Appointments

To ensure that phone calls are answered as quickly as possible, please telephone after 11am for pre-bookable routine appointment requests and enquiries. If you require a specific doctor the receptionist will advise you of the next available appointment.

Each routine appointment is 10 minutes per patient.

We have limited GP advance appointments, however, if the GP schedules a follow-up appointment, the Patient Advisers will be in touch to arrange this with you.

The doctors encourage patients who need to see a doctor the same day to telephone the Practice as soon after 8.30 am as possible.

If you need to speak to a GP but you don’t feel you need to attend the surgery, the receptionist will suggest you ask your question via the website. The GP will generally respond to you within 2 working days.

On busy days, you may be offered a telephone consultation with the Duty Doctor to establish the urgency of your medical need. Our Advance Nurse Practitioners and Locums specialise in on-the-day appointments for when you are unexpectedly not well. Alternatively the receptionist can arrange a routine call back with the GP, this may take 3-4 working days. Please ensure you give the receptionist as much information regarding the call back as possible.

If you have been offered a telephone consultation, we will call you on the telephone number you have given.  Note our number will show as withheld.  If you are only available on a mobile phone, please remember to have it switched on and ensure you are in a location with good reception.

Home Visits are for Patients needing end of life care, completely housebound (uncommon), or if their clinical condition would be adversely affected by attending the Practice (rare). See our Home Visiting Policy (link to policy page)

Home visit requests should be made before 10.30am.

Please remember that several patients can be seen in the practice in the time that it takes to make one home visit. There are also better facilities for examining and treating patients at the Medical Centre.

It is important to be as frank and open as you can.  You may find it helpful to prepare some notes to bring with you to discuss during your appointment.  Taking phone calls during an appointment is wasting your GP’s time – please either decline the call or explain you will call them back.

Please ask if you would like a Chaperone present if you are having an intimate examination (a procedure involving your breast, genitalia or rectum).

If you need help with interpreting or translation, please let us know as you make the appointment.  You can arrange for a friend or relative to accompany you.  Alternatively we offer a translation service, but we will need at least 24-hours’ notice to book an interpreter.