- You will be treated with courtesy and respect by all practice personnel.
- An urgent appointment with a doctor or nurse practitioner will be available on the same day.
- A non-urgent appointments with a doctor will be offered within 48 hours or you can speak to the Triage doctor.
- Our standard is to see 80% of patients within 20 minutes of their appointment time. If you have waited longer than this please ask the Receptionist for an explanation.
- We aim to answer the telephone within six rings.
- An appointment with a Practice Nurse will be available within three working days.
- Requests for repeat prescriptions will be dealt with within two working days.
- All comments and suggestions about the service are welcome.
- If you have a complaint please use our form. Your complaint will be dealt with in a professional and efficient manner.
- We wish to make the The Underwood Surgery as accessible as possible. If you have hearing, visual or physical difficulties please let the receptionist know so that we can enable you to fully use our services.
Patients responsibilities
- If you are unable to attend for an appointment please let us know or cancel the appointment so that we can offer it to someone else.
- If you are more than 10 minutes late for your appointment you may be asked to rebook at another time. Try to let us know in advance if you are going to be unavoidably delayed, so that we can make alternative arrangements to help you.
- A home visit should only be requested for those who are unable to come to the surgery because of serious illness or infirmity. Please ring the surgery before 10:00 if at all possible.
- An urgent appointment is for an urgent medical problem.
- We would ask you to be patient if the Doctor is running late. This is often due to unforeseeable emergencies but please ask for an explanation from the Receptionist.
- Make a separate appointment for each significant problem that needs to be seen. This allows the Doctor enough time to treat each patient with the time that they deserve.
- Please act in a responsible and courteous manner whilst on the Practice premises for the safety and comfort of others.
- Please treat all surgery staff, fellow patients, carers and visitors politely and with respect. Violence or verbal harassment will not be tolerated or accepted, you may be asked to register at another surgery if this behaviour occurs.
Patient’s rights to general medical services
- To be offered a health check on joining a doctor’s list for the first time.
- To have appropriate drugs and medicine prescribed.
- To be referred to a Consultant acceptable to them when they and their GP thinks it is necessary, and to be referred for a second opinion if they and their GP think it is advisable.
- To have access to their health records, subject to any limitations of the law, and to know that those working for the NHS are under a legal duty to keep those records confidential.
- To choose whether to take part in research or medical student training.
- To receive a copy of their doctors practice leaflet, setting out the services that he or she provides.
- To receive a full and prompt reply to any complaints they make about the care they receive at the The Underwood Surgery.
The Underwood Surgery philosophy
Our aims are to offer the highest standard of health care and advice to our patients, with the resources available to us. We have a team approach to patient care and endeavour to monitor the service provided to patients, to ensure that it meets current standards of excellence. We are dedicated to ensuring that Practice staff and Doctors are trained to the highest level and to provide a stimulating and rewarding environment in which to work.