Practice Charter

Woodlands Surgery Philosophy

Our aims are to offer the highest standard of health care and advice to our patients, within the resources available to us.

We have a team approach to patient care and endeavour to monitor the service provided to patients, to ensure that it meets current standards of excellence.

We are dedicated to ensuring that Practice staff and Doctors are trained to the highest level and to provide a stimulating and rewarding environment in which to work.

Our Practice Charter

  • You will be treated with courtesy and respect by all Practice personnel.
  • An on the day appointment with a Clinician will be available on the same day, if appropriate.
  • A non-urgent appointment with a doctor will be offered within 14 working days, where possible
  • Our standard is to see 80% of patients within 20 minutes of their appointment time. If you have waited longer than this please speak to a Receptionist.
  • We aim to answer the telephone within six rings.
  • An appointment with a Practice Nurse will be available within three working days, where applicable.
  • Requests for repeat prescriptions will be dealt with within 72 hours (3 working days).
  • If you have a complaint please speak to any member of staff. Your complaint will be dealt with in a professional and efficient manner.
  • We wish to make the Woodlands Surgery as accessible as possible. If you have hearing, visual or physical difficulties please let the receptionist know so that we can enable you to fully use our services.

Patient’s Responsibilities

  • If you are unable to attend for an appointment please let us know so that we can offer it to someone else.
  • If you are late for your appointment you may be asked to re-book at another time. Try to let us know in advance if you are going to be unavoidably delayed, so that we can make alternative arrangements to help you.
  • A home visit should only be requested for those who are unable to come to the surgery because of serious illness or infirmity. Please ring the surgery before 10:30 am if at all possible.
  • An on the day appointment is for an on the day medical problem. Please speak to the Receptionist if you require a sick note or repeat prescription.
  • We would ask you to be patient if the Clinician is running late. This is often due to unforeseeable emergencies but please speak to a Receptionist.
  • Make a separate appointment for each patient that needs to be seen. This allows the Clinician enough time to treat each patient with the time that they deserve.
  • Please act in a responsible and courteous manner whilst on the Practice premises for the safety and comfort of others.
  • Please treat all surgery staff, fellow patients, carers and visitors politely and with respect. Violence or verbal harassment will not be tolerated or accepted, you may be asked to register at another surgery if this behaviour occurs.

Suggestions Or Complaints

We are very happy to receive constructive comments and suggestions for improving our service to patients. Similarly, if you have a complaint we will deal with it in a constructive way. Please speak to one of our receptionists in the first instance, or if this cannot be resolved to our reception. They will do their best to deal with your complaint there and then.  For complaints which you feel have not been satisfactorily resolved by speaking to one of the receptionists, please ask to  speak to our practice manager.

Confidentiality

We ask you for personal information so that you can receive appropriate care and treatment. This information is recorded on computer and we are registered under the Data Protection Act. The practice will ensure that patient confidentiality is maintained at all times by all members of the practice team. However, for the effective functioning of a multi-disciplinary team it is sometimes necessary that medical information about you is shared between members of the team.

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.

Violence and Abuse

We will not tolerate violent behaviour or abuse towards any member of our team. Any such behaviour from patients may result in removal from our list.