HOW TO MAKE AN APPOINTMENT

When you contact the Health Centre for make an appointment, the receptionist will ask for your name and offer you the first available appointment with a GP.       If you feel that you need to see a doctor urgently, please explain the reason why.  The  receptionist may be able to offer you an urgent appointment or she may ask the nurse or the doctor to ring you (see Urgent Appointments below) to assess your clinical need, offer advice and reassurance and make an appropriate appointment for you to see one of the healthcare team.  Providing us with this information for both routine and urgent appointments enables us to ensure you see or speak to the best person to meet your needs.  Please note routine appointments open every Friday for 3 weeks hence.

A routine appointment with a Doctor or Nurse is 10 minutes.  For this reason we would ask that you limit your consultation with the doctor or nurse to one health problem per consultation.

BOOKING ONLINE (further information about this service)

URGENT APPOINTMENTS

If you consider your medical problem is urgent and cannot wait for the next free appointment time, then your request will be dealt with the same day. If the Receptionist cannot offer you an urgent appointment, the Practice Nurse or one of the Doctors will contact you to help decide on the most appropriate and timely clinical response for your health needs.

DID YOU KNOW that you can now receive a text reminder of your appointment ?   If you wish this service please ensure that we have your current mobile number on record.   

Home Visits

Please ask for a home visit only if you are too ill to come to the surgery.

Whenever possible, please phone before 10am. You will be asked to give brief details of your illness to help the doctor to prioritise his/her workload.

Always leave your name, address and telephone numbers including your mobile number if you have one.

If you phone after 11.30am, the Duty Doctor will attend to urgent home visits.

Samples

Please can any samples requested by the Doctor or Nurse be handed in to the surgery reception by 1pm at the latest.  This is to ensure they can be tested either here or at the laboratory in a timely manner.  If you are female and under the age of 65 you can go direct to the Pharmacy if you suspect you have a urinary tract infection.  In most circumstances they can provide treatment for uncomplicated uti's.  This is often quicker and more convenient than waiting to see the GP.

Lab Results

Please phone after 2.00pm for your results.    Your call will be dealt with in strictest confidence by the Reception staff who, acting on your Doctor’s instructions, will advise you if you need to make an appointment to see the doctor.

Please be aware that we can only give results to the patient concerned as we are bound by very strict rules of confidentiality.  

It is important that you tell the Receptionist how many tests you have had taken so that we can ensure that we check for all results.    The phlebotomist will give you an information sheet with the tests that you have had on it when you have your blood taken.

Please note that it is not possible for us to undertake to contact all patients with their blood results.  We are therefore grateful for your co-operation in contacting us to receive your results.  

Online Appointments - Patient Access

You can book or cancel an appointment on-line using Patient Access.

To use the service you will need a unique user id and password and this can be obtained very easily and quickly by visiting the Health Centre.  Please note that we are unable to register patients aged 16 years and under for this service. Appointments open on a Friday for 3 weeks time.

When you have your id and password, simply click here to use the service

You can also use the service using your Red Button on your digital TV.   Visit www.lookinglocal.gov.uk  to find out how the service works on digital TV.

If you would like to receive a text reminder about your appointment, please ensure that we have your up-to-date mobile phone number in your electronic medical records.

You can forward your contact details on-line via the icon at the bottom of the home page (update contact details).