Appointment System

We recognise that some people like to book appointments to see the doctor in advance to fit in with their work or other commitments.  We also recognise that some people like to ring and have an appointment on the same day.  Some people have routine matters they wish to discuss and some have urgent problems needing prompt attention.

We do our very best to meet all of these varying needs within the limitations of the number of doctors and appointments we have available.  Three types of appointment are available to you.

Appointments that can be booked in advance:

There are a limited number of appointments that can be booked in advance, usually up to 2 weeks ahead.  These appointments are there to give you choice and flexibility over the time and day on which you wish to be seen as well as to enable you to see your usual doctor.  If these appointments are filled on a particular day the receptionist will be happy to try and find an alternative day for you to book. There are also some appointments released 2 working days ahead to further enable you to see your usual doctor if you have developed a problem that is not urgent but you would like to be seen within a couple of days.

Appointments that are available on the day only:

Every morning at 8am a limited number of appointments become available for each doctor on that day.  These appointments are there to give you the ability to see the doctor quickly if that is your need.  Naturally there is less flexibility over the time of the appointment and the choice of doctor at such short notice.

Appointments that are available for urgent medical problems:

If all of the appointments for a particular day are filled and you have a genuinely urgent medical problem that cannot wait until the next available appointment then please tell the receptionist. The duty doctor for that day will call you back and give you advice over the phone or arrange to see you as an emergency at a specified time.  Because we are doing our best to see you as an emergency there will not be any flexibility over appointment time or choice of doctor.

Please try to remember that, whatever your situation, the receptionist can only offer you the appointments that are available.  All appointments are always in great demand and the doctors have only a limited number of hours in the day in which to meet the needs of our 16,000 patients.

 We always welcome any constructive suggestions on ways of improving our appointment system.

Telephone Consultation

You can book to have a telephone consultation with a doctor. He or she will ring back at an (approximate) agreed time on the telephone number you have given. You may leave a mobile number but please ensure it is switched on. The receptionist will ask for brief details of the nature of the call, this is to ensure a telephone consultation is the most appropriate route to meet your needs and to assess the time frame in which your call is returned.

Cancelled Appointments:

Appointments with the doctors and nurses are always in high demand, we ask you keep or cancel appointments in good time to avoid wasting appointments that someone else could use

Failure to Attend Appointments:

Repeated non-attendance is unfair on other patients. If you fail to attend an appointment and don’t let us know within a timescale that would allow someone else to use the appointment slot this will be recorded in your medical records. If you repeatedly fail to attend for an appointment your GP will write to you and advise that failing to attend on a further occasion will result in you being removed from the list. 

Nurse Appointments:

Within the Surgery we have a team of 6 Nurses helping us meet your health needs.  We offer appointments with a nurse to discuss on going Chronic Disease problems such as Diabetes, Asthma, Chronic Bronchitis, Heart Disease and Stroke.  We also offer pre booked appointments with a nurse who specialises in Women’s Health. You can arrange an appointment with her to discuss Hormone Replacement Therapy, Contraception/Family Planning & Cervical Smears.  We offer appointments with our nurses for dressings, vaccinations and general health advice. The blood clinic is run on a daily basis for GP requests only. Please ask at reception for all the services our nurses provide.