How Do I?

How Do I...
Make An Appointment?

Routine Appointments

All consultations with the doctor or nurse are confidential.
Please book routine appointments in advance (at least one week) if possible.
You are free to see any doctor or nurse in the practice, but please try to see the same doctor/nurse for an ongoing/continuing problem.
Reception will try to give you a convenient appointment with the doctor or nurse of your choice.
If they are unable to do this, an alternative date or doctor/nurse will be offered.
The length of routine appointments for a doctor is limited and generally allows us to deal with one issue only. If a longer time is required, or you have multiple problems that require attention, then please book a double appointment or more than one appointment.
The length of routine appointments for a nurse is not currently set.
Please use the booking in screen or report to a receptionist.
If you are unable to keep an appointment, please cancel the booking to allow another patient to be substituted in a timely fashion.

Emergency Appointments

Emergency appointments are not available for repeat prescriptions or sick notes.
Emergency appointments will be accommodated on the day. Patients are advised to phone into the practice at 8.00am in the morning, and at 1.30pm in the afternoon. Reception staff will then instruct patients when to come to the surgery and all patients are asked to be prepared to wait.
If you are too ill to wait, please inform the receptionists who will alert the doctor on call.

Telephone consultations can be booked for the end of morning surgery, or before evening surgery. The doctor will call you, and you will need to ensure that you are available to answer your telephone between 9.30 and 11.30am.
You will also need to ensure that your telephone will accept anonymous calls, as our phone system is unable to broadcast our number to your phone.
Because of confidentiality issues, messages will not be left on an answering machine.

These are done in between surgeries and are at the discretion of the doctor after discussion and are performed for medical need and not convenience.
As home visits are very time consuming, please do not request a visit unless you are genuinely too ill to attend the surgery. Please attempt to arrange transport to the surgery with family members/neighbours/taxi if at all possible.
If a home visit is necessary, please request it before 10.00am (except in emergencies).
Visits will be prioritised according to the urgency of the presenting medical condition.
It is not possible to request a specific doctor for a home visit.

During the first week of illness, sickness absence from work should be covered by a self-certification note. These will be available from your employer.
A doctor will only provide a sick note if the sickness period is over one working week and the patient has consulted the doctor.
A doctor cannot provide a retrospective sick note. (The only time this can occur is if an individual doctor who is being asked to issue a certificate has seen the patient whilst sick.)
Emergency appointments should not be used for requests for sick notes.
If patients attend a hospital and are advised by a doctor not to work, then the hospital doctor should provide a sick note. Please request a sick note at the hospital if this is not the case.