Appointments

Appointments can be made either at the reception desk (between 8.30am and 6pm) or over the phone from 8.00am - 6.30pm.  Appointments can be booked in advance. 

Emergency appointments are offered where someone is thought to have become acutely unwell and cannot wait for review until the following day. These appointments with be with the duty clinician somewhere in our building. Please request these only where such rules apply as they have a knock-on effect on surgeries and can lead to delay for other patients who have booked appointments in advance.

Telephone Advice

If you need to speak to a doctor, nurse practitioner or nurse in the practice, but you feel that a face to face consultation is not needed, you can book a telephone consultation.

• Acute Telephone Appointments - These appointments can be booked if you want to speak to a doctor/nurse within 24 hours. You will not be able to specify who you speak to. The doctors/nurse practitioner will rotate to cover this surgery.
• Routine Telephone Appointments - These appointments can be booked if you wish to speak to a specific doctor/nurse. You will be offered the next available appointment or can arrange a suitable date and time with the receptionist. These appointments can be booked 2 weeks in advance.

Transport to Hospital Appointments

Requests for ambulance transport should go through the Referral and Booking Management Service (RBMS). A telephone triage service will assess you to ensure you fulfil the criteria for ambulance transport. Call 01942 482990 to arrange this.

Video Recording of Consultations

Sometimes the doctors make video recordings of their consultations with patients. These are used to help improve their consultation skills and their ability to talk to patients. When this is happening the receptionist will ask you to sign a form if you agree to your consultations being recorded.

If you prefer not to have your consultation recorded please tell the receptionist. This will not affect your treatment in any way. If you initially agree to the recording then change your mind, please tell the doctor or receptionist and the tape will be erased. The videotape is subject to the same confidentiality and security as your medical records. The tape will only be seen by doctors or people who are responsible for your care. The tape will only be used for the purpose of learning and teaching consultation skills.

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.