Appointments

New Information:- July 2019

The Surgery is now offering Extended Hour Appointments on Saturday's between 8.30-11.00am

Consultations are by appointment and can be booked in person or over the telephone during opening hours.  Our patients can see any of the doctors regardless of which doctor they are registered with.

Appointments can be booked online via the link at the top of this page. New users are required to complete a simple registration prior to using the service. 

All children under the age of 14 must be accompanied by an adult when attending for consultation with either the doctor or nurse.

It is necessary, on some occasions, for the reception staff to ask you for information if the GP requires it.  For example, if you wish to make appointments with the Nurse they will need to know what appointment time to allocate for you and the nurse may have to make some preparation prior to your arrival - depending upon your requirements.  Some procedures require lengthy slots of up to an hour and you will usually find that you will need to book further in advance for certain procedures and you will need to provide information to the staff. 

Practice Nurse

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. 

Practice Nurse services include:

Diabetic care, asthma care, lifestyle checks, cholesterol monitoring, blood pressure monitoring ,flu and pneumonia vaccination, immunisations & vaccinations (childhood, adult, travel), contraception (including repeat prescriptions for the pill), HRT care – including repeat prescriptions, dressings, removal of stitches, ear syringing & many other services.

Our nurse is seen by appointment but patients without appointments can usually be seen at short notice at the end of the session or fitted in if we have a cancellation – those patients with appointments have priority.

Some treatment room procedures are very lengthy and you may need to book well in advance for these.

Chaperones

All patients are entitled to have a chaperone present for any consultation, examination or procedure if they wish. This may be a family member or friend or member of our staff.  Your clinician may also prefer a chaperone to be present.

Cancellations

If you cannot attend an appointment for any reason please inform us as soon as possible in order for us to give the slot to someone else. Failure to attend without prior notice may result in removal from the practice list.

Home Visits

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 reception before 11:00 am.

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 house calls

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 less. Your employer may however require you to complete a self-certification form (SC2) which is available from your employer or on the HMRC website.  GPs do not provide self-certification forms.

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)