Wakefield District General Practice

Riverside Medical Centre

Patient Access

Policy

Version Control

1.     Aim

This document sets out how Riverside Medical Centre ensures that all patients are able to access timely and appropriate clinical care.

2.     Objectives

• Patients are able to access information, care or treatment by a GP or appropriate member of the practice team in line with their clinical needs.
• The ability of patients to access the above does not vary on account of characteristics such as age, disability, gender, race, religion or belief, sexual orientation, geography or socio- economic status.
• Clinicians and staff are able to manage available resources to meet demand effectively so that the best possible levels of service and access are maintained at all times.
• Patients and carers are aware of how to get the best from the practice and are involved in monitoring and developing the systems and procedures to ensure that their needs are met.

3.     Rights and responsibilities for the patient

3.1   Patients’ Rights

As a patient you have the right to:

• join the practice of your choice in the area where you live following acceptance by the practice;
• easily accessible information about your practice and how to access care via the practice leaflet and website.
• appropriate urgent care as per Section 5 Access Targets.
• clear information about your treatment in a suitable format and language so that you and the clinician may make an informed decision about the best course of action.
• privacy and confidentiality.
• be treated with dignity and respect at all times (including access to a chaperone if required).
• comment or complain if you are not satisfied with the service provided.
• be registered in accordance with NHS England’s ‘Patient Registration’ standard operating procedure.
• Be registered or receive treatment without delay without photo ID or proof of address, unless the practice has reasonable grounds to decline.

3.2   Patients’ Responsibilities

As a patient it is your responsibility to:

• treat all practice staff with respect.
• ensure you attend any appointment made at the surgery and arrive on time.
• cancel an unwanted appointment as soon as possible so it can be offered to someone else.
• inform the practice if you change your address or telephone number so the practice can contact you urgently if needed.
• inform the practice if you have any special needs, including communication needs, so the practice can make any necessary arrangements.
• let a member of the practice staff know if you are unsure about or dissatisfied with your care so that it can be explained or put right.
• do your best to look after your own health.
• use the services of the practice appropriately.

4.    Surgery opening hours and appointment times

Dr Nayyar & Partners operate from the following surgery premises:

Riverside Medical Centre, Savile Road, Castleford WF10 1PH, Telephone number 01977 554831 and our opening hours are Monday to Friday. Patients should contact NHS 111 when the surgery is closed.

The Surgery is open with reception staffing 8am to 6.30pm every working day.

All sites are closed for staff training for a maximum of ten Wednesday afternoons (from 12 noon) each year.  Details are displayed clearly on the practice website and each practice site at least four weeks in advance together with instructions on what to do if you need helps when the surgery is closed.

The practice provides first consultation availability from 8am.  We will direct patients to GP Care Wakefield for late evening appointments where appropriate.

GP CARE WAKEFIELD is an extended out of hours service owned by all Wakefield GP Practices to cover the entire population of the Wakefield district. 

It operates from 6 – 10 pm Monday to Friday, and 9 – 3pm Saturday’s, Sunday’s and Bank Holiday’s.   Telephones will be automatically diverted during operating hours.  Outside of these times please telephone 111 or ring back during normal surgery hours if your need is not urgent.

Following triage of your problem, if deemed appropriate the service will offer you a GP appointment at a local site.

There needs to be shared consent in place for the service to be able to provide safe care therefore please ensure you give explicit record sharing consent when accepting an appointment with the service.  Patients who prefer not to give shared consent cannot access this service.

The service is not available for routine matters such as repeat prescriptions. 

From October 2022 the following services will be available at GP Care for Wakefield & District practices to access via remote booking:

1. Routine face-to-face GP appointments available at Elizabeth Court Surgery every Saturday which are bookable up to 2 weeks in advance. These are available for problems that are not urgent and does not need continuity of care.
2. Same-Day appointments

Offering access to same-day appointments available to book from 1pm Monday to Friday, patients will be contacted by the GP Care Wakefield Care Navigation Team from 4pm.

3. Practice Nurse and HCA appointments

Offering a wide range of practice nurse services and Long-Term Condition (LTC) Check Clinics

Patients can be seen for routine annual review of Heart Disease, Diabetes, COPD, Asthma & Stroke but only if you are well controlled and your condition is stable.  Other routine nurse care includes:

• Blood tests 
• Routine ECG (not chest pain)
• Spirometry
• Review of contraception pill
• Repeat depo injection
• Smears
• B12 injection
• Removal of sutures and clips

For more information, please ask at reception.

The practice provides standard appointment length of 10 minutes, but longer appointments are available on request for patients who need more time.

5.    Access standards

5.1    Routine consultation standard

All patients will be offered a telephone, online or face-to-face consultation with a doctor or other suitable practitioner (such as a senior nurse) within two working days of contacting the practice, unless the call is triaged to be safe for a longer time frame or the patient may choose to wait longer if they want a more convenient appointment or to see their preferred practitioner. 

5.2    Urgent clinical assessment standard

All patients who believe that they have an urgent medical problem which needs to be dealt with the same day (and cannot be offered an appointment that day) will be contacted by a doctor or another suitable practitioner from the practice within four hours, provided they clearly identify themselves to the receptionist and supply a contact telephone number and where possible a brief indication of the problem.  The patient must inform the receptionist if he/she believes the problem requires attention more quickly.

5.3    Repeat prescriptions standard

The practice will generate and sign all repeat prescriptions within two working days of receiving a request to do so, except where;

• the practice has tried and failed to contact the patient where this is needed before the prescription can be issued safely,
• or where a medication review is pending and must be undertaken before the prescription can be issued safely. The request for a medication review will be highlighted on the patient’s most recent prescription.

The practice aims to generate and sign repeat prescriptions within 24 hours of request but because of the need to ensure patient safety patients should allow two working days.  The practice will do its best to provide prescriptions in urgent circumstances but will not compromise patient safety to do so.

Repeat prescriptions (those medications which the GP has authorised to be available to order without the need to be assessed each time) can be ordered by ticking the items required on the counterfoil and handing this into reception, by using the Practices SystmOnline service, by email and also by the Pharmacy prescription services.

Items which have not been authorised to go onto the Repeat Medication List will need to be authorised individually by a clinician and may take longer to process due to the checks involved. 

6.    If you miss your appointment or are late

There would be much shorter waits for appointments if every unwanted appointment was cancelled and so available for another patient to use.  It is frustrating for doctors and nurses to be under pressure to provide better access when up to 1 in 10 appointments are wasted by people who simply do not turn up.

If you miss an appointment, the Practice will write to you and inform you of this, if it is a mistake, you should let us know so we can rectify this in the medical records. If you fail to attend three times in a 12 month period, you will be asked to register elsewhere.

If you attend the surgery late for your appointment it may be difficult to fit you in without making other patients wait longer.  Please try to attend just before your appointment slot but not too early.  If the surgery is running late you will be informed by reception so that you have the option of re-booking.

If you are likely to be late for your appointment, you will be offered the option to re-book at a later date, or we will inform the GP who will then decide if it is possible for the patient to be seen.

We will endeavour to keep you informed if the clinicians are running behind schedule

7.   Seeing the doctor or nurse you prefer

For some problems you may not mind which doctor or nurse you see but there may be times when you may have a firm preference or it is best for you to see a particular practitioner.  We will endeavour to provide you with a choice of GP.

If you wish to book an appointment with a specific clinician, you may have to wait longer

8.   Improving access for patients

The practice is always pleased to receive comments and suggestions about its services including how easy it is to access them.  Please contact the Practice Manager if you have comments or suggestions to make addressing your concerns or comments to Mrs E Wilson

Patients are encouraged to join our Patient Representative Group and the practice keeps the group up to date with the audits it carries out every six months to monitor access. 

Mrs Joyce Swindlehurst is the Patient Participation Group Chair and you can leave your details with the Practice to forward on.

The practice has joined the Safe Surgeries Scheme. All reception staff have received training in assisting vulnerable people to get the best from the practice. There is access to resources specifically for the Safe Surgeries Scheme via the Practice website.

The Practice is an accredited Dementia Friendly and signed up to the Dementia Action Awareness scheme.

The Practice has access to Interpretation services for those patients whose first language is not English, access to sign language services and translation services for documents.

The Practice uses an Online Consultation Tool which provides access to a clinician online.  Patients complete the online consultation forms which are reviewed by a GP within 2 working days.  The patient will then be contacted by the Practice to arrange any requested actions such as appointments, referrals, prescriptions, etc..