Appointments

Making an Appointment

Appointments for doctors can be made up to 3 weeks in advance or by telephoning on the day you wish to be seen. Approximately half of all appointments are available to book in advance. Phones are answered from 8.00am and each patient is given an appointment time. We cannot promise to book you with the doctor of your choice nor a specific time, but we will always do our best to accommodate your requests.

A number of appointments are available to book on line, you will need to register with Emis Access to make use of this service,please contact the Reception to find out how to do this.

All nurse and phlebotomy appointments should be made in advance.

Consultations

Consultations with the doctor can be booked on the day or up to 6 days in advance. Unfortunately we cannot guarantee that you will be able to see a particular doctor nor at a particular time but we will do our best. Each appointment slot is for 10 minutes, this will normally only allow enough time for one problem to be discussed; please tell the doctor about your most worrying problem.

If you need longer than 10 minutes please ask for a double appointment.

• Dr Thompson has a surgery everyday
• Dr Irwin sees patients on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday
• Dr Valsala has a surgery everyday

If you wish to speak to a doctor on the telephone, please call after 9.00 am in the morning  for a telephone slot, the doctor will then call you back between 12.30 and 1.00pm each day except Wednesday, when doctors make calls between 12.00 and 12.30pm .Please note that not all doctors are available everyday and a limited number of slots are available each day..

Please make an appointment with our Nurses or Healthcare Assistants at least a week in advance if possible.

If you have an appointment but discover that you will not be able to attend, please let us know as soon as possible so that we can offer that slot to another patient.

Home Visits

If you require a visit, please try to ring before 11.00am to enable the doctor to plan the calls. One doctor does the house calls each day so it is not possible to request a particular doctor to make the visit.

When requesting your visit please give the staff a much information as possible so that the degree of urgency can be ascertained. Please be aware that the doctor will decide if the visit is necessary and may choose to telephone you first to establish the best way of dealing with your problem.

Test Results

Please call between 11am and 3.30pm to enquire about your test results as our reception staff will have more time to deal with your request between these times.

Note that the practice has a strict policy regarding confidentiality and data protection and we will only release test results to the person to whom they relate unless that person has given prior permission for the release of this data or they are not capable of understanding the results.

When you take your test you will be told how long it will be before the results are returned to the practice.

It is your responsibility to check your results and to make an appointment to discuss them with your doctor if your are advised to do so.

Chaperone

Consultations with a doctor can occasionally involve an examination. Sometimes it is appropriate for a chaperone to be present. Please do not be too embarrassed to ask—your comfort is very important to us. The doctor will happily arrange it for you at the time or you can request a chaperone when you book in at reception. It may be appropriate for the doctor to request that a chaperone be present, if this is the case the doctor will ask your permission first.