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Patient Information

Personal Information

Please help us to keep our records up to date by informing us of any change in your telephone number, name, address, or PHN number. This will help us to process our records efficiently and to contact you promptly with any abnormal test results or send out referrals on your behalf.

Zero Tolerance Policy

Our clinic has a zero tolerance policy regarding any abuse or aggression towards our staff. Our staff are trained to help patients and we make every effort to make your visit pleasant and comfortable. Neither the doctor nor management will tolerate any rude or aggressive behavior. Individuals violating our policy will be immediately denied service, asked to leave the clinic and depending on the circumstances could be banned.

Privacy and Confidentiality

Your privacy and the confidentiality of your medical information is important to us and is respected. All of our staff have signed confidentiality agreements and we are dedicated to ensuring patient privacy and confidentiality.

E-Mail

Due to the insecure nature of e-mail communication, we DO NOT currently use email as a means of communication with the public or patients regarding questions or issues of a medical nature, to establish physician/patient relationship; to book or cancel appointments; or for inquiries regarding fees, services or similar matters.

E-mail communications regarding such matters will not be responded to and will be discarded unread. If you wish to contact us regarding medical questions or issues or with regard to appointments, invoices or other questions please do so by telephone, fax or regular mail.

Helping Us Stay On Time

To help us stay on schedule and minimize wait times, please arrive a few minutes early for your appointment. Ensure that you ask the receptionist to book extra time if needed (i.e. you have complicated health issues, mental health concerns).

Unexpected emergencies may arise. Please be patient. Our doctors help the community in many different ways (emergency room, anesthetics, operating room, delivering babies, care home).

We value your time, however we ask that you bring forth your first most important issue per visit. If more time allows other concerns can be addressed. If there is not enough time you will need to book another appointment. We are a very busy clinic and this allows us to stay on schedule. To be fair each appointment has a certain amount of time allocated for each patient.

Cancellations & No Show Policy

If you are unable to keep a scheduled appointment or think you will be late please notify us as soon as possible for rescheduling. We kindly request that all cancellations be made within 24 hours of the appointment to allow us to offer the appointment to another patient. Effective October 1st, 2021 a $20 no-show fee will apply to missed appointments, either in person or telephoneAfter 3 no-shows you will no longer be able to book appointments in advance and may only use our same day appointment and walk in services.  In some cases if continued no-shows occur you may be unenrolled from our clinic and would be required to find a new family doctor.  We understand emergency situations sometimes occur and this will be taken into consideration as needed.

Test Results

All test results are reviewed by a doctor in the clinic, and each doctor can be dealing with over 100 test results per day so we are not able to call everybody to advise them of normal results. Patients are typically only contacted if results are abnormal. However if the result is important to you, we advise that you make a follow-up appointment 7-10 days after the day of your test.

 

Emergency Department Visits

The Emergency department at the hospital is intended for treating emergency problems (chest pain, broken bones, lacerations). All of our doctors leave extra SAME DAY appointments open each day for more urgent problems that cannot wait for a routine appointment. These fill up quite quickly so we ask that you call first thing in the morning to inquire about availability.

We also offer a SAME DAY access clinic that runs every morning and afternoon by an assigned doctor each day as well as a full time Nurse Practitioner who works alongside our doctors and is available to see patients.

Referrals

Patients are sometimes referred to a specialist. If you haven’t been contacted by the specialist office within a couple months, please call our office and speak to one of our staff members who will check to see if the referral was done, when it was sent out and what the delay is.

In addition, if you have seen a specialist and she/he tells you further tests or an operation date is being arranged, ask that specialist when you can expect a follow-up on those issues. If it seems like things are taking too long please call our clinic.

Your Medical Records

Your medical file at the doctor's office contains the notes that the doctor made each time he/she saw you, laboratory reports and consultants’ reports. It may also contain discharge reports from hospitals and copies of reports of operations and pathology examinations. There may be copies of notes and reports handed on from your previous doctor.

You are entitled to review your records and you can ask for a copy of the record. If the doctor copies the record for you, or for another doctor to whom you are transferring your care, he or she can bill you for the cost. If payment would be difficult for you, discuss the matter with your doctor.

You are not entitled to remove the actual file or any of the reports in it from your doctor's office. The actual file itself belongs to the doctor. It is the information in it that you are entitled to view or have a copy of.

If you think that there is inaccurate information in it, you can ask the doctor to add a correction. Information cannot be erased, removed from or obscured in a file. Your doctor can put a line though the incorrect information and add the correct information. Such an alteration must be dated and explained. Alternatively, you can write a separate note yourself on a sheet of paper and ask the doctor to to keep it in your file.

You should ask in advance if you want to review your record or to have a copy. The doctor does not have to produce the record or the copy at moments notice. The doctor or a member of office staff can be present when you review your record.

Your medical record or a copy of it can be reviewed by:

  • You or a person to whom you have given written permission;

  • The College of Physicians and Surgeons of B.C. in investigation of a complaint or monitoring of the doctor's practice;

  •  The courts for legal proceedings;

  • Other health care workers who look after you may see your hospital record.

The doctor has to keep your record for at least seven years after the last visit or for a child seven years after he or she reaches the age of majority. The record can then be destroyed by shredding or burning to preserve confidentiality.

If your doctor stops practicing your record will be preserved for the required length of time by:

  •  Storage in a bonded warehouse;

  •  Arrangement for storage with another doctor or hospital record department;

  • Safe storage with another health professional.

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