OUR BOOKING SYSTEM IS NOW OPEN FOR FUTURE BOOKINGS WITH GP'S, NURSES AND OUR HCA. PLEASE CALL IN ADVANCE FOR AN APPOINTMENT (UP TO 3 WEEKS AHEAD).

Since the start of the pandemic, we have had to adapt the way patients are seen at the surgery.

To keep reducing the risk of spreading the virus, we can offer a telephone or video call, or a face to face appointment.

If you would like a face to face, telephone or video consultation with a GP, please either book online using the link above, or call the reception team from 8:30am Monday to Friday.

To have access to book appointments online, please contact the reception team.

We require our receptionists to ask for more information if possible. This helps us to try to ensure that you see the appropriate doctor, with the appropriate type of appointment, within an appropriate timescale. Our doctors and nurses have developed areas of special interest and expertise. With additional information from you, the receptionist can direct you to the doctor or nurse whose expertise best matches your needs. Some conditions or procedures may need a longer appointment or special equipment. By understanding your problem we can make this available.

We appreciate that there may be occasions when the nature of your problem is personal and you do not wish to discuss it with the receptionist. In these circumstances please tell the receptionist that you do not wish to give further details. She will then make your booking. We are arranging extra training to help our receptionists make these necessary enquiries as sensitively and discretely as possible.

In addition, when visiting the practice, if you feel uncomfortable discussing issues at the reception desk, please advise the receptionist who will take you to an area of privacy.

If you are worried about any symptoms you have, don't delay. Make an appointment to be seen. Keep the appointment and when you see the doctor or nurse explain what is worrying you. Don't hold anything back however embarrassed you might feel; the doctor needs all the important information to reach the right diagnosis. Your doctor and nurse will have encountered similar concerns before and won't be surprised or shocked.

If you aren't sure you have understood properly, ask questions and check your understanding with the nurse or doctor.

Please remember that each consultation is for 10 minutes, please consider making another appointment to discuss any problems that have not been fully dealt with.

Finally, if you are not happy with the assessment come back and make another appointment and explain your misgivings so the doctor can review the diagnosis and treatment until you are satisfied.

Every correct diagnosis and effective treatment represents an example of successful co-operation. Taking care to avoid misunderstandings will help preserve your health.

Making the correct diagnosis and achieving the best results from treatment is only possible when the clinician and patient work together in partnership. The patient has to tell their story and allow themselves to be examined while the doctor has to interpret the evidence and share their understanding with the patient. 

We make every effort to listen carefully to what the patient says, trying not to be hurried even when running late.

Appointments are ten minutes long. This represents a balance between allowing enough time for each patient and giving everyone a chance to be seen. We try and deal with any problems the patient brings but it is not possible to deal with more than one significant new problem in the short time available. It is very helpful if the most important and serious problem is presented first so that more time can be devoted to it. You would be surprised how often patients say just as they are leaving: "while I am here doctor" and then mention the problem that has really been worrying them and there is no time to sort out the problem.

We have a texting service which allows you to receive confirmation and reminders about your appointments. We think this is essential as a preventative measure to not forgetting your appointments.

If you'd like to have this service, please click on the link to the right 'Sign Up for SMS Reminders'.

Please remember it is important to update your contact details with us when you change your name, address and telephone numbers. You can let us know by clicking the link at the top of this page 'Patient Record' then 'Update your Personal Details'

If at all possible we prefer to treat patients in the surgery but are happy to visit those who are too sick to attend the Practice.

If you feel you need a doctor to visit, please try to telephone reception before 10:30am with your request for a home visit.

A doctor or nurse may phone you back as it may be that your problem can be dealt with by telephone advice, or that it would be more appropriate to send a nurse, or indeed arrange a hospital attendance. When preparing for a home visit, if we know what the condition is likely to be, we can bring with us the necessary medicines or equipment.

House visits are only available for patients who are truly housebound because of illness or disability.

Home visits are more often required for the terminally ill, the truly bedbound (where travel by car would cause a deterioration in the patient's condition or result in unacceptable pain or discomfort) and anyone with severe breathlessness or pain.

Please remember that several patients can be seen in the practice in the time that it takes to make one home visit. There are also better facilities for examining and treating patients at the Surgery.

Local guidelines state that a visit is unlikely to be required in the following cases:

• Common symptoms of childhood such as fevers, coughs, colds, earache, headache, diarrohea/vomiting and most cases of abdominal pain.
• Adults with common problems of cough, sore throat, 'flu like' symptoms, chronic back pain, dental problems and lost prescriptions/tablets.

It is important that you inform the reception staff if you are unable to attend your appointment, this will allow that appointment to be offered to another patient. Please call the reception team as soon as possible or if you have booked your appointment online, cancellation is available upto one hour before your appointment time. If you regularly fail to notify the Practice that you are unable to attend, you will be sent a letter informing you that you have defaulted from your appointment. Persistent defaulters maybe removed from the list.

Please attend your appointment on time, if you are late you may not be seen. If you are not seen and still want an appointment to see a clinican, you will need to re-book an appointment except in the event of an medical emergency that requires immediate attention.

If you require an interpreter to attend with you when you see your Doctor please notify the receptionist and she will arrange this for you.

NHS England has commissioned a new service that will support deaf people in contacting GPs, dental and optometry services as well as pharmacies in the East of England. The service will be available for patients from Monday 19 July 2021.

Who is the service for?

The service has been set up to enable profoundly sensory impaired service users who require additional support to contact primary care services that are currently unavailable to them.  Carers may also contact on behalf of patients.

It is designed for patients who can only communicate using British Sign Language and other non-spoken languages.

How to access the service?
Members of the deaf community are able to text, call, email, fax and video call to access confidential support for their primary care needs, such as arranging appointments, attending appointments and post appointment needs.

ALL interpreters are NRCPD fully registered.

Please follow the link below for more information about the service, including video guides:
https://www.dalanguages.co.uk/sign-with-us/

Write to DA Languages at:
DA Languages Statham House, Talbot Road, Manchester, M32 0FP
Fax: 0843 178 0782