standards of care
This document outlines the standards of care that patients can expect from Get Well UK. It covers both the standards of Get Well UK practitioners and the quality standards patients can expect from Get Well UK’s administration and management.
Philosophy – integrated healthcare
Complementary and alternative therapies provide an adjunct to, not a substitution for, primary health care services, enabling people to have access to the best of all healthcare.
Get Well UK has a deeply embedded belief that all people are equal and that access to healthcare should never be based on ability to pay or other discriminatory factors. We understand the need to limit treatments to ensure effective management of the service and the need to control costs within the NHS, especially while we establish the cost-effectiveness of these treatments. We will work hard to ensure that equal access is provided to all people and will monitor the uptake of our services. We will also actively advocate access of services to people who have traditionally been excluded.
Get Well UK’s standards of care are driven by a respect for the dignity of each patient and the promotion of autonomy and informed participation in care.
Core aims of Get Well UK service delivery
Get Well UK is committed to making complementary and alternative medicine widely available to all sections of the community in the UK.
Our courses of treatments ensure the highest quality of care available.
GPs, Get Well UK practitioners and other relevant professionals work together to ensure integrated delivery of services.
Patients are involved in all aspects of service design and delivery and evaluation.
Patients are protected by the assurance that Get Well UK practitioners are appropriately regulated, supported and monitored through professional institutions.
Standards of Get Well UK practitioners
Prior to joining Get Well UK, a practitioner must demonstrate certain attributes and expertise before they can be considered:
Regulated by a professional organisation
A practitioner must be a member of an appropriate governing body. The therapy disciplines that Get Well UK works with have different systems of regulation. Where a profession does not yet have a coherent national system of regulation, Get Well UK has basic standard of training and an approved list of professional associations that the practitioner must belong to.
In practice for at least two years
Practitioners must have been in practice for a minimum of two years post-qualification, and must be working with at least 20 patients per month on a regular on-going basis.
Has relevant experience and abilities to work for Get Well UK
Get Well UK will assess practitioners’ suitability to work as a Get Well UK practitioner in a primary care environment. This will include demonstrating the following:
an empowering attitude towards patients, and shows that they see patients as paramount in planning and arranging healthcare.
ability to explain their therapeutic work clearly to patients in a way which enables patients to clearly understand what they are doing, how the treatment might help, what the patient can expect during and after treatment, and what the limitations of the treatment are.
a commitment to on-going learning. They must show that they have attended training courses over the last year.
The practitioner demonstrates a positive attitude to inter-professional working and collaboration with other healthcare professionals. They must present themselves and their work in a way that inspires confidence and respect from other healthcare professionals, and in a way which respects the work of others. They must also respect the right of patients to use all forms of healthcare, including conventional medication, and have a clear understanding for the safety issues involved when patients have a desire to reduce or stop other medical treatment.
an understanding of their own limitations, and when to refer patients to another professional.
prior experience of working in a community setting, or show an appreciation for issues that may arise when working with a diverse patient population.
How we assess a practitioner’s suitability
Get Well UK has a recruitment panel which assesses all applications and interviews prospective practitioners. All applicants must complete an application form, which assesses them on the attributes outlined above. Successful applicants are then invited to an interview. The panel takes each applicant through a standard set of questions, which are carefully prepared to draw out the qualities outlined above. Applicants who pass the interview are invited to attend a one-day induction. This usually takes place at the NHS centre where the service is to be delivered.
Quality standards patients can expect from Get Well UK management and administration:
We will treat all patients fairly and equally.
We aim to have a diverse workforce, which is important to us, especially as our patients come from diverse backgrounds.
We will help people to access the service. For example, where possible we will arrange for an interpreting service to support patients whose language is not English. We will give you more time if walking to the treatment room is painful and slow. We will show sensitivity to cultural and religious beliefs.
Our staff will keep your personal informational confidential and secure. We work within the rules and guidance of the Data Protection Act.
We will ensure that you receive the most appropriate treatment for your health condition, with the most appropriate practitioner. We will ensure that the practitioner has skills and experience that matches your needs as a patient.
Once your first appointment has been arranged, we will write to you confirming the time and date of the appointment and provide you with information about the therapy you will receive. This will help you to understand what will happen and will help you prepare for the first treatment.
If you feel that the treatment is not working for you, then we will support you in looking at why this might be, and if appropriate, help you to transfer to a different therapy or practitioner.
As part of our commitment to integrated healthcare, we will write to your GP after your course of treatment. We will give a general summary of what the practitioner achieved in relation to the health problems that the GP referred you for. This information will form part of your medical records and you will be sent a copy. If you disagree with anything in the letter you can tell us to change it. We will not give any other information to your GP.
We will respond to your phone calls and emails quickly, efficiently and politely. If you call or email us out of office hours, we will always try to contact you the next working day.
If you feel that a Get Well UK practitioner has acted wrongly, we will provide you with the information that you need to contact his/her governing body to make a complaint.
We will provide you with a health questionnaire at your first and last treatments so we can find out whether the treatment was useful. We will also give you the opportunity to comment on the quality of the service. This will enable us to improve where necessary, making the service better for patients in the future.
Please always feel free to contact the Get Well UK office if you have any questions or suggestions that will help us improve the service.