Doctor/Patient Responsibilities

Your Doctor’s Responsibilities 

• To treat you with respect and courtesy at all times.

• To treat you as an individual and to discuss with you the care and treatment we can provide. 

• To give you full information on the services we offer. 

• To give you the most appropriate care by suitably qualified staff. 

• To provide you with emergency care when you need it. 

• To refer you to a consultant acceptable to you when necessary. 

• To give you access to your health records, subject to any limitations in the law. 

• To give you absolute confidentiality and privacy. 

Your Responsibilities As A Patient 

• To treat all the staff of Pound Hill and Copthorne surgeries with respect and courtesy at all times. In keeping with the rest of the NHS, this practice operates a “zero tolerance” policy with respect to the protection of all of its staff. This means that anyone who is violent or abusive in any way to any member of staff will have a traffic light warning system applied to them. This is carried out as follows: 
  
  
  • Initial incident - green - 1st warning - behaviour unacceptable 
  
  
  • Second incident - amber - 2nd & final warning - last chance 
  
  
  • Third incident - red - taken off register and told to re-register with another practice.
  
  
  • Extreme cases will result in the incident being reported to the Police. This applies to all patients and all members of staff, not just the Doctors and includes contact over the phone. 

• To tell us if you are unsure about the treatment we are offering you. 

• To ask for a home visit only when the patient is unable to attend the surgery through illness or infirmity. 

• To request such a visit if at all possible before 10.00am. 

• To ask for an out-of-hours visit only when necessary. 

• To keep your appointments and contact the practice in advance if you cannot. 

• To be punctual for appointments and to make a separate appointment for each member of the family wishing to see the doctor. 

• To take medicines according to the instructions and to only ask for a repeat prescription if you need one. 

• To let us know when you change any personal details