Doctors - Introduction

Services

Information has been prepared in accordance with Section 4 of the National Health Service (General Medical Services) (Scotland) Regulations 1995.

All the doctors listed on CareData provide general medical services and the information includes details of the services provided by the practice.

Doctors may also provide the following:

Maternity Medical Services and Contraceptive Services

A woman seeking maternity medical services or contraceptive services may arrange to see any doctor who is willing to provide these services - this need not necessarily be the doctor with whom she is normally registered.

Child Health Surveillance and Minor Surgery Services

Child health surveillance involves regular checks on the health, well-being and general development of children under five years of age. As part of this monitoring children are examined regularly by their doctor to ensure that development is taking place normally.

Minor surgery includes services such as injections, removal of cysts, warts or other lesions, and other minor procedures. Doctors may only provide these services if they have been accepted by NHS Grampian as having the appropriate qualifications, training and experience.

Health Promotion Services

All general practices offer advice on health improvement - often this will be part of routine appointments as health promotion is involved in the treatment of most illnesses. Some practices offer special sessions for health promotion, often run by nurses. These sessions will usually be by appointment and may be aimed at certain groups of patients. They may involve health checks and general advice on good health, or may be specially for patients who already have an illness and who could benefit from help, such as different types of exercise or a change in diet.

Registration

Everyone has a right to be on a doctor's list. To register with a doctor you should go along to a surgery in the local area and ask to be registered with the practice. You may be invited to meet with a doctor before they will register you. If a doctor will not accept you for registration, you may contact the Practitioner Services Division (Aberdeen) and ask to be assigned to a doctor.

If you need to be assigned to a doctor, please write to:

The Operations Manager
Practitioner Services Division Medical (Aberdeen)
Bridge View
1 North Esplanade West
Aberdeen
AB11 5QF

Your address is an important factor in choosing a doctor - each practice covers a particular area and it may be that the preferred practice does not cover the area where you live. You can obtain information from Practitioner Services Division (Aberdeen) or NHS Grampian about practices which provide services in your area.

Once registered you will receive a medical card from the Practitioner Services Division (Aberdeen) which should be kept in a safe place for reference. If you are an adult you will normally be offered a health check within 28 days of joining a doctor's list.

If you change your address and want to transfer to another doctor, you can do so. You can also change your doctor for any other reason - you do not have to say what your reason is and you do not need to tell your doctor that you intend to change. If you do wish to change, you should go to the practice you have chosen and ask to register. You will be asked for your medical card and if you do not have it you will have to fill in a form for registration purpose.

Temporary Residents

If you are staying temporarily in an area and you are not registered with a local doctor, you may apply to any doctor to be accepted for treatment. You will qualify for treatment as a temporary resident if you are staying in the area for more than 24-hours, but less than three months. If you are registered as a temporary resident while away from home you are entitled to the same services you would receive if you were a permanent resident in that area - registration with your doctor at home is not affected.

If you are staying in an area for less than 24 hours and you need emergency medical treatment, you may go to any doctor for treatment.

Appointments / Services

Most doctors in the North East of Scotland have an appointment system and you can make an appointment by phone or by calling at the surgery. Usually you can choose to make an appointment with any doctor within the practice.

In certain circumstances you may want a home visit from your doctor. The doctor is responsible for deciding whether or not a home visit is necessary, so it is important to make sure that you give the doctor or the receptionist as much information as you can about the problem.

If they think it is necessary, a doctor can refer you to hospital or other specialist services for tests or treatment.

How you can help

If you have an appointment please arrive on time, if you are late this can cause delays for other patients who are due to be seen after you. It is also important to let the practice know if you cannot attend as your appointment can be re-allocated to someone else who may need to see the doctor urgently.

Normally you will be expected to visit the surgery to consult your doctor and requests for home visits should only be made when you are too ill to get to the surgery.

Out of hours services are for emergencies only and should not be used for routine care which can be dealt with during normal working hours. Out of hours services are provided by Grampian Medical Emergency Division (GMED). When telephoning for a visit out of hours you may be asked to attend a Primary Care Centre rather than be seen at home. This covers all Grampian practices except Braemar Clinic who undertake their own out of hours services.

Trainees / Students

Some practices may have a General Practitioner Registrar working for them. A registrar is a qualified medical practitioner who is fully registered with the General Medical Council and is spending some time doing post graduate training in a general practice setting. Registrars will carry out consultations and they may also be involved in special procedures, including minor surgery, if they have approval from NHS Grampian to do so.

Practices may also have other students working there form time to time such as student nurses and undergraduate medical students. You will be given a full explanation if your doctor or nurse would like a student to be present when they see you and on each occasion you will be able to refuse if you wish to do so.

Complaints

Many complaints arise from misunderstandings and if you have a problem or if you are unhappy with something that has happened, it is often best to talk to someone close to the cause of your complaint, such as your doctor or the practice manager, who will try to sort it out.

If you would prefer to talk to someone who is not directly involved in your care, you may wish to contact the appropriate complaints officer. All GP practices operate in house complaints procedures and have a complaints officer or someone designated to receive complaints.

Alternatively, you may wish to contact the Complaints Manager at NHS Grampian, as undernoted, who can act as an intermediary and can facilitate the complaints procedure. NHS Grampian can also arrange for a lay conciliator to assist in resolving your complaint.

It is important that you make your complaint as early as possible. Normally a complaint about NHS services will only be investigated if it is made:

• within 6 months of the incident causing the problem or
• made within 6 months of discovering the problem, provided that is within 12 months of the incident

These time limits can be waived if there is a good reason why you could not complain earlier.

The initial stage in the complaints procedure is called Local Resolution. Normally a complaint will be acknowledged within 3 days of receipt by the practice and an explanation provided within 10 working days. If you are not satisfied with the outcome of Local Resolution you can request an Independent Review by contacting the Office of the Independent Lay Convenor explaining in writing why you are dissatisfied with Local Resolution, or how your complaint has been handled.

Office of the Independent Lay Convenor
Summerfield House
2 Eday Road
Aberdeen
AB15 6RE

Any request for Independent Review should be made within 28 calendar days of the letter from the practice advising you of the outcome of Local Resolution.

If you would like more information or advice on the complaints procedure, please contact:

NHS Grampian
Feedback Service
Summerfield House
2 Eday Road
Aberdeen
AB15 6LS
Tel: 01224 556688

NHS services are provided by NHS Grampian.
Enquiries should be directed to:

Primary Care Contracts Team
NHS Grampian
Westholme
Woodend Hospital
Queens Road
Aberdeen
AB15 6LS
Tel: 01224 556307

More Information

Area Covered: Aberdeen / Aberdeenshire / Moray

Related Information

Categories on Grampian CareData

Health and Well-being - Doctors

Records on Grampian CareData

G-MED (Grampian Medical Emergency Department)