Patient Charter

Our responsibilities:

• 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 appointment with a doctor will be offered within 24 hours
• 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 48 hours. This can be in person or by telephoning 01805-622537 between 11am and 4pm.
• All comments and suggestions about the service are welcome. Please use the box provided in the waiting area.
• If you have a complaint please speak to any member of staff. Your complaint will be dealt with in a professional and efficient manner.
• We wish to make the Castle Gardens 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 so that we can offer it to someone else.
• If you are 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 am if at all possible.
• An urgent appointment is for an urgent medical problem. Please speak to the Receptionist if you require a sick note or repeat prescription.
• 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 patient 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.

Click here for a full copy of our Patient’s Charter.