If you have any queries about our charter, please contact our practice manager who will be happy to explain.

If you would like a copy of our charter, please contact the practice. You can do this by completing the Contact the Practice form online.

What are My Rights as a Patient?

• You have a right to be registered with an NHS doctor if you are eligible for NHS treatment
• You can be registered as a patient here if: our list is open, you live within our practice boundary, you are eligible for NHS treatment, you complete our registration paperwork, and you provide photo ID and proof of address
  You can register as a patient online by completing the New Patient Registration form

Who Can I See?

• Registered patients can choose to see any of the doctors
• To ensure continuity of your care it is normal practice to consult the same GP for ongoing medical problems. Please help us by following this guideline
• You are entitled to a second opinion from a consultant when your GP considers it to be appropriate

What Can I Expect from My GP?

• As a registered patient you will be treated with respect and in confidence by the doctors
• When contacting the surgery we will endeavour to ensure the phone is answered as promptly and courteously as possible
• We aim to offer 90% or more of our patients an appointment with a GP within 2 working days of their request

Will I Fully Understand My Condition and its Treatment?

• You will receive a comprehensive and appropriate explanation of your treatment
• Your GP will endeavour to discuss any queries you have within the time given
• After having a test of any kind, we will make the results available to you as soon as possible. If you would like to request your test results, you can do so online by completing the Test Results Request form
• Please phone for results in the afternoons only

Can I See My Medical Records?

• You are allowed to see your medical records, but this is subject to limitations within the law
• Your GP is under obligation to maintain accurate medical records

Can I Expect to Receive Attention at All Times?

• You can receive emergency care at all times through your practice
• Please remember that you can find basic health information elsewhere. Your local pharmacist can also advise you on best treatments and whether a visit to the GP is a good use of your time
• Please be prepared to travel to the surgery to receive your treatment. The only exceptions to this are those who are genuinely bedridden or infirm. More information can be found on the Home Visits page
• We are afraid that we cannot offer home visits to those who can come to the surgery by other means (car, taxi or bus). This is because a single home visit will take up the time usually needed to see 4 patients in the surgery. If you genuinely do require a visit, please contact the surgery before 10:30. You will be asked for details of your illness to help the doctor to prioritise visits for that day
• Please remember that emergency appointments are for genuine emergencies. These appointments are for acute problems only. If you have a number of problems you should always book a routine appointment with your GP. The GP may question any patient who has requested an emergency appointment that is deemed inappropriate
• Please try to see a doctor during daytime surgery hours
• The “Out of Hours” service is provided by doctors who are not your regular GPs and who do not have your full medical history. Therefore in many instances people find they still need to attend the surgery soon afterwards. So please think before using the service and ask yourself “Can it wait until tomorrow?” when you can see your own GP

What If I Have a Suggestion or Complaint?

• First, contact the practice manager
• You may wish to put your complaints or suggestions in writing
• All complaints will be given a fair consideration. You can ask to see our practice complaints procedure at any time
• All patient feedback is discussed between the practice team within our weekly clinical meetings.
• If you would like to submit feedback or a complaint online, you can do so by completing the Feedback and Complaints triage

What Should the Surgery Expect From Me?

• Please treat your doctors, their staff and other patients at our surgery as you would expect to be treated by them – with politeness and respect
• The surgery operates a zero tolerance policy on aggressive behaviour towards all staff and users of the practice. More information on this can be found on the Zero Tolerance page
• Please cancel appointments that you cannot attend. Remember that someone else can be allocated the appointment. You can cancel an appointment online by completing the Cancel an Appointment form
• Please be punctual for appointments and arrive at least 5 minutes before your appointment time and book in using the self-book-in screen
• Please remember that each appointment is only 10 minutes long and that others are waiting
• Please remember that the “out of hours” service is for emergencies only
• Please do not expect a prescription every time you visit – often good advice is the best treatment

Leaving the Practice

Every doctor has a right to remove a patient from the list. However this is only ever done in extreme circumstances, examples of these include:

• When the doctor-patient relationship has irretrievably broken down and the standard of care is at risk
• Where a patient is abusive or attempts to harass or intimidate members of surgery staff or other patients
• Where a patient has consistently abused practice resources. We define “abuse of practice resources” as:
  • Regularly failing to turn up on time or at all for appointments. This leads to longer and unfair waiting times for all our other patients
  • Frequently refusing to travel to the surgery when able to. The subsequent home visit takes the doctor out of surgery for enough time to see 4 patients
• Please note that you have the right to change your Doctor if you so wish