Patients’ rights to General Medical Services:
Patients have the rights to:
- be registered with a General Practitioner
- change doctor if desired
- be offered a health check on joining the practice
- receive emergency care at any time from the practice
- receive appropriate drugs and medicines
- be referred for specialist or second opinion if they and the GP agrees
- have the right to view their medical records, subject to the Acts and to know that those working for the NHS are under legal obligation to keep the contents confidential.
With these rights come responsibilities and for the patients this means:
- Courtesy to the staff at all times – remember they are working under doctors’ orders.
- Responding in a positive way to questions asked by the reception staff.
- To attend appointments on time or give the practice adequate notice that they wish to cancel. Someone else could use your appointment!
- An appointment is for one person only – where another member of the family needs to be seen or discussed, another appointment should be made and the Medical Record be made available.
- Patients should make every effort when consulting the surgery to make best use of nursing and medical time – home visits should be medically justifiable and not requested for social convenience.
- When patients are asked to give 48 hours notice for repeat prescriptions, please give us this time as it is to allow for accurate prescribing.
Out-of-hours calls (e.g. evenings; nights & weekends) should only be requested if they are felt to be truly necessary
NHS Constitution
The NHS Constitution establishes the principles and values of the NHS in England. For more information see these websites:
