Appointments (for all appointments Tel: 01429 278179)

• Routine appointments can be made by telephoning the appointments line during Reception opening hours.  The staff will aim to offer you the Healthcare Professional of your choice, however due to urgent needs/demands of the Practice this may not always be possible - We do ask patient’s to inform us if they think their consultation will require longer than 10 minutes so we can make arrangements to accommodate this.  This helps us reduce patient waiting times.

• Pre-bookable appointments are offered three weeks in advance.

• Urgent appointments will be arranged the same day with an available GP, however we ask you to ring at 8:30 on the day as they go very quickly.

• On-line booking of appointments are available provided you have registered for on-line services (however nurse/healthcare/phlebotomy appoints must be booked through Reception to ensure correct amount of time is allocated)

• SMS message appointments reminders are also available provided the Practice has an up-to-date telephone number and consent from the patient.

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 conditions and you may be seen more quickly.

Cancellations

If you cannot attend an appointment for any reason we urge you to inform us as soon as possible by telephoning the Appointments Line or cancel via our online booking service.  

Home Visits (Tel: 01429 273191 before 10:00am)

• 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 us on 01429 273191 before 10:00am.

• You may only request a home visit if you are housebound or are too ill to visit the practice. 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 home visits.

• 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 more. Your employer may however require you to complete a self-certification form (SC2) for days 3-7 of your sickness period which is available from your employer, HMRC website or the local Job Centre.

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.

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

Extra Time Appointments

Note: Please note when booking the following appointments on-line please ensure you book the appropriate amount of time, thank you.

Can we improve on

Waiting Times ?

Following a recent patient satisfaction survey 51% of patients were dissatisfied with waiting times when seeing a Clinician.

With comments such as:

• Better time with appointments – never on time!
• Make sure appointments are on time not 25-30 minutes later than booked!

Following discussion here we feel that ways to improve waiting times would be for patients to appreciate that a 10 minute appointment is for one problem only, not two, three or four.

Ways to improve – If we all take responsibility we can hopefully achieve better waiting times in the surgery. The following, we feel, are areas where patient participation can contribute to these improvements.

• Patients requiring extra time for more than one problem - can they please let us know and we will do our best to accommodate this request

• Patients arrive on time for their appointments

• Patients to ensure they book in either on the self check-in or at Reception desk

• Only book one 10 minute appointment per patient – please DO NOT ask about family members during their own consultation