We have changed the way that our appointments system works.
If you call us, our trained reception staff will either directly book you an an appointment or they will ask you to fill in an Online consultation.
We will always try to see medically urgent cases the same day but if your appointment request is not medically urgent then we will ask you to complete an appointment request form.
If you can’t fill in an online form then don’t worry, we will do it for you. Please tell the receptionist who answers your call and they will assist with this.
This Online Consultation will be assessed and you will receive a response from the practice staff as soon as possible within 48 hours.
Information about our Appointments
Our trained reception staff will ask some questions about how we can help you. This will enable us to provide you with the most appropriate care as quickly as possible.
This might mean our team directs you to see a health professional other than a GP, such as a Nurse, Health Care assistant, First Contact Physio, Pharmacist or Community Pharmacist.
Please be assured that any information given by you will be treated strictly confidentially. If you don't wish to say what your issue is, that will be respected but may result in longer wait times if we are unable to direct your appointment appropriately.
The practice continues to always try to see patients who contact us with an urgent medical issue on the same day.
In times of exceptional demand we may not be able to see all of the emergency appointments and we cannot offer unlimited appointments as doctors’ sessions can become overbooked and this constitutes a potential clinical risk.
In extreme cases we may direct emergency appointment requests to NHS 111.
In order to access an urgent same day appointment you will need to telephone us as soon as possible so that the emergency appointment workload can be managed.
You will always be asked the reason for your urgent same day appointment request so that this information can then be passed onto the doctor.
Urgent same day appointments will not always run to a set time and you may have to wait. This wait time will depend on the number of other urgent appointments.
The doctor may also review your issue and ask for a different clinician to contact you or ask reception to call you to arrange a different appointment.
Our pharmacist and paramedic are also trained in managing illness and these appointments are also available to support the demand for urgent same day appointments.
Some routine appointments can be booked up to two weeks in advance.
In order to book such an appointment we will ask you to fill in an Online consultation form.
As well as minor illness appointments, our pharmacists provide appointments for medication queries, medication reviews, structured medication reviews which are longer half hour appointments for more complex patients and learning disability reviews.
Since January 2024, NHS England is offering a new approach to improve access for patients to a same-day consultation with a healthcare professional.
For more information about Pharmacy First please click here.
If your symptoms can be resolved by a booked consultation with the community pharmacist instead of the GP, you will be given a same-day referral to a pharmacy of your choice. Your consultation may take place on the phone or in person at the pharmacy.
We think this is a good thing. We are working closely with your local pharmacist who is a highly trained and skilled clinician, experienced in treating minor illnesses. Once you see how great they are at helping with minor ailments we don’t think you’ll look back.
This will also help us to free up GP appointments for people with more complex health needs and ensure that everyone gets treated at the right time, by the right healthcare professional.
Our First Contact Physio offers appointments for people with new muscular skeletal issues. Patients are assessed and can be referred into the MSK service as well as being offered advice for patients’ self-care either to resolve an issue or to help them while they are waiting for their MSK appointment. This is not a treatment service but can assist patients in understanding the best options for their ongoing care.
If your request is not urgent then you do not have to call us first, you can simply fill in the same Online consultations, appointment request or query form and we will get back to you as soon as possible.
To do this please click on this button
For more information about our Online consultations and appointments system please click here
If your concern is regarding a case of suspected measles please make sure you tell us when you contact us either by telephone or by completing an Online consultation, appointment request form.
If you prefer you are welcome to book a telephone consultation with the clinician but there are some types of consultations that require you to be seen face to face. Our reception staff will be happy to advise you on the appropriate appointment type.
Patients are generally seen at the surgery, but between the hours of 8.00am and 6.30pm patients may be seen at home if the doctor considers a home visit necessary because of the patient’s medical condition.
Please call the surgery as soon as possible if you believe a home visit to be necessary.
Visits may be carried out by the most appropriate member of the practice team.
Travel Health Questionnaire
To help us offer the appropriate advice, please fill out the online form before coming to see the nurse.
If you suffer from a chronic condition that requires monitoring, for example, Diabetes, then you will be contacted by the surgery to arrange your review appointment. These are either with a doctor, pharmacist or one of our nurse led specialist clinics.
We no longer offer urgent same day appointment booking at the desk as this unfairly prioritises those who are able to get to the practice in person and unfairly disadvantages those who are too sick, frail, disabled or unable to attend in person for other reasons, such as being at work or taking children to school.
Having a single phone-based appointments system is the only way to enable a fair patient queuing system although we do also offer a call back service which allows you to stop hanging on the phone and instead get an automatic call back when you get to the front of the queue.
If your appointment request is not urgent then you can also fill in the Online consultations, appointment request or query form.
We are keen to hear what you think and will be listening to your comments and feedback about your experience of using this new appointment service. If you would like to join our Patient Participation Group and have the opportunity to be involved in discussions about our services then please complete a PPG sign up form here
Alternatively, you can complete a Friend and Family test form here