with complaints. Our complaints procedure meets national criteria.

How To Complain

We hope that most problems can be sorted out easily and quickly, where possible at the time the complaint arises. Please put your complaint in writing to Mrs Carol Tillotson. She will contact you by telephone to clarify details and is happy to speak to you in person about the complaint if you prefer.

How We Will Deal With Your Complaint

We will acknowledge receipt of your complaint within two working days and aim to have investigated your complaint within 20 working days of the date the complaint was initially raised. We will then be in a position to offer you an explanation or a meeting with the people involved. When we look in to your complaint, we will aim to:-

* Find out what happened and what went wrong.
* Give you the opportunity to discuss the problem.
* Identify what we can do to make sure the problem does not happen again.

Complaining On Behalf Of Someone Else

Please note that we keep strictly to the rules of medical confidentiality. If you are complaining on behalf of someone else, we have to know that you have their permission to do so. A note signed by the person concerned will be needed unless they are incapable (because of illness) of providing this.

Complaining To The Primary Care Trust (PCT)

We hope that if you have a problem you will use our practice complaints procedure, and are happy to discuss any queries or concerns you may have verbally or in writing. We believe this will give us the best chance of putting right whatever has gone wrong and an opportunity to improve the systems and procedures within our practice. If you feel that you cannot raise your complaint with us, or you are dissatisfied with the result of our investigation, you should contact the PCT.

You have the right to approach the PCT directly if you prefer, and this will not affect your position with the practice or your rights. You can contact The Complaints Manager  East Lancs PCT, 31-33 Kenyon Road, Lomeshaye Estate, Nelson, Lancs BB9 5SZ. Tel: 01282 610311.
You may also seek help and advice from the Independent Complaints and Advocacy Service, (this is part of the Citizens Advice Bureau) tel: 0845 1203735. The East Lancashire Advocacy Service telephone number is 01254 301030.

Please do not hesitate to contact us if you require any further information.