All Polices

Chaperone Policy

You are entitled to a Chaperone during your consultation.

If you would like a Chaperone present during your consultation please inform a member of staff.

CHAPERONE POLICY

Abuse, Aggression & Violence Policy

The NHS operate a zero tolerance policy with regard to verbal aggression or abuse and violence  and the practice has the right to remove abusive and violent patients from the list with immediate effect in order to safeguard practice staff, patients and other persons. Abuse and Violence in this context includes actual or threatened physical violence or verbal abuse which leads to fear for a person’s safety. In this situation we will notify the patient in writing of their removal from the list and record in the patient’s medical records the fact of the removal and the circumstances leading to it.

Complaints

We make every effort to give the best service possible to everyone who attends our practice.

However, we are aware that things can go wrong resulting in a patient feeling that they have a genuine cause for complaint. If this is so, we would wish for the matter to be settled as quickly, and as amicably, as possible.

To pursue a complaint please contact the practice manager who will deal with your concerns appropriately. Further written information is available regarding the complaints procedure from reception.

COMPLAINTS PROCEDURE

Practice Leaflet

We are two practices, The Medical Centre in Buntingford and The Surgery in Puckeridge. With patients’ needs at the heart of everything we do, we aim to provide traditional family medical services in a caring and friendly environment.

PracticeLeaflet.2025 V5

Practice Charter

Patients can expect the following rights from our team:
 

  1. Patients have a right to be greeted courteously.
  2. Patients have a right to absolute confidentiality.
  3. Patients with urgent medical conditions will be given priority and will be seen the same day.
  4. Doctors and Nurses will begin surgery at the appropriate time. Any delay will be due to medical necessity. Where there is a delay in excess of thirty minutes, patients have the right to be informed and to make an alternative appointment.
  5. All appointments are for 10 minutes routinely. In some circumstances, the appointment may booked for longer. You may be asked to make a further appointment if your problem cannot be dealt with adequately in a single appointment.
  6. All practice staff are appropriately trained for the role they undertake and are fully registered with the GMC/NMC where applicable. We are a training practice for Doctors training to be GP’s and you will be informed if you will be seeing one of our trainee GP’s
  7. All new patients have the option of an appointment with a practice Health Care Assistant for a new patient check.
  8. All patients have the option of being accompanied during an appointment by a trained chaperone.
  9. Patients shall be referred to a consultant acceptable to them when their GP thinks it necessary.
  10. Any suggestions to improve the service will be considered by the appropriate team members and a response always given.
  11. Repeat prescription requests will be processed within three working days.
  12. We will endeavour to process Referral letters within five working days.
  13. A full and prompt reply to a written complaint will be made by a member of the practice team within ten working days.
  14. Access to health records is available subject to any limitation by law.
  15. Patients will never be removed from our list unless there has been a serious breakdown in the doctor-patient relationship or you move to an address outside the Practice area. Costs of drugs or hospital services will never be criteria for removing any patient.

               

With these rights come responsibilities, and for the patient this means:
 

  1. Courtesy to the staff at all times.
  2. To attend appointments on time or to give the practice adequate notice that you wish to cancel. Lateness or non-attendance inconveniences other patients and wastes appointment time.
  3. An appointment is for one person only – where another member of the family needs to be seen or discussed another appointment should be made.
  4. Patients should make every effort to consult at the surgery to make the best use of nursing and medical time. Home visits should be medically justifiable and not requested for social convenience.
  5. Out-of-hours calls (evenings, nights and weekends) should only be requested if your problem cannot wait until the next working day. Please be prepared to attend an alternative centre if asked to do so.
  6. Please leave the waiting room as tidy as you found it, and help keep the surgery safe and clean.
  7. Please notify us of any change in address or telephone number promptly.
  8. We have very limited parking space. Please do not use our car park unless you are visiting the surgery. Please do not use the surgery car park whilst you attend work, shop or deliver or pick up children from school. Ours is not a public car park!
  9. We will not tolerate violent or abusive behaviour towards the Doctors or staff. Such incidents will be reported to the police and patients will be removed from our list.

Confidentiality of Patient data

Privacy Notice

We understand how important it is to keep your personal information safe and secure and we take this very seriously. We have taken steps to make sure your personal information is looked after in the best possible way and we review this regularly.

Please read this Privacy Notice (‘Privacy Notice’) carefully, as it contains important information about how we use the personal and healthcare information we collect on your behalf.

We are part of My Care Record, an approach to improving care by joining up health
and care information. Wherever possible, health and care professionals will be able
to access your records from other services when it is needed for your care. Please
see www.mycarerecord.org.uk for more information.

National Data Opt-Out Programme

Your Data Matters to the NHS

Information about your health and care helps us to improve your individual care, speed up diagnosis, plan your local services and research new treatments.

In May 2018, the strict rules about how this data can and cannot be used were strengthened. The NHS is committed to keeping patient information safe and always being clear about how it is used.

You can choose whether your confidential patient information is used for research and planning.

To find out more visit: https://www.nhs.uk/your-nhs-data-matters