Appointments

Appointments System

Appointments System

Patients have several convenient options to book appointments with our healthcare team:

  1. Online Booking for Routine Matters:
    • Use the appointment booking function available through NHS App. Simply click the "Make an Appointment" button above to schedule your routine appointments at your convenience.
  1. Ask First Symptom Checker for Urgent Concerns:
    • For more urgent issues, utilise the Ask First symptom checker. This tool can help you book an appointment with the appropriate medical professional or provide advice and guidance on where or how to seek support.
  1. Telephone Booking:
    • Call the surgery where you are registered to book an appointment. Our telephone lines are open from 08:30 to 13:00 and 14:00 to 18:00, Monday to Friday. Please note that the surgery is closed between 13:00 and 14:00 for administrative purposes and staff training.
  1. In-Person Booking:
    • Visit your registered surgery to speak directly with a receptionist who can assist you in booking an appointment.

Types of Consultations Offered:

  • Routine Consultations:
    • We offer both routine face-to-face (F2F) consultations and routine telephone consultations to accommodate your preferences and needs.
  • Urgent Consultations:
    • For urgent matters, we provide urgent face-to-face (F2F) consultations and urgent telephone consultations (bookable on the day) to ensure timely care.

Some appointment slots are also available outside of the core surgery opening hours; please telephone the surgery for further details. 

An appointment is for one person and one condition only. If someone else in your family needs to be seen or discussed, or you have more than one thing to discuss more time will be needed and a separate appointment should be made.

 

Pharmacy First

For minor illnesses, we may refer you to Pharmacy First – a government-led initiative for minor ailments such as urinary tract infections (UTIs) and sore throats. Pharmacists can assess and prescribe appropriate treatments, including antibiotics, if necessary.

More about Pharmacy First:

Pharmacy First is part of the NHS Community Pharmacist Consultation Service, which has been running since October 2019. The service was expanded on 31 January 2024 to include seven common conditions: earache, sore throat, sinusitis, impetigo, infected insect bites, shingles, and uncomplicated urinary tract infections in women.

Benefits of Pharmacy First:

  • Quicker Access to Treatment: You can get certain prescription medications directly from a pharmacy without needing a GP appointment, which helps free up GP appointments for those who need them most.
  • Convenient Healthcare: Community pharmacies offer a more convenient way to access healthcare, including support with healthy eating, exercise, stopping smoking, monitoring blood pressure, contraception, and vaccinations.
  • High-Quality Care: Over 90% of people who sought guidance from a community pharmacy reported receiving good advice.

Pharmacists follow a robust clinical pathway, providing self-care and safety-netting advice, and only supply prescription-only medicines if appropriate.

Booking GP Consultation Appointments

Booking GP Consultation Appointments

Anyone who requests a GP consultation will receive one the SAME DAY as the request. How the system works:

  • At the start of each day all appointment slots will be released to be booked by our patients
  • At 8;30 am our telephone lines will be open and able to receive calls from our patients 
  • On receipt of a call, you will be offered a choice of either a face-to-face appointment with the GP or a time to receive a telephone call from a GP.  The timeslot will depend on the GPs daily schedule
  • You can also walk into the surgery and speak to one of our medical receptionists
  • By the end of the day, all patients who have requested to speak with a GP on that day, will have done so either by a face-to-face appointment or by telephone
  • The next day the process is repeated with all free and available slots being released for booking that morning
  • This means that if you need to see or speak with a GP during the day, you will be able to do so

Non-GP Staff:

Non-GP Staff:

You may be invited to consult with some of our non-GP staff if your case seems suitable, as we have the following staff who may be able to help:

  • Paramedic & Physician Associate:
    • Can deal with acute on-the-day illnesses such as ear infections, tonsillitis, and chest infections.
  • Pharmacist:
    • Can discuss medication and conduct medication reviews.
  • First Contact Physiotherapist:
    • Can provide F2F consultations for musculoskeletal (MSK) issues (for diagnosis) and refer you to appropriate services if necessary.
  • Nurses:
    • Our nurses can see a wide range of conditions and can prescribe in certain situations.

Home Visits & Appointment Guidelines

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. If you need a home visit, please call reception before 10:00am. You may only request a home visit if you are housebound or too ill to visit the practice. Our Paramedic or GPs will visit you at home if they determine that your medical condition requires it and will decide how urgently a visit is needed. Please be prepared to provide suitable details to enable the doctor to schedule house calls.

 

Appointments with GP Trainees:

As part of our commitment to training the next generation of doctors, you may be offered an appointment with one of our GP trainees. These trainees are fully qualified doctors gaining additional experience in general practice and work under the supervision of our experienced GPs.

 

Cancelling Appointments:

If you cannot attend an appointment for any reason, please inform us as soon as possible so we can offer the slot to someone else. Un-cancelled missed appointments are routinely noted in your medical record, and you may be contacted if you fail to attend. Alternatively, you can cancel your appointment by responding to the reminder text you receive.

 

Additional Information:

  • Extended Hours:
    • Some appointment slots are available outside of the core surgery opening hours. Please contact the surgery by telephone for further details on these extended hours.

 

  • Appointment Guidelines:
    • Each appointment is designated for one person and one condition only. If you need to discuss multiple issues or if another family member requires an appointment, please book separate appointments to ensure adequate time is allocated for each concern.

Get help from NHS 111

NHS 111 can help if you think you need medical help right now

You can get help from NHS 111:

NHS 111 can direct you to the best place to get help if you cannot contact your GP during the day, or when your GP is closed (out-of-hours)

NHS 111 can also be used to book same-day appointments at local pharmacists, GPs and Urgent Care Centres, so you can get the right type of treatment

Call 999 if:

  • you get sudden pain or discomfort in your chest that does not go away – the pain can feel like squeezing or pressure inside your chest, burning or indigestion
  • you get pain that spreads to your left or right arm, or your neck, jaw, stomach or back
  • you have chest pain and you feel sweaty, sick, light headed or short of breath

You could be having a heart attack. Call 999 straight away as you need immediate treatment in hospital.

Page last reviewed: 29 June 2022
Page created: 29 June 2022