ROUTINE ONLINE ENQUIRY/APPOINTMENTS FORM
To avoid long phone queues, please use our online enquiry form for any routine problems. We aim to respond within 5 working days. If phoning the surgery for routine care the staff will ask you to complete an online enquiry form. They can also talk you through the process.
Here is a link to the form. It is available from 8am until 10am.
If a clinician has asked you for a medication review, please click the link below:
You can also upload photos on the form which will get round certain email addresses with attachments being rejected by the NHS firewall. Photos should not be of a sensitive nature.
Our purpose is to reduce patient frustration in accessing routine care caused by phone congestion.
For all urgent enquiries for medical conditions that cannot wait more than 24 hours please phone as usual (01355 225374). Please call as close to 8.30am as possible.
This is a trial based on previous feedback and we hope you will support this initiative to manage your routine care more smoothly.
If you have missed the cut off time of 10am in order to submit your enquiry then please try again tomorrow morning at 8am.
This is an alternative method of contacting us to avoid the phone congestion that many of you encounter.
We hope to keep the phones free for those whose request for care cannot wait and need clinical advice urgently today.
If your enquiry is not of an urgent nature you will be directed to the online form.
For those without internet access the admin team will complete a form on your behalf which will be dealt with in the same order as all the enquiries are received.
Can another healthcare professional help?
Sometimes the GP is not the most appropriate healthcare professional to deal with your ailment. Please see the information on see a doctor or healthcare professional, which might help you decide whether a GP appointment is truly necessary or whether it might be better for you to see a pharmacist, optician, dentist, or other healthcare professional.
As of 07.01.19 please note that no appointments will be offered without a reason and you require to advise the operator of your symptoms in order to be allocated to the correct health professional.
- Please make one appointment for each member of the family who needs to be seen
- We try to keep to time but please be patient if someone before you takes longer than planned
- Appointments are normally ten minute slots and so if you have a complicated problem, or more than one problem, please book another appointment.
- It is Practice policy to allow patients to choose whichever doctor they wish to attend in the Practice.
- Appointment times may vary during illness and holidays.
Please help us
If you are not able to attend your appointment please let us know in time so that the time can be used for someone else. If you are more than 10 minutes late for a booked appointment you may have to wait until the end of the surgery to be seen or to be asked to re-book.
We are always grateful to the patients who, when they realise they cannot keep an appointment, phone or contact us to tell reception that they will not be coming. This lets that appointment slot be used for another patient or an emergency.
Your symptoms
As a result of the requirement for you to tell us your symptoms it is difficult to offer appointments at the front desk due to confidentiality. If you attend at the front desk to make an appointment you will be asked to point to a list of symptoms in order to be allocated to the correct health professional – or you have the option to phone the surgery, there will be additional phone lines available during our peak times.
Medical Emergency Appointments
Please help the receptionists by telling them whether or not your problem is urgent. Same day appointments are available every day in the mornings and afternoons. If you feel you need to be seen urgently the Dr on call may triage your request to ensure you receive the most appropriate care.
Practice Nurses
In a number of cases it might be worth considering an appointment with a practice nurse rather than a doctor. Practice nurses are qualified to deal with many ailments. Nurse appointments are available by booking in advance.
Interpreter
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.
Private Medical Examinations
These examinations do not form part of NHS Services and you will be charged for any such examination. Please check the fee chargeable when you require to arrange any such examination.
Medical examinations for special purposes such as pre-employment, fitness to travel, elderly drivers, fitness to undertake sports etc, will require longer than a routine appointment.
