Working in Partnership with Your Doctor
"The evidence suggests that the vast majority of patients have an excellent and trusting relationship with their doctors. With respect and understanding on both sides, you should be able to develop such a relationship."
From "What to expect from your doctor: a guide for patients"
Patients receive the best care when they work in partnership with their doctor or other healthcare professional. The General Medical Council has published What to expect from your doctor: a guide for patients explaining how you can help to create a partnership with your doctor. Following the guide should help you get the most out of your time with your doctor. We also have a briefer list of key points about how to get the best from your visit to the doctor.
Medicines and You
"Make sure you tell doctors about any suspected side effects from medicines you have taken, or if there is anything else you are concerned about."
From "What to expect from your doctor: a guide for patients"
We also encourage patients to work with their healthcare professional to decide whether a medicine is needed. The short video below from Healthcare Scotland gives you an overview of the key points from their accompanying Medicines in Scotland: What's the right treatment for me? and aims to help you understand more about your treatment options and how you can work with your doctor (or other healthcare professional) to ensure you gain the greatest benefit from your treatment. For example:
- your choices
- the best treatment for you, including whether you should start a medicine in the first place
- what questions to ask your healthcare professional about your medicines
Your Feedback
We would like to encourage patients to provide feedback to the practice. We want to hear about your positive experiences and comments so we can feed them back to staff what we do well while also learning from any problems you may have too.
