About GP Appointments
- There may be a need to cancel or postpone some routine and non urgent appointments
- Unless you hear from us, your appointment will continue as planned
- If we need to change anything, we will make direct contact with you
- Face-to-face appointments are available to all patients where there is a clinical need. You will be asked to first discuss your conditions over the phone or online with a member of the healthcare team. This is to assess what would be most appropriate for you and which practice member would best provide it.
- Most common conditions can be assessed and diagnosed by your doctor by telephone or video consultation. They are experienced and skilled in doing this. Using technology like this will help to protect you, your family and loved ones - and GP practice staff from the potential risk of the virus.
- General practice services are extremely busy and are working hard to treat as many patients as possible.
- Reception staff are trained to help patients reach the correct service. This may not always be your GP practice. You can also find further information via www.111.nhs.uk
- Your pharmacist can also help with minor ailments.
- Please be patient with our staff who are here to help
- We take a zero tolerance approach to abuse
TELEPHONE CALLS TO THE SURGERY
If you are not calling to request an ‘on the day’ appointment it is better to avoid calling at 8am or 12noon.
You can call at any time to request a pre-booked appointment for up to 2 weeks in advance.
For test results please call in an afternoon when lines are less busy.
For home visits please call before 10.30am. The receptionist will need to ask some details so that the on call GP can prioritise.
When booking appointments for the nurse the receptionist will ask what it is for. This is so the correct amount of time can be allocated for your appointment. If it is for something personal which you do not wish to disclose to the receptionist let them know, and they will not ask for further details.
Telephone Advice
A doctor will be available to answer any medical queries you may have. If you feel an appointment is not necessary, ask reception staff to book you a telephone consultation appointment instead.
How to Cancel an Appointment
If you are unable to keep your appointment, please give us as much notice as possible so that your appointment can be offered to someone else.
If you are cancelling please telephone us on 01772 503200 as soon as possible, and at least 30 minutes before your appointment time. This will enable us to offer your appointment to someone else.
If you are signed up for the services you can cancel your appointment online using Patient Access or The NHS App.
Remember that there may be a shortage of appointments. When you fail to attend you have prevented someone else from being seen in your place. On average about 230 appointments are missed each month
We will record cancellations notified less than 30 minutes before the appointment time as failure to attend (DNA).
Repeated failure to attend booked appointments is a significant waste of NHS resources
Missed Appointments
The Practice unfortunately experiences a large number of missed appointments each year, approximately 4500. If all these were 10 minute appointments, this would equate on average to 62.5 hours per week of missed GP and nurses appointments, that could have been used by other patients.
First DNA: You will receive either a text message (if we have your mobile number) or an initial letter to state that you have missed an appointment and the practice will be monitoring any further DNAs.
Second DNA: A letter will be sent to you after you have missed further appointments. This letter will explain the surgery policy and that if you DNA 3 or more appointments you may be deducted from the surgery list.
Final DNA: The matter will be brought to the attention of the Practice Manager and your registered GP to review possible removal from the practice list.
Missed GP appointments costing NHS millions
Try the NHS App
You can now use the NHS App, a simple and secure way to access a range of NHS services and your GP account on your smartphone or tablet.
You can use the NHS App to check your symptoms and get instant advice, order repeat prescriptions, view your GP medical record, access your Covid vaccination status and more.
If you already use online access you can continue to use it. You can use the NHS App as well.
For more information go to www.nhs.uk/nhsapp
Home Visits
If you are too ill to come to the Medical Centre, a home visit can be arranged. Telephone before 10.30am if possible and give a brief explanation of your condition to the receptionist. This will help the doctor to assess the urgency of the visit.