General Policies

Please note that any changes to our policies will be communicated through our website and our notice boards.

Test results

It is every patient’s own responsibility to follow up and request their test results.  Some routine blood tests take longer than 14 working days to come back.  For Ultrasounds, X-rays and MRI results please leave your details with our reception team who will ensure you are contacted with your results. All test results are reviewed by the doctors daily and any results in need of urgent medical attention are dealt with accordingly.

Prescription policy

Please see “ordering of repeat prescriptions” tab for full details.

Social welfare requests

All patients that are absent from work for more than five working days are entitled to claim social welfare. In order to claim social welfare the patient must be seen in the surgery. All certs are sent electronically to the Dept of Social Welfare. For a first time cert please ask reception for the “pink book”, this is to filled out and sent by post by the patient, this can also be done online but must be completed by the patient.

Sick cert requests

Sick notes are only provided upon consultation with the doctor.

Requesting bloods

Bloods can only be requested in the following cases:

  • When they are requested by your doctor
  • When they are requested by a specialist/consultant
  • When it has been discussed with your GP to do so
  • When it is a routine blood check, again having been discussed and agreed with your regular GP and documented in your notes.

Should you wish to request bloods and you do not fall under the previous categories, please make contact with your regular G.P. to arrange your bloods.  Our designated blood clinics are Wednesday and Thursday mornings.

Childhood Vaccines

All children registered at The Parks Medical Centre are entitled to have their childhood vaccines done in the surgery. Patients are simply asked to book into our vaccine clinic and fill out our vaccine consent form upon consult. Please do not book children in for vaccines before they reach the necessary age for the relevant set of vaccines. For more information on childhood vaccines please see:

http://www.hse.ie/eng/health/immunisation/pubinfo/babychildimm/Immschedule/

Maternity Care

We provide a full range of maternity care services in the surgery. This includes antenatal and postnatal check ups. Please ensure that you sign up to the combined care scheme when attending for your first ante natal visit.  There is a copy of the scheduled visits available at reception also.  Visits outside of the scheduled visits are not covered under this contract and will incur a fee.  Your PPS number is required for registration for this scheme.

Applications / Forms

For medical forms to be completed by your doctor it is necessary to make an appointment.  This applies to forms such as Disability forms, Carer’s forms, Questionnaire’s from Health Insurance Providers,  Power of Attorney forms and similar.  A consultation fee will also apply.

Driving license forms require a visit to your GP and also incur a fee. Please visit our fees page for more details.

PMA’s

We receive numerous requests from Insurance Companies to complete PMA’s (Private Medical Attendants Report) on your behalf.  The Insurance Company always include written consent signed by you, to disclose ALL medical information contained in your charts.  It is our policy not to release these forms back to the insurance company without you, our patient, sighting this information. Should you choose to waive this right, we will document this on file, however the practice cannot be held responsible for any impact the information sent will cause.

Privacy Statement

Please be assured that here at The Parks Medical Centre, maintaining patient confidentiality is a major priority of ours. All staff members in the surgery have signed privacy agreements stating that they will not disclose any medical or personal information that they may come across with regards to our patients. Both personal and medical information is treated with utmost respect complying with our duties under the Data Protection Acts 1988 and 2003.

All patient charts are kept securely on a computer file that is safely backed up in Ireland. All consultation details and medical records are recorded in our patients’ charts in order to maintain up to date and accurate information on our patients’ health. Our patients’ medical information will not be disclosed to any third parties unless it is previously agreed in writing by the doctor and patient, with the exception of referral letters where permission is deemed implicit. Patient charts may be disclosed to a patient’s guardian when the patient is under the age of sixteen.