HOW DO I...
MAKE AN APPOINTMENT?

Future Appointments
For ordinary appointments, please phone or call at the surgery. Phones are less busy after 10.00am. An appointment will be made with the doctor of your choice. Booked surgeries are held every weekday. Please note Mondays are the busiest day.

These appointments can be made up to four weeks in advance. The more notice you give the easier it will be to fit you in with the doctor and time and day of your choice. You can choose to consult any of our doctors - you are not restricted to the one named on your medical card.

Duty Doctor
Each day we offer a limited number of appointments to see the duty doctor about a problem that needs to be seen more urgently. If you require such an appointment, ring or call at the surgery as soon after 8.30am as you can. Please be aware that our telephones are busy at this time, so you may not get through immediately.

Please note: duty doctor surgeries are for consultations about illness, not routine check ups for long-term illnesses.

Online Appointment Booking
A limited number of appointments are available for booking online. If you wish to use this service you will need to have special access arranged, and for this you will need to provide some form of ID, eg driving licence/passport.. The booking site is available at www.patient.co.uk

Non-NHS Examinations
Medical examinations for special purposes eg insurance, elderly drivers, pre-employment, fitness to undertake sport and fitness to travel require a special appointment to be made and a fee may be payable. Please ask the receptionist.

Patients Who Do No Keep Their Appointments
The surgery loses up to 40% of appointments due to non-attendance. Please inform us as soon as possible if you cannot come. If you ring our main number and select Option 2, you can leave a message cancelling your appointment.

Non-attended appointments are very wasteful and mean longer waiting times for everyone. After due warnings in exceptionally bad cases, patients may be requested to find another doctor.

Chaperones
If requested, male and female doctors are available. However, it may not always be possible in all situations. In these circumstances chaperones may be offered. Patients should state their preference if they wish a chaperone to be present.

HOW DO I...
OBTAIN HOME VISITS?

The facilities of the surgery are better for examining patients and starting any necessary treatment; therefore, patients should attend the surgery whenever possible. Where, however, the patient is too ill to travel to the surgery, a home visit may be requested. Please telephone before 10.00am and tell the receptionist as much about the problem as is possible. This information is to help the doctor assess how urgent each call is and to come prepared. Urgent requests will be dealt with immediately but this sometimes means that others waiting to see the duty doctor will have a longer wait.