Booking an appointment

Appointments can be booked by telephone or through this website.

Standard appointment length is 10 minutes. Some problems may take longer. Multiple problems will usually need a double appointment.

Should you need longer then please speak with a receptionist.

 

Our appointment system

We run an appointment system which allows you to book ahead with your preferred doctor or nurse. We have routine appointment slots available to book for up to 6-8 weeks in advance.

If you develop a problem which will not wait for the next available routine appointment then we will arrange an urgent appointment which will usually be the same day or the following day. This may not be with your preferred doctor or nurse.

Please let us know if you are unable to attend your appointment. We can usually fill the appointment even with fairly short notice.

 

Telephone appointments

Instead of coming to surgery you may prefer to deal with simple problems over the phone. This can be especially useful for administrative tasks. Should the problem prove too complex then you may be invited to attend surgery.

Each doctor has a number of telephone appointments. You can usually speak to your preferred doctor within a day or two. We will take a contact number from you and the doctor will phone you at the agreed time. If you are unable to take the call then please be aware that we are often unable to leave an answerphone message due to potentially breaching confidentiality. If you are unable to take the call then please cancel it as you would a standard appointment.

Some of the nursing staff are also consulting by telephone.

Should you have a medially urgent problem and need to speak to a doctor quickly then the receptionist will ask the duty on-call doctor to phone you back as soon as possible.

 

Home visits

Housebound patients, terminally ill and severely ill people may need a home visit. We expect everyone else to attend surgery. Our practice policy is to minimise the number of home visits performed. We have a large practice area and can quite easily see 5-6 patients in surgery in the time spent travelling to and from a patient's home. We have full access to your medical records at the surgery, better examination facilities, and access to investigations such as ECG.

Should you feel you need a home visit then please call the surgery before 10am. The receptionist will take some details and a doctor may phone back to discuss further and decide if a visit is warranted.

 

If the surgery is closed

Out of hours services are provided by the local primary care trust. Please phone our usual number and you will be transferred automatically.

 

Patients' responsibilities

To try and ensure that our appointment system runs well we request that you:

1. Cancel any appointment that you are unable to attend.

2. Arrive on time for your appointment.

3. Let us know if you are going to be late.

4. Use routine appointments for routine problems.

5. Use urgent appointments for urgent problems.

6. Remember that your appointment slot is 10 minutes long. This usually allows us to deal with one problem. Please book longer appointments for multiple problems. Please avoid using your appointment to have your repeat prescription issued and signed.