Appointments

Morning and afternoon clinics are held Monday to Friday. As per government directives, the practice offers pre-booked, same day and urgent appointments. The days of availability of individual doctors at each surgery will vary. They work to a rota thus ensuring they attend each surgery on a regular basis. You have an option to book an appointment at any of the three sites.

Routine appointments booked with either the doctor or nurse will be allocated 10 minutes. Occasionally, consultations are clinically complex or emergencies may arise. These events are unpredictable and can result in delays to booked appointments. Please bear with us in these circumstances, our reception staff will always explain if the surgery is running late.

Please help us to help you by booking the appropriate time for your appointment.

• One problem = One ten minute appointment
• Two problems = Double appointment (20 minutes)

Emergency Appointments

We also have appointments that become available on the same day or within 48 hours - these are usually used for emergencies. There is a limited supply of emergency appointments so we would ask you only to use these if genuinely needed.

Please aid our reception staff in booking appointments by only taking an emergency appointment if you really need it. The receptionists will ask for basic details regarding your condition as they have guidelines provided by the clinicians to work by.

Cancellations

If you cannot attend an appointment for any reason please inform us as soon as possible in order for us to offer the appointment to another patient.  

Consideration will be given to removing any persistent non-attenders from the practice list.

If we have to cancel a surgery we will always, where possible, try to offer you an alternative with the same GP or nurse as close to that date as we can.  

Online System

We offer an online system for booking appointments, ordering prescriptions and viewing your own personal Summary Care Record (Allergies, Sensitivities, Medication).  Please note you will need identification to be able to register for this facility which will need to be presented to a receptionist who will set up this service.  Once registered please see 'Online Services' in our Quick Links section at the top of the right column.

Home Visits

Whilst we encourage our patients to come to the surgery, where we have the proper equipment and facilities available, we do appreciate this is not always possible. In this respect, if you do need a home visit, you can help us by calling reception before 10:00.

You may only request a home visit if you are housebound or are too ill to visit the practice. Your GP will only visit you at home if they think that your medical condition requires it and will also decide how urgently a visit is needed. Please bear this in mind and be prepared to provide suitable details to enable the doctor to schedule house calls

You can also be visited at home by a community nurse if you are referred by your GP. You should also be visited at home by a health visitor if you have recently had a baby or if you are newly registered with a GP and have a child under five years.

Sickness Certificates

You do not require a doctor's sickness certificate for any illness lasting seven days or less. Your employer may however require you to complete a self-certification form (SC2) which is available from your employer or on the HMRC website.

Evidence that you are sick

If you are sick for more than seven days, your employer can ask you to give them some form of medical evidence to support payment of SSP (statutory sick pay).

It is up to your employer to decide whether you are incapable of work. A medical certificate, now called a 'Statement of Fitness for Work’ (see below) from your doctor is strong evidence that you are sick and would normally be accepted, unless there is evidence to prove otherwise.

You could also provide evidence from someone who is not a medical practitioner, e.g. a dentist. Your employer will decide whether or not this evidence is acceptable. If your employer has any doubts, they may still ask for a medical certificate from your GP.

Statement of Fitness for Work - ’Fit Note'

The 'fit note' was introduced on 6 April 2010. With your employer's support, the note will help you return to work sooner by providing more information about the effects of your illness or injury.

For more information see the DirectGov website (where this information was sourced)

Telephone Advice

Please telephone the surgery and leave your telephone number and message with reception; a member of the clinical team will get back to you for a consult where appropriate. Sometimes telephone advice can solve your problem. If you think this may be the case, phone your surgery in the morning and we will endeavour to call you back later.

Please note, due to being a business our telephone number is withheld.  If your contact number does not receive calls where the number is withheld the clinician will not be able to return your call.

Chaperone

Intimate examinations are part of the day-to-day work of all GP's. If an examination is required, the practice will offer a chaperone and the purpose and nature of any examination will be thoroughly explained before the procedure.

A chaperone is standard practice during intimate examinations; often their role is simply to provide support to patients in vulnerable situations. This also safeguards both doctor and patient in the unlikely event that misunderstandings or allegations of misconduct should occur.

You may wish to have a chaperone present during your consultation or examination.  Please advise the receptionist who will organise for either a nurse or a member of staff to be present.