THE PRACTICE PATIENTS' CHARTER

We are pleased that you have registered with the Brecon Medical Group Practice. The practice makes every effort to provide a high standard of patient care and is continually looking for ways to improve patient services. We have listed below the standards of service that you can expect from this practice. In return we ask you to co-operate with us by treating staff courteously.

Standards Of Care
As an NHS patient registered with our practice you are entitled to:

• Courtesy and respect from the staff.
  
  
• Privacy and confidentiality when speaking to any member of staff.
  
  
• Be given an appointment the same day if you need to see the doctor urgently.
  
  
• Be given an appointment within four working days if you wish to see the doctor of your choice, subject to holidays and sickness.
  
  
• Be seen within 30 minutes of your appointment time. If, for any reason, you cannot be seen within this time a clear explanation will be given. We are unable to book appointments for emergency surgeries - delays are inevitable when running this service for our patients.
  
  
• A clear explanation of any treatment proposed for you by our practice team.
  
  
• A health check on registering with the practice.
  
  
• A health check on request every three years.
  
  
• Expect your medicines to be reviewed regularly if you are receiving repeat prescriptions.
  
  
• Be referred to a consultant, acceptable to you, when your GP thinks it is necessary and to be referred for a second opinion if both you and your family doctor agree that this is desirable.
  
  
• Have access to your health records. (It may be necessary to charge a small fee.)
  
  
• Change your registered doctor without the need for embarrassing explanations.
  
  
• Have your telephone enquiries answered promptly and dealt with effectively.
  
  
• Be informed of test, X-ray and outpatient results upon request.

How You Can Help Us To Help You

• By treating our staff with courtesy.
  
  
• By giving the doctor all the relevant information about your condition and past medical history.
  
  
• By letting us know when you move address or change telephone number - we need to keep our records up to date.
  
  
• By keeping appointments or giving as much notice as possible if you have to cancel.
  
  
• By using your appointment for one person only.
  
  
• By not expecting a prescription every time you see the doctor - implementing our advice can often be far more effective than drugs.
  
  
• By giving 48 hours' notice before collecting repeat prescriptions.
  
  
• By remembering if you need a home visit to make your request before 10.30am.
  
  
• By calling out the doctor (out of hours) only in an emergency and not for routine treatment, appointments or prescriptions.

You can help us by letting us know when you are not happy with the services we provide or if you have useful comments about how they can be improved. A suggestion box is available for your contributions to improving our services.

COMMENTS AND SUGGESTIONS

We are happy to accept and consider comments and suggestions from our patients. Please present your views in writing at reception or use our suggestions box.

COMPLAINTS PROCEDURE

We always try to provide the best services possible, but there may be times when you feel this has not happened. The following information explains our in-house complaints procedure, drawn up to respond to patient grievances.

Our practice procedure is not able to deal with questions of legal liability or compensation. We hope you will use it to allow us to look into and, if necessary, correct any problems that you have identified, or mistakes that have been made. If you use this procedure it will not affect your right to complain to the Powys Local Health Board.

Please note that we have to respect our duty of confidentiality to patients and a patient’s consent will be necessary if a complaint is not made by the patient in person. If you wish to make a complaint, please telephone or write to our practice manager. Full details will be taken and a decision made on how best to undertake the investigation.

We believe it is important to deal with complaints swiftly, so you will be offered an appointment for a meeting to discuss the details within 10 days. Occasionally it may take longer, but we will keep you informed throughout. You may bring a friend or relative with you to the meeting.

We will try to address your concerns, provide you with an explanation and discuss any action that may be needed.

CONFIDENTIALITY

The practice is fully computerised with landlines connecting the computer system to Sennybridge and Brecon War Memorial Hospital. This allows a continuity of care as medical information can be transferred easily.

Please be assured that the information held is extremely confidential and can only be accessed by authorised staff with a security code. Some non-clinical staff will have access to patients’ medical records when they directly contribute to the support and delivery of patient care.

This information may be used by the practice team for audit purposes. However, it is usually only available to, and used by, those involved in your care. Repeat prescriptions, letters with advice on immunisations, health checks and treatments are generated from the computer data. We ask that you at least acknowledge invitations when you receive them.

Every member of staff has signed a confidentiality statement as part of their contract of employment.

Any breach of this statement could mean dismissal.

The staff are only allowed to give information to the patient themselves or anyone acting on their behalf with written authorisation. Please do not ask for information for someone else to avoid embarrassment to yourself and the member of staff.