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| REGISTERING WITH
THE PRACTICE |
| If you are not currently a patient at this Practice
and you wish to register, all you have to do is call in at the surgery.
Our receptionists will take all the details necessary to register
you as a patient, and will ask you to complete a short questionnaire.
You may also be invited to attend for a check-up with one of our practice
nurses. |
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| PRACTICE AREA |
| We are pleased to accept patients who live up to a
distance of about 7 miles from Devizes. This includes the villages
of Potterne, Worton, Poulshot, Bromham, Bishops Cannings, Coate, All
Cannings, Seend, Bulkington and the Lavingtons. |
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| PRACTICE PREMISES |
| There are car-parking facilities behind the surgery.
Space is limited, so we ask you to use the parking facility for the
duration of your visit to the surgery only. There is a cloakroom on
the first floor with baby changing facilities. In addition there is
one cloakroom on the ground floor designed for disabled patient access
and doors into the building are wide enough for wheelchairs. There is a hearing loop system available on request. Please
ring the bell for assistance and a member of the reception team will
be pleased to help. Prams/pushchairs may be left in the entrance lobby.
A small number of toys are available in both waiting rooms and our
contract cleaners work hard to keep our premises clean, tidy and welcoming.
We take all reasonable care to ensure the safety of staff and visitors.
Please help us by ensuring that children play safely under supervision
and that toys are put away to prevent accidents. |
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| HOW TO SEE YOUR
DOCTOR |
| You will be registered with a particular doctor and
we like you to see your own doctor unless he or she is away. Consultations
are by appointment and are usually for less than 10 minutes. If there
are no free appointments and you need to see a doctor urgently, please
explain this to the receptionist who will seek advice from the doctor,
or our Primary Assessment Nurse.Please help us to continue to provide
routine appointments within 3 working days by planning ahead for routine
appointments so that you can see your own doctor, as he or she may
not be available at a convenient time to suit you in less than 3 working
days (particularly if he or she is part-time), and let us know if
you are unable to attend so we can give the appointment to another
patient. Each routine appointment is for no more than 10 minutes.
If there are several things you wish to discuss then it is often better
to request a double appointment so each issue can be dealt with properly.Please
consider carefully the need for an urgent appointment. All patients
who request an urgent appointment are first assessed by a member of
the practice nurse team, who is skilled in "triage". We
make allowance each day for 5- minute "urgent extras" and
the duty doctor will only have time to deal with your immediate problem.
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| HOME VISITS |
| If you are too ill to attend the surgery and need a
home visit, always try to telephone before 10.00 am on 0844 477 8657
so that we can plan our house calls. If you are in doubt as to whether
a visit is necessary you are welcome to telephone for advice. If the
doctor, or triage nurse are busy you will be asked to leave a contact
number and your call will be returned. We will always try to give
an indication of when the doctor will call if you need a home visit.
Please help us by requesting the service only when it is absolutely
necessary. Seeing people in the surgery enables your doctor to use
time more effectively. It is usually far easier to deal with medical
problems in the surgery with equipment and other medical staff near
at hand. |
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| WHAT TO DO WHEN
THE SURGERY IS CLOSED |
| Out of hours medical attention is provided by Wiltshire Medical Services. If you should
need this emergency service, please telephone 0844 477 8657 and your
call will be either be redirected or you will be given another number
to ring, so have pen and paper ready. |
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| SURGERY TELEPHONES
& ENQUIRIES |
| The surgery has one telephone number for appointments
and enquiries/visit requests/lab results (0844 477 8657)
to help you to reach us as soon as possible. We endeavour to answer
telephone calls within 6 rings whenever possible. Some problems can
be sorted out more quickly by speaking to your doctor on the telephone
rather than by surgery consultation. If your doctor is busy when you
call, you will be asked for a contact number so that he or she may
contact you as soon as convenient. The appointment line is open from 0830 - 1230 and 1400 - 1700 Monday to Friday. Please help us
by phoning after 2.00 pm for non-urgent business as lines are less
busy then, but remember that staff are also dealing with counter enquiries
at the same time. |
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| HOW TO OBTAIN TEST
RESULTS |
| Your doctor may feel it necessary to order tests on
your behalf. Usually the doctor ordering the tests, whether your own
GP or another doctor or consultant, will let you know how you will
be informed of the result. If you are asked to telephone for your
result, please do so between 2.30pm-4.30pm Tuesday to Friday. Results
do not arrive at the practice until lunchtime each day and your doctor
will need time to look at his post or e-mail. |
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| PATIENT SUPPORT |
| The Friends of Southbroom Surgery (FOSS) provides a
forum for an exchange of ideas as well as fund-raising activities,
to benefit all the patients of the practice. Meetings are held regularly
and all patients become members on registering with the practice.
If you ever have concerns about the service we provide or feel we
are not meeting the standards we have set ourselves, please let us
know either by filling in one of the "grumble/good idea slips"
or having a word with our Practice Administrator or Managing Partner, or your own doctor. A patient information
leaflet is available at Reception. If you prefer, talk to a member
of the FOSS, contact number available at Reception. Patients may occasionally
be asked to take part in surveys of various kinds, including information
relating to their experience of hospital treatments. If you are asked
to take part by completing a questionnaire, please remember that the
important information you supply will help us to improve your health
service. |
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| CONFIDENTIALITY
& RESPECT |
| We respect at all times your rights as an individual
to confidentiality and to treat you with sympathy and understanding.
Please help us by understanding that reception staff need a certain
amount of information in order to help you. They are bound by the
same rules of confidentiality as doctors and nurses. Confidentiality
starts here. |
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| BEST PRACTICE |
| Do you have a chronic disease? Asthma, Diabetes, Epilepsy
or Coronary Heart Disease for example? This practice follows government
best practice guidelines for the care of its chronic disease patients.
We expect you to attend at least one annual review as your medication
must be closely monitored to ensure that you get the greatest benefit
from it. If you forget to make an appointment after you have been
reminded to attend for your annual review, we will only issue prescriptions
for short periods of time, so we can remind you to do so at each prescription
request. Help us to help you by making sure you come to the clinic
when you are invited and we will do our best to offer you a convenient
appointment time. |
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| KEEPING US INFORMED |
Please let us know as soon as possible if you change
your name, address or telephone number. If you are attending the
hospital or waiting for an operation, you will also need to inform
the hospital if you change any of these details.
We aim to provide the highest quality of professional
care to all who need our services
What you can expect from us.
- Routine appointments within 3 working days
- Urgent appointments the same day
- Emergencies seen immediately
- We will answer the telephone within 6 rings whenever possible
- To wait no more than 30 minutes to see a GP or nurse and to
be informed if there are any delays
- Repeat prescriptions ready within 2 working days at the collection
point of your choice
- Access to a range of services
- A home visit if you are too ill to come to the surgery
- Clean, tidy and welcoming premises
- To respect your rights to courtesy, confidentiality, sympathy
and understanding
- To deal with complaints quickly
We need your help to maintain these standards
What we expect in return
- Planning ahead for routine appointments.
- Letting us know if you are unable to attend.
- Asking for a home visit only if you are immobile or too ill
to attend the surgery.
- Planning ahead when requesting repeat prescriptions and travel
vaccinations.
- Phoning after 11.00am and 4.00pm for non-urgent business.
- Being aware that staff are also dealing with counter enquiries
as well as telephone calls.
- Understanding that staff need a certain amount of information
to make sure you get the most appropriate help.
- Leaving waiting rooms as you would like to find them.
- Making sure children play safely.
- Treating us with courtesy in return.
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| How to See your Health Records |
| click to download the PDF |
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