Appointments

Our receptionists are a key part of our team and are crucial in helping us help you as best we can.

When you book an appointment they will ask for some details to ensure you are seen by the most appropriate member of our team and to enable us to prioritise on the basis of clinical need.

You may find the online consultation form more convenient than telephoning us.

This is to enable one of our senior clinicians to review all requests for a doctor appointment within 24 hours, so they can triage them to the most appropriate care pathway.

This may include suggestions to help make the process as efficient as possible – such as having blood tests, sending photos or completing questionaries prior to the appointment. It also enables us to address issues that can be resolved without needing a full appointment, thus reducing our routine wait time.

A further benefit it is gives the opportunity to identify patients who should be dealt with urgently and not wait for a routine appointment, improving clinical safety.

We have a wide range of highly skilled professionals in our team and they are often better placed than a doctor to help with certain problems, or are equally able to help and have earlier availability. Examples include our practice pharmacists, practice nurses, nurse practitioners, physician associate and first contact musculoskeletal practitioners. They will always have a doctor available to advise them if required.

For routine matters we will of course  endeavour to accommodate a preference for a particular clinician, or a preferred gender of clinician, but it might result in a longer wait for an appointment.

For urgent matters availability is limited to the urgent care team of the day.

Yes for routine appointments it is patient choice whether it is telephone or face to face.

We will always arrange appropriate same day care for urgent medical problems. But we do not usually have capacity for routine same day appointments.

We would love to be able to offer everyone who wants one an appointment within just a few days.

However due to the well documented overwhelming pressures on the NHS relating to very high patient demand, accompanied by a widespread shortage of NHS staff, in particular GPs, our wait is longer than we would like. We endeavour to offer routine GP appointments within a fortnight.

However sometimes due to circumstances beyond our control this is not always possible. If you wish to see a specific GP you may need to wait longer than if you were happy to see any of our team.

All NHS care is free of charge at the point of need. You will not need to pay to come and see one of our doctors for NHS care.

We do not offer private appointments. There may be a charge for completion of forms or provision of documentation.

Standard appointment length is ten minutes, which is usually enough to cover one problem.

To make the best use of this time please arrive ready to give a clear and succinct explanation of the problem you have come to see us about. In exceptional circumstances it may be possible to book a double appointment – please ask reception at the time of booking

Because our surgeries are always fully booked if you arrive late for your appointment it means all the other patients for that clinician’s session are then delayed.

To avoid this inconvenience to multiple other patients you may be asked to rebook if you are late for your appointment.

Like all healthcare providers our service is strictly confidential. We can only discuss another adult’s healthcare with you if they have specifically and freely given their consent.