Patient Rights & Responsibilities

Users of the National Health Service have rights. The following explains what they are. They fall into three main categories.

Legislated Rights

Rights that have been written into law by means of Parliamentary Acts or Bills. (For example, UK GDPR and DPA 2018). As a patient of the NHS you have 7 rights.

• You are entitled to receive health care on the basis of clinical need, regardless of your income.
• You are entitled to be registered with a Medical practice. You are entitled to change your practice at any time. You do not have to give a reason for your decision.
• You are legally entitled to accept or refuse treatment as you see fit. This includes examinations, tests, diagnostic procedures, medication, operations, etc.
• You can refuse to be involved in research trials. If you do not agree to be involved in research trials, you can withdraw at any time.
• You are entitled to equal treatment regardless of race, gender, age or disability.
• You have a right to information on GP practices in your area and the services they provide. All practices must provide an information leaflet.
• You have a right to confidentiality. Personal information about your health is confidential and should only be disclosed to those who need that information to provide you with effective treatment, you can consent to share with other individuals outside of the NHS

Access to your Health Records.

You have a legal entitlement to see a copy of the records held about you. All records stored on computer can be accessed. If you wish to see your records you should apply in to the practice for a Subject Access Request.

Guideline Rights

• You are entitled to have reasonable access to high quality service and facilities.
• You are entitled to information on what is wrong with you and the treatment options available. Ask questions. You should be given truthful, clear answers.
• You are entitled to ask for a second opinion on your diagnosis or treatment.
• You can ask to have someone with you (friend, relative, interpreter) at any time. You may find this beneficial, particularly if you are asking questions or need moral support.

Human Rights

It is your right to be treated as a human being by another human being and as they would wish to be treated themselves, i.e. with dignity, politeness, respect and consideration. These may not necessarily be covered legally or even be contained in guidelines, but human rights will come into many of the areas mentioned above and are certainly just as important.

Consent

A doctor, nurse, or anyone else looking after your health, has to have your agreement before they can examine or treat you. This policy applies to both children and adults. Your consent will be sought before any of your information is shared with any individual not connected with your direct health care.

Patient Responsibilities

Patients, too, have certain responsibilities:

• Keeping appointments:  Please try to arrive on time. If you are unable to attend an appointment, please inform the clinic or surgery in good time. Address. If you move house, change address or telephone number, or the postcode is changed, please inform your GP practice or outpatient clinic.
• Treat all healthcare staff in a reasonable, courteous manner.
• Use emergency services in a responsible manner. Please use the out-of-hours services for emergencies only and not for routine care.
• Take care with medicines. Medicines are for one person only and should not be shared. Keep them safely away from children and in the original container. Take any unwanted medicines to a chemist for safe disposal.

General

Practice365 strives to ensure that its services are accessible to people with disabilities. Practice365 has invested a significant amount of resources to help ensure that its websites are made easier to use and more accessible for people with disabilities, with the strong belief that every person has the right to live with dignity, equality, comfort and independence.

This accessibility statement applies to websites hosted by Practice365.co.uk.

Accessibility on Practice365

We want as many people as possible to be able to use this website. For example, that means you should be able to:

• change colours, contrast levels and fonts
• zoom in up to 300% without the text spilling off the screen
• navigate most of the website using just a keyboard
• navigate most of the website using speech recognition software
• listen to most of the website using a screen reader (including the most recent versions of JAWS, NVDA and VoiceOver)

We’ve also made the website text as simple as possible to understand.

AbilityNet has advice on making your device easier to use if you have a disability.

How accessible this website is

We know some parts of this website are not fully accessible:

• most older PDF documents are not fully accessible to screen reader software

Enabling the Accessibility Menu

Disclaimer

Practice365 continues its efforts to constantly improve the accessibility of its site and services in the belief that it is our collective moral obligation to allow seamless, accessible and unhindered use also for those of us with disabilities.

Here For You

If you are experiencing difficulty with any content on Practice365 website, widget, any of its services or require assistance with any part of our site or software, please contact us during normal business hours as detailed below and we will be happy to assist.

Contacting Us

If you wish to report a problem, have any questions or need assistance, please email us at hello@iatropartners.co.uk

Enforcement procedure

The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) is responsible for enforcing the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018 (the ‘accessibility regulations’). If you’re not happy with how we respond to your complaint, contact the Equality Advisory and Support Service (EASS). If you are based in Northern Ireland, please reefer to Equalities Commission for Northern Ireland (ECNI) instead of the EASS and EHRC.

Our Commitment to Patient Care Patient-Centered

Approach

Our primary focus is on our patients. We prioritise their needs in every aspect of our practice.

Respect and Dignity

We honor each individual patient, families, carers, and staff recognising their unique aspirations and commitments. We strive to understand their priorities, needs, abilities, and limitations.

Commitment to Quality of Care

We build trust by upholding the highest standards of care, ensuring safety, effectiveness, and an exceptional patient experience in every interaction.

Compassionate Care

Compassion is at the core of our practice. We respond to each individual’s pain, distress, and anxiety with humanity and kindness.

Enhancing Lives

Our mission is to improve health and wellbeing, ensuring positive experiences within the NHS for all individuals.

Valuing Everyone

We optimise our resources to benefit the entire community, ensuring that no one is excluded, discriminated against, or left behind.

Through these principles, we are dedicated to delivering exemplary medical care and fostering a supportive environment for all.