Our Appointment System explained
Our appointment system explained
Our appointments are made up of:
- Standard clinical
- Book on the Day
- Targeted clinical
- Online
- E -consult
Standard Clinical Appointments
These appointments are for when you need to see a GP, Nurse, Assistant Practitioner or HCA at some point during the next 2 weeks, i.e. your need to see a clinician is not urgent.
At some times of the year, such as during the winter season, or during school holidays, these appointments are filled up quickly. Please bear this in mind when calling us.
Some ‘standard clinical appointments’ are available for you to book online. To use this facility, you need to have online access. Click here for details.
Book on the Day
If you call the surgery and have a clinical problem which cannot wait for a standard appointment, then the reception staff will book an appointment for you on that day with a GP or nurse dependant on information that you provide to them during the call.
Telephone appointments are available for those of you who do need to speak to a clinician but do not feel that a visit to the surgery is necessary.
Targeted Clinical Appointments
These are set aside for specific clinics such as: Diabetes; Child Surveillance; Child Immunisations; Minor surgery; Health Checks; New patients; Dressings etc.
They are not available for use for ‘Standard Clinical’ appointments.
How To Make An Appointment
All Surgeries are APPOINTMENT ONLY and can be booked either online or by phoning the practice:
24 Hour Online Booking System
This is a quick and easy way to view, book and cancel your appointments via the practice website from home, work or on the move. In fact you can book wherever you can connect to the internet. It’s faster and easier and because this is a 24 hour online service 365 days a year, you can do this in your own time, day or night. All the information that is sent to the practice in this way is secure. Your details are protected using the highest standard internet security and only you and your GP see the information. Patients wishing to use this facility need to register first by completing an Internet Registration form please contact a member of the Reception Team..
Phone the Surgery on 01260 272331
The reception office is open Monday to Friday 8:00am – 6:30pm. Patients may pre-book an appointment with a doctor up to 2 weeks in advance. Appointments with a practice nurse can be made up to 6 weeks in advance. For pre-booked appointments you are entitled to ask for the doctor of your choice, please be aware we will always try to accommodate your request, however this may not always be possible.
Due to the variety of clinics that we operate when you speak to our reception staff to book an appointment they will ask you to give them an indication of what the nature of the problem is. By doing this we can ensure that you are placed into the appropriate clinic.
An outline of our different appointment types click on ‘Our Appointment System’ on the left hand side of this page.
Home Visit Appointments
If you are too frail or too ill to attend the surgery you may ask for a home visit by telephoning before 11.00 am. Your doctor may phone to discuss your request and may offer advice rather than visit if this is appropriate. In the case of a medical emergency, you may contact the surgery at any time.
GP home visiting makes clinical sense and is the best way of giving a medical opinion in cases involving:
- those who are terminally ill
- those who are housebound, for whom travel to premises by car would cause deterioration in their medical condition or unacceptable discomfort.
Please remember that a Doctor can typically see up to 6 patients in the time it takes to make one house call. Patients can be examined more thoroughly in the surgery so please keep house calls for urgent matters only. It is not the best use of a GP’s time in the following cases:
- common symptoms of childhood fevers, cold, cough, earache, headache, diarrhoea/vomiting and most case of abdominal pain. These patients are usually well enough to travel by car. If you have no transport and a child is not fit to walk or travel by bus then please arrange appropriate transport from friends, relatives or taxi firms. We cannot arrange transport for you.
- adults with commons problems, such as a cough, sore throat, influenza, back pain and abdominal pain, are also readily transportable by car to a doctor’s premises.