Making an appointment
We run all our surgeries by an appointment-only system.
Appointments can be booked
- On-line
- by telephoning the practice 01490 420210
- by visiting the practice in person
We try to make sure you see the doctor of your choice but if they are not available we may ask you to see another doctor.
The surgery does close occasionally during the afternoon for staff training (PET). Details of these closures will be posted on the website and displayed in the waiting room in advance.
Cancelling an appointment
If you can’t attend or no longer need your appointment, please remember to cancel in advance. We can then offer the appointment to someone else.
If you fail to attend your appointment it will be recorded as a ‘DNA’ Did Not Attend. Missed appointments are monitored and action will be taken if a pattern emerges and can lead to your removal from our patient list.
Types of appointments
Routine appointments
Routine appointments are for non-urgent problems or can be used for follow ups if you have an ongoing condition. Routine appointments with the Doctors, Nurse and HCA can be booked at least four weeks in advance. The standard length of an appointment with the GP is 10 minutes.
Emergency appointments
An emergency appointment involves seeing a GP quickly – usually the first appointment with an available doctor. An emergency appointment is for a health problem that needs attention on that day. We have emergency appointments available every day.
Receptionist asking questions
To help make the appointment system more effective, receptionists are asked to collect brief information from patients to determine their need for an appointment. This is to ensure that you receive:
- the most appropriate medical care
- at the most appropriate time
- from the most appropriate health professional – you will be directed to see the nurse or other health professional rather than a doctor where appropriate.
Reception staff like all members of the Practice team, are bound by confidentiality rules and any information given by you is treated strictly confidentially. You can ask to speak to a receptionist in private, away from reception. If you feel an issue is very private and do not wish to say what this is, then this will be respected.
Speaking to a doctor
If you need to speak to the Doctor your name will be added to the ‘Telephone Consultation’ list and the Doctor will return your call when convenient for him.
Please tell the receptionist what your query is about so that the GP can priorities his phone calls. Most telephone calls will be returned on the same day, but general/ routine queries may be taken forward to the next day.
Home visit
A home visit can be arranged if you are too unwell to attend at the surgery. Please contact us before 11.00am, explaining briefly to the receptionist what the problem is. Your request will be passed to the Doctor who may contact you to help decide if a home visit is necessary.
High Demand for Appointments
When it is very busy and demand for appointments is high we run either a triage system or 5 minute slot system
Triage
Once our routine appointment slots have been filled, any further requests for same day appointments will be passed on to the Practice Nurse to assess. The nurse will contact you by phone to talk to you about your symptoms and decide on the best course of action.
Emergency 5 minute slot
It is possible that you may be offered a ‘5 minute emergency slot”. These are short appointments for discussing the one urgent problem only. Discussing any ongoing problems/matters is not permitted. You will be asked to come to the surgery and to sit and wait until the doctor is able to see you.
Nurse / HCA appointments
The Practice Nurse and HCA’s support the GP’s and typical responsibilities include: giving advice, education and information about health conditions and ailments, stopping smoking and losing weight, taking patient samples, swabs and specimens, monitoring of long term health conditions etc. Appointment lengths vary.
Over 75?
If you are over 75 years and haven’t been seen in the last three years, you can request a consultation or health check.
