WHEN YOU TURN 16
Turning 16? What you need to know about your Doctor’s Surgery
Something you may still wish to discuss with your parent or guardian is giving consent for treatment. A lot depends on the seriousness or difficulty of the proposed treatment. Health care professionals would encourage you to include your parent or guardian in any decision making process, however, they will always try to respect your wishes if you do not wish anyone else to be involved.
You may not be aware, but once you turn 16 you will have to start paying for your prescriptions, unless you are in full-time education, pregnant or receiving benefits. Please look at our website for prescriptions advice and how to register to order repeat medications online.
We offer a full range of sexual health services and all contraception including implants. If you need advice or have any questions, please contact the Surgery and book an appointment with a Nurse or Doctor.
You may not be aware but when you turn 16 you become responsible for your own healthcare decisions. We hope that this information leaflet will be informative and helpful to both you and your parent or guardian.
Wickham Market Medical Centre provides a confidential service to all our patients including under 16’s. You can contact a Nurse or Doctor for advice and specifically request an appointment with a Male or Female clinician.
Confidentiality means that your consultation and visits to the surgery will not be discussed with anyone apart from you. The only time that information may be shared without consent is when you could be considered a danger to yourself or others.
If you have given proxy access to your parent or guardian to discuss your health, then this will be revoked once you turn 16. If you have been sharing a mobile phone number or email address with a parent or guardian, then those details will be removed from your medical record once you turn 16 and will then be replaced with your own contact details.
It is very important that we hold up to date contact details. Please ensure that we have your correct telephone numbers (home and mobile) and have a personal email address for you.
You may be interested in registering for Patient Access, which will enable you to book appointments online, re-order repeat medication and view parts of your medical records. You may wish to check whether your parents have already registered for this on your behalf.
If you have always had someone order your medication for you, you can still allow this to happen by giving us written consent to allow your parent/guardian to make contact on your behalf with any queries about your medication or health. Your consent can be restricted to just ordering medications only if you choose or they can have access to your health information just as before you turned 16.
