Practice Charter

Wallis Avenue Surgery Patients Charter

Our doctors are committed to giving you the best possible service. This will be achieved by working together. Help us to help you.

1. You will be treated courteously and respectfully at all times, irrespective of age, gender, race or disability.
2. Following your consultation you will receive the most appropriate care, given by suitably qualified people.
3. On joining a doctor’s list for the first time you will be offered a health check.
4. We will give information about the services available by means of this website, the practice booklet, notice boards and leaflets.
5. Every effort will be made to ensure that you receive that information which directly affects your health and the care being offered. We will inform you how to get the results of any investigations which have been carried out.
6. It is our job to give you treatment and advice. In the interest of your health it is important for you to understand all the information given to you. Please ask us if you are unsure of anything.
7. The practice will offer advice and seek to inform patients of steps they can take to promote good health and to avoid illness, eg smoking, exercise, diet, immunisations etc. Self-help advice for minor ailments is also available.
8. Surgery Appointments: For urgent problems we will offer an appointment on the same day. For routine appointments, we offer appointments on a two-week basis. For certain doctors it may be necessary to wait for up to two weeks for routine appointments.
9. We will try to keep you waiting no longer than 20 minutes when you get to the surgery. Any delay will be due to medical necessity, and you will be informed about this.
10. Arrangements for contacting the surgery ‘out of hours’ are set out on this website and in the practice booklet.
11. Telephones will be answered as promptly as possible.

To Help Us

Please......

• notify us when you change address, name or telephone number.
• telephone during the afternoon surgery for blood test results.
• we send out many invites over the year recalling patients for immunisations, smears and clinic recalls - please reply promptly.
• be ready to tell us details of your past illnesses, medication, hospital admissions and any other relevant details, all of which will be kept confidential.
• let us know if you are unable to keep an appointment. We lose on average 25 ‘booked’ appointments each week through failure to cancel.
• give us 72 hours' notice for repeat prescriptions. If you run out of medication please explain the situation to a member of staff who will try to help you.
• treat staff as courteously as you would like them to treat you.
• try to request home visit only when the patient is too ill to attend the surgery. Home visits should be medically justifiable. See our appointments page for details.
• ask the receptionist if you have a matter you would like to discuss privately. We realise the health centre is a busy place but we can always find a quiet area for confidential discussion.