As part of the National Health Service (NHS) we operate as a GP practice providing our patients with all core NHS funded medical services as well as a range of enhanced services & medical services that are not funded by the NHS. Whether you are a registered patient with us or a member of the community, you have a right to access the NHS and should therefore understand your rights and responsibilities.
Full information can be found in the NHS Constitution for England and in You and Your General Practice.
Patients’ rights
- You have the right to receive NHS services free of charge, apart from certain limited exceptions sanctioned by Parliament.
- You have the right to receive care and treatment that is appropriate to you, meets your needs and reflects your preferences.
- You have the right not to be unlawfully discriminated against in the provision of NHS services including on grounds of gender, race, disability, age, sexual orientation, religion, belief, gender reassignment, pregnancy and maternity or marital or civil partnership status.
- You have the right to expect NHS bodies to monitor, and make efforts to improve continuously, the quality of healthcare they commission or provide. This includes improvements to the safety, effectiveness and experience of services.
- You have the right to drugs and treatments that have been recommended by NICE for use in the NHS, if your doctor says they are clinically appropriate for you.
- You have the right to receive the vaccinations that the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation recommends that you should receive under an NHS-provided national immunisation programme.
- You have the right to be treated with dignity and respect, in accordance with your human rights.
- You have the right to accept or refuse treatment that is offered to you, and not to be given any physical examination or treatment unless you have given valid consent. If you do not have the capacity to do so, consent must be obtained from a person legally able to act on your behalf, or the treatment must be in your best interests.
- You have the right to choose your GP practice, and to be accepted by that practice unless there are reasonable grounds to refuse, in which case you will be informed of those reasons.
- You have the right to have any complaint you make about NHS services acknowledged within three working days and to have it properly investigated.
Patient responsibilities
- Please recognise that you can make a significant contribution to your own, and your family’s, good health and wellbeing, and take personal responsibility for it.
- Please register with a GP practice – the main point of access to NHS care as commissioned by NHS bodies.
- Please treat NHS staff and other patients with respect and recognise that violence, or the causing of nuisance or disturbance on NHS premises, could result in prosecution. You should recognise that abusive and violent behaviour could result in you being refused access to NHS services.
- Please provide accurate information about your health, condition and status.
- Please keep appointments or cancel within reasonable time. Receiving treatment within the maximum waiting times may be compromised unless you do.
- Please follow the course of treatment which you have agreed and talk to your clinician if you find this difficult.
- Please participate in important public health programmes such as vaccination.
- Please ensure that those closest to you are aware of your wishes about organ donation.
- Please give feedback – both positive and negative – about your experiences and the treatment and care you have received, including any adverse reactions you may have had. You can often provide feedback anonymously and giving feedback will not affect adversely your care or how you are treated. If a family member or someone you are a carer for is a patient and unable to provide feedback, you are encouraged to give feedback about their experiences on their behalf. Feedback will help to improve NHS services for all.