Sickness certificates

According to guidelines issued by the Department of Social Security, for sick pay purposes, a doctors’ certificate is not needed for the first 7 days of any period of sick leave. For sickness of less than 7 days, you should self-certify using form SC1, which you should obtain from your employer. If your employer requires a sick certificate for any period of less than 7 days, they may write to the practice and ask for a private certificate. If they have your consent then a certificate may be issued. The fee to the employer for this is currently £13.00.

Please note that as of 6th April 2010 sick notes are now known as Fit Notes.

Changes to services or the way we work

When changes are introduced to our methods of working or services that affect patients, we will explain these changes clearly in our practice leaflet, on posters on the waiting room notice board or in separate leaflets.

Interpreting services

If English is not your first language and you need an interpreter to accompany you to your consultation please ring Sussex Interpreting Services (SIS) on 702005. Alternatively contact the surgery and a receptionist will be able to do this on your behalf.

A British sign language interpreting service is also available from Neal communications Agency Ltd. Please ask at reception.

Both interpreting services are provided free for all patients.

Discrimination

The investigations or treatments that our doctors and nurses provide will be based on their clinical judgement of our patients' needs and the likely effectiveness of the treatment. The views of the doctor or nurse about our patients' lifestyle, culture, belief, race, colour, gender, sexuality, disability, age or social or economic status will not influence the treatment they provide or arrange.

Confidentiality

We ask for information about yourself so that you can receive the best possible care and treatment. We keep this information, together with details of your care, to ensure that your doctor or nurse has accurate and up to date information about you. This information may also be needed if we see you again. Confidential patient data will be shared within the practice heath care team and with other health care professionals to whom you are referred for care. Confidential patient data may also be required for the broader purposes of public health and audit, research, the provision of health care services, teaching and training. We only use or pass information about you to people who have a genuine need for it and whenever we can we shall remove details that identify you as an individual.

Confidential and identifiable patient information will not be disclosed otherwise without explicit consent, unless;

1. it is a matter of life and death or serious harm to you or to another individual
2. it is overwhelmingly in the public interest to do so
3. there is a legal obligation to do so

In all of these circumstances the minimum identifiable information that is essential to serve the purpose may be revealed to someone with a legal entitlement to access the data for that purpose.

All individuals with access to your data have a professional and/or contractual duty of confidentiality. If you are concerned about any of the ways in which your confidential data is used please ask to speak to Dee French, our practice manager.

If you would like to speak to a member of staff in confidence, please do ask.

Patient rights and responsibilities

You have a right to expect a high standard of medical care from our practice and we will try at all times to provide the very best care possible within the resources available.

In order to assist us in this we require that you take full responsibility for ensuring that you do not abuse the service. For example, it is your responsibility to ensure that you keep appointments and follow the medical advice given. If you are going to be late for your appointment please telephone us if you can. We will try to get you seen but this may not always be possible.

Very occasionally a practice/patient relationship breaks down completely. In this situation the patient may choose to register with a different practice. The practice also has the right to remove that patient from their list. This would generally only follow a warning that had failed to remedy the situation and we would normally give the patient a specific reason for the removal.

Violent patients - Zero tolerance

The NHS operates a Zero Tolerance Policy with regard to violence and abuse and the practice has the right to remove violent patients from the list with immediate effect in order to safeguard practice staff, patients and other persons.

Violence in this context includes actual or threatened physical violence or verbal abuse which leads to fear for a person’s safety.

In this situation we are obliged to notify the patient in writing of their removal from the list and record in the patient's medical records the fact of the removal and circumstances leading to it. The PCT is then responsible for providing further medical care for such patients.

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