Our appointment system enables us to:

1. Direct you to the most appropriate clinician.

2. Prioritise appointments for patients based on clinical need.

3. Cope with the increased pressure on healthcare services.

The current arrangements to book an appointment are as follows:

GPs, Advanced Nurse Practitioners and Clinical Pharmacists:

• Requests for an appointment can be made online using the link above or if you do not have access to the internet, on the phone with one of our receptionists.
• We will collect information about your symptoms, concerns and expectations and these will be sent through to our triage GP.
• If you phone our reception team they can help you complete the request form and your request will join the triage list along with online requests. Our GPs will review each request and decide on the most appropriate care for you.

• This could be with, a Nurse, Advanced Nurse Practitioner, Physiotherapist, Mental Health Practitioner, Clinical or Community Pharmacist, or a GP depending on the clinical problem. We will aim to deal with urgent problems within 24 hours, excluding weekends and bank holidays. For other requests please allow 72 hours for a response, excluding weekends and bank holidays.

  To help us provide the most effective care, please provide as much information as possible when submitting a request. 

• If your symptoms get worse whilst waiting for an appointment please submit another form or telephone our reception team.

Nursing Team:

• Nursing team appointments are made available at least two weeks in advance. These can be booked directly over the phone or online using the link above.
• Cervical screening appointments will be visible and available to book on the NHS app. Alternatively, you can contact reception to request an appointment using the online form or over the phone.

Appointments can be requested in a number of ways:

• Via Accurx patient triage
• Online via the NHS App - For guidance on setting up the NHS App click on this link: How to register for online services using the NHS App.pdf
• By phone - Please call our reception team on 01275 841630

It is important that you inform the reception staff if you are unable to attend your appointment, this will allow that appointment to be offered to another patient.

You can cancel appointments online via the NHS app or by calling us on 01275 841630

Please note that our calls are recorded for training and monitoring purposes

Please:

• Wear a mask or other face covering if you have a cough or respiratory problem
• Arrive close to the time of your appointment (i.e. not too early)
• Come into reception and use the self check-in screen before taking a seat in the waiting room and wait to be called (via the scrolling screen).

Please come in on your own, unless it is not possible as a result of frailty/mobility issues or young children (in which case only one adult/carer please)

If you require the presence of a chaperone during your consultation please make your request to the receptionist or clinician. Our staff have been trained to provide professional, discrete chaperoning.

If you require an interpreter please notify the receptionist or your clinician and they will arrange this for you.

Our interpreter service is available over the phone.

If at all possible, it is best to see our patients at the surgery where we have extensive equipment and facilities available as well as easy access to the clinical record and the support of other staff if needed.

However we do appreciate this is not always possible. If you do need a home visit please make this clear when requesting an appointment. 

As a general rule home visits are reserved for patients who are:

• Housebound (do not leave the house for any reason)
• Terminally ill
• So unwell that they cannot be mobilised, or to do so may cause serious harm

The following are not reasons for a GP to provide a home visit:

• Age alone (the criteria apply to both older and younger people)
• Transport problems
• Childcare issues

The visiting doctor will need to prioritise the visits based on clinical need. To support this, please be prepared to pass on some details to the reception staff. The doctor may phone you before visiting to confirm the clinical details and to determine if a home visit is indicated. Occasionally, the doctor will make arrangements for an alternative member of the community team to visit such as a District Nurse.

Please note, home visits are time-consuming and put a great pressure on resources. They are almost never appropriate for children or the usually fit and well and it is the doctor’s right not to visit if they think the request is medically inappropriate.

In the event of a genuine life threatening emergency please dial 999. For life-threatening emergencies requesting a visit from a GP can delay life-saving treatment.

If you have provided us with a mobile phone number you will receive confirmation and reminders about your appointments.

Please remember to update your contact details with us when you change address, telephone numbers and email address.

New Data Protection Regulations from May 2018 (GDPR)

Under the new data protection regulations introduced from 25th May 2018, we will continue to contact patients via text messages regarding the delivery of care if they have provided consent to do so.

If practices are sending messages about recommended treatment for the management of a specific health issue, then this is defined as providing appropriate care for patients, not marketing purposes.

If you would like ot opt out of any future contact via text messaging, then please complete the form and indicate in the marked section.