Appointments

Appointments

stethoscopeAppointments

An appointment system operates at the surgery to minimise patient waiting times. Appointments may be made personally at reception or by telephone. Please make every effort to attend promptly for appointments in order to avoid loss of valuable consultation time. Although we do try to make appointments with the doctor of your choice, at times it may be quicker to see the first available doctor.

We now offer both telephone and face to face appointments for our patients. If you would prefer either one of them, then please let reception know when booking. On some occasions due to the nature of the appointment needed, reception may advise on whether it needs to be face to face or on the telephone.

If you are requiring a medication review or you need advice on medications, then reception may book you in for a telephone call with our clinical pharmacist.

Urgent Care - Same Day Appointments

If you feel your condition is urgent and requires the services of a doctor or nurse you can either call in person or telephone the surgery when a variety of options will be open to you.

Our reception staff are trained care co-ordinators and have been trained to navigate you to the right service for an appointment which could include, appointments with a doctor, with our advanced care practitioner, a nurse or they may navigate you to pharmacy or other options.

Cancellation

Please remember, if you cannot attend an appointment in surgery, please cancel as other patients need to be seen. On average over 150 patients do not attend their appointments every month.

Chaperone

If during your consultation a physical examination is necessary please note that a chaperone service is available to oversee the examination at your request.

Text reminders

text reminderAppointment reminders

If we have a mobile telephone number in your medical records the practice operates a system whereby you will receive a text message to remind you the day before your appointment.

If this service would be helpful to you then please make sure we have your current mobile phone number on record.

Alternatively if you do not wish to receive these reminders please let us know.

 

 

 

 

Home Visits

home visitHome visits

Home visits are reserved for the following groups of patients:

  • Terminally ill
  • Housebound
  • Patients who are severely ill and cannot be mobilised

Although a traditional part of general practice, home visits are time consuming. Please remember that several patients can be seen in the practice in the time that it takes to make one home visit. We want to see patients as quickly as possible, and the best way is often to encourage them to come to the surgery, because your GP will have access to all your medical records, including those held on computer. There are also better facilities for examining and treating patients at the surgery.

Babies and small children should be brought to the surgery where we will do our best to see them promptly. If the reception staff are made aware that your child is particularly unwell, they will do everything they can to see that you are not kept waiting unnecessarily to see the doctor.

Transport/social problems - We cannot undertake home visits for reasons of convenience or lack of transport. We will be happy to provide you with details of local taxi firms. From experience, we are aware that relatives, neighbours or friends are often willing to help out. Our responsibility to you is to resolve the medical problem you have; your responsibility is to take all reasonable steps you are able to, to enable us to do that.

Please request visits before 10am whenever possible.

Emergencies

ambulanceEmergencies

If you are confronted by a serious problem call an ambulance on 999 before calling the surgery.

Such instances are:

  • Chest pain in someone over 40 years old
  • Severe breathlessness which is unusual for the patient
  • Unconscious / difficulty rousing
  • F. A. S. T.
    • Facial weakness (Can the person smile? Has their mouth or eye dropped?)
    • Arm weakness (Can the person raise both arms?)
    • Speech problems (Can the person speak clearly & understand you?)
    • Time to call 999
  • Sudden loss of vision
  • Vomiting blood
  • Prolonged fit (more than 10 minutes)
  • Early pregnancy severe abdominal pain
  • Any severe pain in the body

This list is not exhaustive.