At Riverside Health Centre, we are committed to providing high-quality healthcare in a safe, respectful, and welcoming environment for all patients, visitors, and staff.
Your Rights as a Patient
As a patient, you have the right to:
- Receive care that is respectful, professional, and non-discriminatory.
- Be treated with dignity, courtesy, and respect at all times.
- Have your privacy and confidentiality protected.
- Be involved in decisions about your care and treatment.
- Receive information about your health, treatment options, and available services.
- Access your medical records in line with current legislation and NHS guidance.
- Raise concerns or make a complaint without fear that it will affect your care.
Your Responsibilities as a Patient
To help us provide the best possible service, we ask patients to:
- Treat practice staff, clinicians, other patients, and visitors with respect and courtesy.
- Provide accurate and up-to-date information about their health and personal details.
- Follow agreed treatment plans and seek clarification if they do not understand advice given.
- Arrive on time for appointments.
- Inform the practice as soon as possible if they need to cancel or rearrange an appointment.
- Use healthcare services responsibly and appropriately.
Keeping Appointments
Missed appointments waste valuable clinical time and can prevent other patients from accessing care.
We ask all patients to:
- Attend appointments as scheduled.
- Cancel unwanted appointments as early as possible.
- Rearrange appointments promptly if they are unable to attend.
Where patients repeatedly fail to attend appointments without notifying the practice, the practice may contact them to discuss the issue and take appropriate action in line with NHS guidance and local practice policies.
Zero Tolerance Policy
The practice operates a Zero Tolerance Policy towards violence, aggression, abuse, harassment, or threatening behaviour.
This includes, but is not limited to:
- Physical violence or threats of violence.
- Verbal abuse, shouting, intimidation, or offensive language.
- Harassment, discrimination, or bullying.
- Abusive behaviour towards staff, patients, visitors, contractors, or any person providing services under the NHS contract.
- Damage to practice property.
Any patient or individual who is violent, abusive, threatening, or behaves in a manner that causes staff or others to feel unsafe may be asked to leave the premises. Serious incidents may be reported to the police, and the practice may take further action, including removal from the practice list where permitted under NHS regulations.
We are committed to maintaining a safe environment where staff and patients are treated with dignity and respect.
Thank you for helping us provide a safe, efficient, and respectful healthcare service for everyone.