ONLINE APPOINTMENT BOOKING UNAVAILABLE

AS PART OF THEIR CORONAVIRUS PREPARATION GUIDANCE, PUBLIC HEALTH ENGLAND HAVE RECOMMENDED THAT ALL PRACTICES TEMPORARILY DISABLE ONLINE BOOKING OF APPOINTMENTS SO THEY CAN BE TRIAGED

WE APOLOGISE FOR ANY INCONVENIENCE

PLEASE USE eCONSULT TO REQUEST AN APPOINTMENT INSTEAD

Appointments

GP and Nurse Appointments

GP appointments are scheduled at ten minute intervals. If you have more than one topic that you wish to discuss with the doctor you may be asked to make a separate appointment, as unfortunately the GP may simply not have sufficient time without causing their clinic running behind.

We do also ask that all patients attend on time for their appointment. Whilst we appreciate that sometimes the doctor may run late in their schedule, that is not to say patients should deliberately attend late; it simply means that a patient before you has clinically required more time for the doctor to deal with their problem.

If a doctor is running behind, please appreciate that it is not the receptionists' duty to monitor the doctors' schedules. It is understandable that you may wish to enquire as to how late your doctor is running, but please do not take out your frustration on reception staff, and do not ask them to message the doctor to ask how long they will be.

We would be grateful if you could bear this in mind if you do experience a delay.

Although nurse appointments are slightly longer at fifteen minute intervals, we do also ask that patients afford the nurses the same courtesy as detailed above.

How to Book an Appointment

To make an appointment, please use eConsult. You can also book appointments online (please see the ‘online services’ section).

Please bear with us as we try to move appointment booking away from telephone booking as much as possible, in line with other GP practices. This will both ensure appropriate appointments are booked for your needs, and reduce telephone waiting times.

Urgent Appointments

In urgent cases we try to offer same-day appointments. It is helpful if patients use eConsult to provide as much information as possible. Please request before 09:30.

Doctors will speak to patients on the telephone initially, but will call in order of priority. If you opt to telephone us initially, our receptionists are asked to provide the doctors with an as much information as possible about each problem. Please note that if you do not provide such information the doctor will only be able to call you once they have triaged the patients who left messages (if you are uncomfortable doing this, you will likely find eConsult a better option).

If you want to speak to reception, please select option 1 and a receptionist will take a message and contact details. This applies to both surgeries.

The New Surgery is open from 08.00 -18.30 Monday to Friday.

We have an extended-hours surgery on Saturday mornings from 08.30 - 12.30.

Any emergency requests during extended-hours surgeries will be diverted to the out-of-hours service.

Doctor Rotas

Some of our doctors are part-time. The days our doctors work are listed below:

Our telephone lines are usually extraordinarily busy between 08:00 and 10:00. For future appointments you may wish to telephone during the afternoon when lines are less busy. Calls are answered in rotation. Please stay on the line, and your call will be answered by a member of the reception team as soon as they are available. Please be aware that our receptionists juggle a multitude of duties, and some queries are more involved than others.

Please arrive promptly for your appointment. Patients arriving more than 10 minutes late may be asked to rebook at their doctor's discretion. Please do remember to cancel your appointment if you no longer need it, or you cannot keep it. These appointments may then be offered to another patient who may need to be seen urgently. You may now do this via our on line booking appointments service (please see the ‘online services’ section of the practice website).

eConsult

What is eConsult?

eConsult is a secure online platform for contacting reception about matters you previously would have telephoned for. It is the best way to contact the surgery!

YOU DO NOT NEED LOGIN DETAILS - simply click here to begin!

We are encouraging the use of eConsult to book appointments going forward - it's not only for urgent appointments.

You will be able to submit more detailed information about your condition than you would otherwise feel comfortable giving by telephone or in person.

This is turn will enable the GP to instruct reception to book you the most appropriate appointment for your needs.

What's more, this reduces waiting times for those who have no alternative but to book by telephone!

Please also use eConsult to contact us for other reasons, for example to request:

• medical certificates
• blood test forms
• other tests, such as stool or urine, x-rays, etc.
• test results
• SystmOnline password reset

We are confident that anyone who uses eConsult will want to use it again, as it is so much easier!

Telephone Consultations            

The doctors are usually willing to give advice over the telephone. If you wish to speak to a doctor please initially make your request via eConsult.

You should not expect a call back immediately, as they will be seeing patients in their clinic. Occasionally it may be possible for a doctor to call you back between patients, but please do not expect this as the norm. Be prepared to wait until after 13:00 for requests left during the morning, and any time from 16:00 'til after 18:30 for telephone requests left during the afternoon.

The receptionist will ask who the advice is for and will also ask for a brief idea of the problem, in case the doctor needs to have relevant notes etc. to hand. We will ask for the telephone number you are calling from so that we can call you back.

If you have to telephone for test results please telephone after 10:00, as we would appreciate our lines being kept clear during this initial busy period for urgent requests for on-the-day appointments.

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.

You may only request a home visit if you are housebound or too ill to attend the practice. Your GP will only visit you at home if they think that your medical condition warrants it, and will also decide how urgently a visit is needed. Please be prepared to provide sufficient 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 of age.

Teaching & Training

The practice accepts Undergraduate student doctors from Queen Mary University London and Kings College London. You may be offered an appointment with an undergraduate doctor which will be overseen by one of the GP partners in the practice.

We very much hope that you will support the practice in the training of new doctors, but if you would really prefer not to see a student doctor please advise reception.

Sickness Certificates

Contrary to popular belief, 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.

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 should 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).

If you require a medical certificate from your GP, the best way to request one is via eConsult.

Cancel an Appointment

You can cancel your appointment online by clicking here.

NEW! You can now cancel an appointment by text. Ask a receptionist to record your consent to receiving text messages and you will receive a text reminder the day before any appointment containing the cancellation text number. Simply reply 'CANCEL'* and the system will automatically cancel your appointment.** 

Alternatively please call 01277 218393 and press option 6.

*Please text only 'CANCEL' or 'Cancel' - any longer messages (we frequently receive responses containing apologies and reasons for cancellations) will not be recognized by the system and therefore won't be cancelled, making it appear for all intents and purposes that you have failed to attend.

**The system requires some time to act. Please note that if a cancellation text is sent less than two hours before your appointment it may not be automatically cancelled in time. It is advised that you always cancel as soon as you know you cannot make an appointment.