We now have appointments available to book on a daily basis. These can be face to face or a telephone appointment, this is your choice.

Please remember to ask a member of our reception team if you wish to be seen face to face.

Appointments

All clinics are available to book into.  Our appointment system is updated on a regular basis due to the demands and after listening to our patients, we do regularly amend our processes accordingly.

Due to the demands on NHS walk in centres and A&E, we have been guided and advised by NHS England to offer on the day appointments only, this is to make sure we offer more appointments , unfortunately, for the time being, we will not be offering pre- bookable appointments.

Your call will be triaged first by one of our care navigators to ascertain as to which service best suits your problem. This way we can navigate you to the correct course of action enabling you to receive the best treatment and receive the best outcome.

If a doctor of your choice is not available you will offered the earliest possible alternative.

EXTENDED ACCESS SCHEME

We offer an extended access service which allows you to book a slot after 18.30pm.  Please call us on 01924 402073 to find out more details. These slots are usually held for patients who work all day and cannot get access to us from 08.00am-18.30pm. We also offer weekend appointments via telephone or face to face, please ask at reception or ring us on 01924 402073.

Cancellations

If you cannot attend an appointment for any reason please inform us as soon as possible in order for us to give the slot to someone else. We have noticed a lot of Did Not Attends at the moment. May we remind you that if you do book a pre bookable Face to Face appointment, that you attend or cancel if not needed. Our appointments are valuable and may be needed by someone who really needs our help.

DID NOT ATTENDS

If you do not attend your appointment and do not cancel it, it will be noted on your patient file. We do follow a strict policy regarding did not attends. Three DNA's in 12 months will result in you being removed from our practice list and asked to register with another GP in the area. A letter of appeal may be considered in some cases. May we remind patients how important it is to use our appointment system with respect, this enables all patients who are in need, to be seen. Please ring to cancel your appointment if it is not needed.

If you do not attend your Initial new Patient Health Check you will also be removed from our Practice List.

LATE ARRIVAL FOR APPOINTMENT

We ask that you turn up on time for your appointment. If you are late, we will allow up to 10 minutes for you to arrive. The clinician will decide if you can still be seen safely in the time that is left of your original appointment time. If it is decided you can still be seen, you will be called in time order, so, if a patient is already here and on time, they would be seen before a patient turning up late. If you arrive 15 minutes after your appointment time, you will be offered the next available slot, this may not be on the same day.

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. In this respect, if you do need a home visit, you can help us by calling reception before 11.30am. The Clinician will always call you first to ascertain how urgent the home visit request may be. In line with safety protocol surrounding the ever increasing cases of covid-19, it may be that a clinician will do a video call to assess your illness too. Please be prepared for any of these options offered.

You may only request a home visit if you are housebound or bedbound and unable to physically get to the surgery. Your GP will only visit you at home if they think that your medical condition requires it and will also decide how urgently a visit is needed. Please bear this in mind and be prepared to provide suitable details to enable the doctor to schedule house calls. If you do live out of area ( boundary map on next page ) you may not be entitled to a home visit, and this may result in a telephone or video call.

You can also be visited at home by a community nurse if you are referred by your GP. You should also be visited at home by a health visitor if you have recently had a baby or if you are newly registered with a GP and have a child under five years.

Sickness Certificates

You do not require a doctor's sickness certificate for any illness lasting seven days or less. Your employer may however require you to complete a self-certification form (SC2) which is available from your employer or on the HMRC website.

Evidence that you are sick

If you are sick for more than seven days, your employer can ask you to give them some form of medical evidence to support payment of SSP (statutory sick pay).

It is up to your employer to decide whether you are incapable of work. A medical certificate, now called a 'Statement of Fitness for Work’ (see below) from your doctor is strong evidence that you are sick and would normally be accepted, unless there is evidence to prove otherwise.

You could also provide evidence from someone who is not a medical practitioner, e.g. a dentist. Your employer will decide whether or not this evidence is acceptable. If your employer has any doubts, they may still ask for a medical certificate from your GP.

Statement of Fitness for Work - ’Fit Note'

The 'fit note' was introduced on 6 April 2010. With your employer's support, the note will help you return to work sooner by providing more information about the effects of your illness or injury. We can only process a back to work note if you are intending on returning to work on amended duties or a phased return. We do not issue a 'fit note' if you are returning to your normal working pattern after a bout of sickness leave.

For more information see the DirectGov website (where this information was sourced).

GP EXTENDED ACCESS

Evening and weekend appointments slots are now available.

Pre-bookable and on-the-day appointments are available between 19.00pm and 20.15pm Mon-Fri and 09.30-13.30 weekends. Please call the surgery on 01924 402073 to find out more details. These appointments are usually held at another site. 

How to book an appointment slot

There are ‘pre-bookable’ and ‘on-the-day’ appointments which can be accessed through your own GP practice, or by calling the free NHS 111 phone line out of normal working hours. You can also access and book an appointment slot for a face to face or telephone appointment using the system online services. If you need to use this service and do not have a password, please call into the surgery and ask for "online access".

COVID-19 RELATED ILLNESS

You can call NHS 119 for any covid related illness or questions you may have. This is a dedicated line for Covid only.