Practice Standards

The following is a practice information leaflet produced jointly by North Yorkshire LOC and North Yorkshire Health Authority.

Information

Welcome to our practice. We aim to give you a high quality of service that is sensitive to your individual needs.

This leaflet tells you about some of the standards of service you can expect as well as giving information about the services themselves.

We will try and keep you well informed about our services through:

  • This practice information leaflet.
  • Signs and posters in our premises.
  • A clearly visible notice giving details of the services provided, opening hours and professional staff.

In addition, we hold stocks of health promotion and other educational material, information about help with payment and information about methods of redress in case of a complaint.

Waiting time

We will make every effort to see you within 15 minutes of your appointment time.

Please remember delays can happen, e.g. because of emergencies. If you have to wait longer than 10 minutes, we will normally tell you the reason for this. If we do not, please ask the receptionist for an explanation.

Appointments are usually available within 2 weeks of your request.

Services provided

We aim to provide care in an environment which is clean, comfortable and sensitive to your needs. We provide the following services:

  • Eye examinations and specticles.
  • Spectacles made up to your own or hospital prescription.
  • Contact lenses - Soft or Gas permeable.
  • Spectacle adjustments and minor repairs.

Arrangements in our practice assure confidentiality of all records relating to patient care. Our professional staff participate in a regular programme of continuing education to keep abreast of latest developments.

Your rights in general ophthalmic services

The following is taken from the revised and expanded patient's charter document published in January 1995.

An optometrist examines eyes and prescribes spectacles and contact lenses. Spectacles and contact lenses are not supplied through the NHS but some people can get help with their costs.

  • You can expect to receive advice on whether you can get an NHS eye examination and about vouchers towards the cost of spectacles or contact lenses. You can expect a thorough eye examination which should include checks for any disease or abnormality as well as checking your site.
  • You can expect your optometrist to inform you and refer you or notify your GP is he/she finds any indication that medical treatment or further investigation is necessary.
  • Immediately after your eye examination, you have the right to receive a signed written prescription which you can use to get spectacles or contact lenses. You have the right to take this prescription to any practitioner of your choice. If you do not need a prescription, you have the right to a written statement telling you this.

If you are fitted with contact lenses, you can expect:

  • To be given all the necessary information and instruction about their cost, use and maintenance.
  • To receive the necessary aftercare and adjustment of fitting for a period of at least six months after you receive them, and advice on how often you should be seen afterwards.

Help us to help you

Please keep your appointments and try to arrive on time. If you cannot, please let us know in good time so that another patient who needs an appointment can be given one.

Please listen to and follow our advice. If you are unsure about anything, please do not hesitate to ask.

Please let us know if you change your name and address.

Complaints, suggestions and comments

It is our aim to give you the best possible service - after all, we would like you to come back next time! If there is any aspect of our service with which you are not happy, or if you feel we are not meeting the standards set down in this leaflet please let us know.

We welcome any comments or suggestions you have that will help us to improve our services.

We hope that most problems can be sorted out quickly and easily, often at the time they arise and with the person concerned. The first step is to talk to the practitioner who examined your eyes. If your problem cannot be resolved in this way we would like you to let us know as soon as possible, and ideally within a few days or at the most a few weeks. This will help us to establish what has happened more easily.

We must have details of the problem; within 6 months of the incident causing the problem, or within 6 months of discovering that you have a problem provided this is within 12 months of the incident.

Any problem or complaint should be addressed to the complaints administrator or if you prefer, you may ask for an appointment to discuss your concerns. Your complaint will be acknowledged, if possible, within two working days and we will look into it within 10 working days.

When we look at your problem or complaint, we aim to:

  1. Find out what happened and what went wrong.
  2. Make it possible for you to discuss the problem with those concerned.
  3. Make sure you received an apology where this is appropriate.
  4. Do what we can to make sure the problem does not happen again.

If you wish to bring to our attention a problem on behalf of somone else, we will need to know that you have their permission to do so. A Note signed by the person concerned will be needed unless they are incapable (because of metal/physical illness) of providing this.

These procedures should enable you to resolve any problems or concerns you may have. However, if you feel that you cannot discuss your complaint with us, or if you are dissatisfied with our investigation and wish to pursue it further, you should contact the Primary Care Trust in your local area (about problems concerned with the NHS) or the Optical Consumer Complaints Service (about non NHS related problems).

All of the organisations mentioned in this page can be contacted via the contacts page.