Patient Charter

You and Your General Practice - Patient Charter

(effective 1 October 2025)

From 1 October 2025, all GP practices must publish the “You and Your General Practice” charter. It clarifies what you can expect from us and what we’ll expect from you in return.

You can read the full NHS England version here: You and Your General Practice – NHS England

Our Practice and the Patient Charter

GPs and their practice teams provide the vast majority of NHS care outside of hospitals, supporting you and your family throughout your lives. In a perfect world, we want to be able to offer every patient: 

Safety - prompt access to a GP or practice nurse you trust, with well-staffed surgeries and enough resource so that no patient feels left behind. 
Stability - a family doctor who knows you, your medical history, and your community – without the stress and difficulty of finding it difficult to get an appointment. 
Hope for the future – care that focuses on keeping you well, not just treating illness. We want more time for meaningful consultations, joined-up support closer to your home, from modern GP surgery premises with safe and effective technology to make this possible

We may unfortunately sometimes face challenges beyond our control:

• difficulties with accessing services at the local hospitals and long waiting lists
• workforce challenges
• not enough GPs to look after you
• the need to provide our teams with compulsory NHS training and education
• unforeseen events
• NHS IT challenges with old and slow equipment
• lack of investment in practice buildings and development
• public health emergencies

Our core contract hours are 8.00am – 6.30pm, Monday to Friday.
Our consulting times are between these hours. 
Please note at certain times, e.g. lunch or the ends of the day, a clinician may not be present in the building (e.g. out on home visits). 
In any emergency, please dial 999 for an ambulance or attend the nearest Accident & Emergency department.

What You Can Expect from Us

• Access by phone, in-person, via our website, or through the NHS App during core hours: 8.00am – 6.30pm, Monday to Friday.
• A response within one working day to appointment, advice or admin requests.
• We’ll assess your needs and decide on the appropriate next steps: same-day or future appointment, phone of video consultation, advice via SMS/email, or referral to pharmacy/other NHS services.
• You’ll be treated with dignity, respect and compassion.
• Your medical records will be handled securely, kept up to date, and shared (read-only) with other NHS providers via GP Connect, where permitted.
• We support reasonable adjustments (longer appointment times, interpreters, quiet spaces, accessible formats), tell us what you need.
• We maintain a zero-tolerance policy for abuse, violence or discrimination towards staff and patients.
• We welcome feedback and will act where we can. We’ll tell you how to raise concerns beyond the practice (ICB, Healthwatch, etc).

What We Ask of You

• Treat staff, other patients, and visitors with courtesy and respect.
• Attend your appointment on time and cancel in good time if you’re unable to make it.
• Use urgent appointments or home visits only when genuinely needed.
• Order repeat prescriptions in good time.
• Keep your contact details up to date.
• Follow medical advice and let us know if anything is unclear or not working.
• Help us manage demand by using digital services (online form, NHS App) when appropriate.

Registration & Rights

• You do not need ID, proof of address, or an NHS number to register with us.
• If we decline registration (for valid reasons, e.g. list closure or out-of-area), we’ll notify you in writing within 14 days and explain the reason.
• You have rights to access your health records (read-only for other providers via GP Connect).
• You can ask for help or adjustments to care if you have additional needs.

Complaints, Feedback & Escalation

• First, raise your concern with our Practice Manager or via our complaints procedure.
• If you remain unhappy, you can approach you Integrated Care Board (ICB) or your local Healthwatch.
• Links to the NHS Charter and see our formal complaints information.