Appointments

For all consultation requests, the Receptionist will ask some details and the nature of your illness, this is to help them direct the patient to the proper Health Professional ie, Physio, MHP (Mental Health Practitioner) or Social Worker who are also available in the Practice.  If it is to speak to a Doctor they need to ask a few details to allow the Doctor to call you back and if appropriate the Doctor will arrange an appointment for you.  Each appointment is for one patient only. Patients have the right to request the doctor of their choice and the surgery will try to accommodate this whenever possible.

The receptionist may ask you to ring the next morning if all the telephone appointments are booked for that day. If you feel it is more urgent please inform the receptionist regarding this

If you have an emergency please contact the reception immediately and state that you have a medical emergency.

Appointments for procedures or medicals may be scheduled. Patients requesting these types of appointments should make the receptionist aware so that the appropriate time is booked for the appointment.

Patients are requested, where possible, to telephone before 11am if a home visit is required that day.

We would request that, apart from the genuinely housebound, all other patients attend the surgery rather than request a home visit because of the extra time home visiting takes. On average four to five patients can be seen in surgery in the time it takes to do a single house call. In addition, the care that can be offered due to the lack of adequate lighting, examination facilities and equipment means that you may not receive as good a service as the doctor may be able to offer if you came to the surgery.

Please note that the doctor may telephone you rather than visit you if this is medically appropriate. Ultimately it is the doctors right to decide whether or not a visit is appropriate for a particular set of circumstances.

When is a home visit necessary?

GP visit is not usual

In most of these cases a visit would not be an appropriate use of your GP's time or best for you: 

• Heart Attack - severe chest pain. The best approach is to call an emergency ambulance.  
• Common symptoms of childhood: fevers, cold, cough, earache, headache, diarrhoea & vomiting and most cases of abdominal pain. These patients are usually well enough to travel to the surgery. It is not harmful to take a child with fever outside.  
• Adults with common problems, such as cough, sore throat, influenza, general malaise, back pain and abdominal pain are also readily transportable to the doctor's surgery. 

GP visit may be useful 

Following a conversation with a health professional, it may be agreed that a seriously ill patient may be helped by a GP's visit.

GP visit recommended 

Home visiting makes clinical sense and is the best way of giving medical opinion, in cases involving: 

• The terminally ill. 
• The truly housebound patient for whom travel to premises would cause deterioration in their medical condition.

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. If you fail to notify the Practice that you are unable to attend, you will be sent a letter informing you that you have defaulted from your appointment. Persistent defaulters maybe removed from the list.

You can also complete our appointment cancellation notification request form. This can only be used if your appointment has been arranged for more than 24 hours in advance. (excluding weekends and public holidays). You can also text to cancel your appointment.

We have a texting service which allows you to receive confirmation and reminders about your appointments.

To have this service you will need to register by completing a consent form.

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

Please attend your appointment on time, if you are late you may not be seen.

If you are not seen you will not be able to rearrange your appointment until the next working day-except in the event of an medical emergency that requires immediate attention.

We will always respect your privacy, dignity and your religious and cultural beliefs particularly when intimate examinations are advisable - these will only be carried out with your express agreement and you will be offered a chaperone to attend the examination if you so wish.

You may also request a chaperone when making the appointment or on arrival at the surgery (please let the receptionist know) or at any time during the consultation.

If you require an interpreter to attend with you when you see your Doctor please notify the receptionist and she will arrange this for you.