How to Make an Appointment

You are free to consult any doctor or nurse when you attend the surgery.  Routine consultations are by appointment only and are made by telephoning the surgery on 01224 586829 between 8.00 a.m. to 6.00 p.m. Monday to Friday.  Alternatively you can book and cancel appointments (doctor appointments only) online if registered for our onlines service EMIS ACCESS.  To register for our online appointment system, please contact us to request a registration form.

Urgent cases will be seen the same day, although it may not be with your usual doctor.  If you need to be seen urgently please be prepared to explain your problems to the receptionist so that the doctor can prioritise urgent cases.

Most appointments are 10 minutes long.  If you feel your problem requires a longer time please let the receptionist know when booking your appointment.

Appointments for acute minor illness are available with our Nurse Practitioner, Norma Smith, who can issue prescriptions if required.

If you cannot keep an appointment, please let us know as soon as possible.  This allows your appointment to be given to another patient and so helps to improve our service to you.

If you arrive late for your appointment you may be asked to re-book.

Home Visits

To request a home visit please contact us before 10.30 a.m. on 01224 586829. Please give the receptionist details of your condition so that the doctor can assess the urgency of the call.

The visiting doctor may not always be your usual doctor. As a matter of routine, you may be asked if you are able to come to the surgery as home visits take up a lot of time, especially with today's driving conditions and we encourage you to be seen at the surgery where we have better facilities to treat you.

Nevertheless, we appreciate that some patients will need to be seen at home when they are too ill or infirm to come to the surgery.

Telephone Consultations

Appointments for telephone consultations can be booked with a doctor who will phone you at a pre-arranged time. This can be helpful for ongoing discussion, test results, etc.

Telephone Advice

The duty doctor or nurse is available for emergency medical advice throughout the working day.

You may leave a routine message for a particular doctor if they are not available when you phone, and your call will be returned as soon as possible. Please be prepared to leave your telephone number and details of the advice you require with the receptionist.

Please remember that other members of the team may be able to help with your enquiry, e.g. our nurse practitioner, receptionists, pharmacist, midwife, district nurse, health visitor, and secretary.

Our Appointment Policy

We aim to provide a responsive, flexible and appropriate appointment system with the following availability standards.  However, during periods of increased demand the waiting times may be longer.  Our appointment system is regularly monitored.

Doctors

• Appointment with a named doctor:
  We aim to offer an appointment with a doctor of your choice within three working days (this may be longer if the doctor is part time).
• Appointment with unnamed doctor:
  We aim to offer an appointment with the first available doctor within two working days.
• Urgent appointment:
  Same day after discussion with the duty doctor or a nurse

Nurses

• Appointment with a named nurse:
  We aim to offer an appointment with the nurse of your choice within two working days (longer if the nurse is part time).
• Appointment with an unnamed nurse:
  We aim to offer an appointment with the first available nurse within one working day.
• Urgent appointment:
  Same day on discussion with the duty doctor or a nurse

We reserve the right to remove any registered patient from our list who fails to attend their pre-booked appointment on three separate occasions over a 12-month period.