HIGHGATE GROUP PRACTICE
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Practice Charter Standards

The care of your health is a partnership between patient and the Practice team. Success of that partnership depends on a number of factors.
Following discussion you will receive the most appropriate care, given by suitably qualified people. No care or treatment will be given without your informed consent. In the interest of your health it is important for you to understand all the information given to you.

Our Responsibilities To You

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, in accordance with current legislation.

To hold all information in the strictest confidence.

To give you a full and prompt reply to any complaint you may make about our service.

Patient Rights And Responsibilities

You have a right to expect a high standard of medical care from our Practice and we will try at all times to provide the very best care possible within the resources available.

In order to assist us in this we require that you take full responsibility for ensuring that you do not abuse the service. For example, it is your responsibility to ensure that you keep medical appointments and follow the medical advice given.

Very occasionally a Practice/patient relationship breaks down completely. In this situation the patient may choose to register with a different Practice. The Practice also has the right to remove that patient from their list. This would generally only follow a warning that had failed to remedy the situation and we would normally give the patient a specific reason for the removal.

Violent Patients - Zero Tolerance

The NHS operates a Zero Tolerance Policy with regard to violence and abuse and the Practice has the right to remove violent patients from the list with immediate effect in order to safeguard Practice staff, patients and other persons.

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 are obliged to 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 circumstances leading to it. The PCT is then responsible for providing further medical care for such patients.

Access To Patient Information

Confidential patient data will be shared within the Practice Health Care Team and with other health care professionals to whom you are referred for care. Your data may be used by those clinical teams providing your care for the essential purpose of clinical audit.

Confidential patient data may also be required for the broader purposes of public health and audit, research, the provision of health care services, teaching and training. Data disclosed will be kept to the minimum required to serve the purpose and if possible will be anonymised before disclosure.

Confidential and identifiable patient information will not be disclosed otherwise without explicit consent, unless:

1. It is a matter of life and death or serious harm to you or to another individual
2. It is overwhelmingly in the public interest to do so
3. There is a legal obligation to do so.

In all of these circumstances the minimum identifiable information that is essential to serve the purpose may be revealed to someone with a legal entitlement to access the data for that purpose.

All individuals with access to your data have a professional and/or contractual duty of confidentiality.

If you are concerned about any of the ways in which your confidential data is used, further information is available from the Practice Director. You are entitled to register an objection, which will be respected if this is possible.

Haringey Primary Care Trust

Haringey PCT is party to the NHS contract held by this Practice. Further details of primary medical services in this area may be obtained from them at the following address:

Patient Services Manager
Barnet, Enfield & Haringey Primary Care Trust
Holbrook House, Cockfosters Road
Barnet EN4 0DR

Telephone Number: 020 8272 5500


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 or can be downloaded.


Complaints

 This Practice follows the NHS complaints procedure when dealing with complaints.
A copy of our Practice complaints procedure is available at reception and can also been seen here. You may also comment on the service direct to the Practice Director, who will follow up any concerns appropriately.