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Our Practice booklet has most of the information you may require - download it here
CCTV, complaints, confidentiality, Data Protection Act, Disabled access, Home Visits, Induction loop,
investigations, Non English speaking patients, out of hours, Registration, Repeat Prescriptions,
telephone advice, telephone call recording, Travel and holidays, Visitors and Foreign Nationals,
CCTV is in operation in and around the surgery building. This is for the purpose of crime prevention and public safety and our equipment complies with the data protection act.
If you have any comments to make or wish to make a complaint, please telephone or write to the Practice manager. Further details will be taken and a decision made on how best to proceed. Please note that we have a duty of confidentiality to our patients and the patients consent will be necessary if the patient themselves does not make the complaint.
We beleive it is important to deal with complaints swiftly and we will try to address your concerns, provide you with an explanation and discuss any further action that may be needed. This system does not affect your right to complain to Lothian Primary Care NHS Trust. Their address is Lothian Health, 555 Gorgie Road, Edinburgh. Tel 0131 536 9000
We take our responsibility to patient confidentiality very seriously. All our staff including the receptionists are fully aware of this issue and would not divulge any information given to them except to the appropriate GP.Please feel at ease when speaking to the receptionists (for example if requesting a phone call or visit from the doctor) that the details you give will be dealt with in strict confidentiality. We are able to prioritise visit requests and telephone calls more effectively if the receptionists are given adequate information.Similarly we cannot and will not divulge medical information on any adult or competent adolescent to anyone other than the person who had the test. This is irrespective of whom is asking for the information and includes test results.Probably the commonest cause for complaint we receive is from parents of teenage children asking for test results. If your child is competent legally then we are bound to keep their confidence unless they specifically give us permission to discuss their results with their parent or guardian.As an exception if a patient has given informed written consent that they wish the practice to share medical information with a named individual then we are able to do this.The practice is registered under the Data Protection Act. The practice complies with the Data Protection Act in the disclosure of Patient Data to primary care and for claims verification
Your records are confidential to you but if you wish sight of them under the terms of the Act, please contact the practice manager.
There is disabled access to the surgery via a ramp from the road to the surgery door. If you have any difficulty using the main door there is a buzzer at the side door; if this is rung one of the staff will be happy to assist you.
Home visits are at the discretion of the Doctor and are normally restricted to the frail housebound elderly.
We would expect that all other patients attend the surgery for their consultations.
If you feel you require a visit please contact the surgery before 10.00 hrs. Please give the receptionist as much information as possible to allow the doctor to allocate priority to those calls that need it.
Please remember that in most cases the Duty Doctor will return your call to discuss the matter with you. Similarly several patients can be seen at the surgery in the time that it takes to do one home visit.
The surgery has an induction loop system to assist the hard of hearing both at the front desk and in the consulting rooms.
If you or a relative does not speak English or does not feel confident that they are able to come to the surgery for a consultation alone there are a number of things that you and we can do to help.
If you wish, you can bring a friend or relative who can act as an interpreter. Please speak to them in advance about what the issue is but be aware that often the doctor will have to ask questions that may be of a personal nature as part of the consultation.
If there is no one available
we or you can (with some prior notice) arrange an interpreter to be present
at the consultation. The main source we use are the Edinburgh Interpreter
Service who can be arranged through the practice.
If you wish to register at the practice please collect the forms from reception who will guide you through the process. Alternatively you may download them here:
you will require one sheet per person in your family.
As part of our registration process we always ask for proof of identity and residency in all patients. Suitable identification includes passport, recent utility bill, driving licence etc.
Please be aware that as part of a Scottish Office initiative to allow for services development we are asked to collect data on ethnic background on all our patients.
Please take careful note of the area that the practice covers. If you move out with this area then you will have to register at a practice nearer your home.
Repeat prescriptions will
be issued at the doctor’s discretion and will normally be for patients
on long term medication. In common with most practices we will usually
prescribe 56 days worth of medication (two months).
Requests for prescriptions should be made in writing to the surgery. Usually
this is by using the counterfoil from the previous prescription. This
can be handed in, posted or faxed (672 1952) to the surgery.
Please allow two working days before collection and make allowances for public holidays and weekends. We can arrange for your prescription to be delivered to any of the local chemists if you ask for this on your request.
Where possible please give
exact drug names when ordering. Please note that for safety reasons we
are unable in any circumstances to take orders for repeat prescriptions
by telephone.
Please also see our page in Repeat Prescribing here, for more information on emailing your request to us.
If you have had a blood test done or an investigation the doctors will contact you if there is an abnormality.
If the doctor has asked you to contact the surgery for the result please ring:
672 9050
Please note that this is a dedicated results line and is only manned between certain hours. It is staffed by our receptionists who obviously are unable to provide interpretation of the results beyond what the doctor has told them.
We are happy to provide telephone advice and this can often save you a trip to the surgery.
Convenient times to call are usually between 1000 and 1100hrs and 1530 to 1600 hrs
All incoming and outgoing telephone calls are recorded at the surgery for training and security purposes.
Our practice nurses can help you with the vaccinations you may require for a foreign holiday. Most of the common vaccinations are held in the surgery and the majority are free of charge although some will incur a charge. It is advisable to come as soon as possible to get these done to ensure you are covered in time.
Yellow fever and some other vaccines are not available at the surgery, it is provided from licensed sites only and the closest one to us is the travel clinic at the Western General Hospital.
The NHS does not cover the cost of any antimalarial medication and anti-malarials are not available on a NHS prescription. You may get a private prescription for them from the surgery but there is a charge applied for doing so. When requesting an anti-malarial prescription we need to know where you are going and for how long. The drugs used varies according to where in the world you are travelling and most need to be started before you leave.
Visitors and Foreign
Nationals
If you have friends or relatives
staying who become ill and need to see a doctor then we usually try to
accommodate them in the surgery. However there may be some occasions when
we are unable to oblige and suggest that you contact a different surgery
in the area for assistance.
UK Citizens are entitled to NHS care within the UK and you can be seen
anywhere as a “Temporary Resident” anywhere in the UK if you
become unwell.
Please be aware that whilst
UK citizens have the right to NHS care that right does not apply to some
Foreign Nationals. This at times can include the spouse and family of
a person with UK residency.
Overseas students are not always entitled to free NHS Care in the UK and
their entitlement depends on where they are studying and whether full
or part time. If in doubt phone or ask at reception who will be pleased
to help you.
If your visitors come from a country that does not allow them free NHS care then they may either be seen by ourselves for a private consultation for which a fee will be charged, or by one of the Private GP services in Edinburgh.
Fees for a private consultation
currently start at £50.
From 1st October 2004 the practice will no longer beopen on a Saturday morning and all of our out of hours cover will be provided by NHS 24. The number to ring is 08454 242424
If you ring when the surgery is closed you will be advised to contact NHS 24 on the same number for all out of hours care
NHS 24: 08454 24 24 24
We have a Zero tolerance policy towards aggression at the Practice. Whilst we understand the fact that a visit to the Doctors may be upsetting and stressful we will not tolerate any verbal or physical aggression to any member of the practice team. Any such behaviour will result in the person being removed from the Practice list without further warning.
