Appointments

Urgent appointments

The quickest way to make an urgent appointment request is by using our online consultation service PATCHS. You can find this on our website home page. If you prefer to make a request over the phone, our reception team will need to ask you some questions about your problem. This information is treated in confidence and used by the GP to triage the urgency of the appointment request.

Routine appointments

To request a routine appointment within the next 7-14 days:

• use our appointment request form, Monday to Friday 7am to 4pm. We will respond within 4 hours during opening times
• phone us on 0203 376 3100, Monday to Friday from 8am to 6.30pm
• visit the surgery and speak with a receptionist, Monday to Friday from 8am to 6pm
• use your NHS account to book a screening test or vaccination

When you get in touch, we’ll ask what you need help with.

We will use the information you give us to choose the most suitable doctor, nurse or health professional to help you.

Your appointment

However you choose to contact us, we may offer you a consultation:

• by phone
• face to face at the surgery
• on a video call
• by text or email

Appointments by phone, video call or by text or email can be more flexible and often means you get help sooner.

Cancelling or changing an appointment

To cancel your appointment:

• use your NHS account
• phone us on 0203 376 3100, Monday to Friday from 8am to 6.30pm
• reply CANCEL to your appointment reminder text message

If you need help when we are closed

If you need medical help now, use NHS 111 online or call 111.

NHS 111 online is for people aged 5 and over. Call 111 if you need help for a child under 5.

Call 999 in a medical or mental health emergency. This is when someone is seriously ill or injured and their life is at risk.

If you need help with your appointment

Please tell us:

• if there’s a specific doctor, nurse or other health professional you would prefer to respond
• if you would prefer to consult with the doctor or nurse by phone, face-to-face, by video call or by text or email
• if you need an interpreter
• if you have any other access or communication needs

Home visits

Home visits are for those patients who are housebound or undergoing end-of-life care and therefore cannot get to the Practice. In the time taken for the doctor to do one home visit he could see 5 to 6 patients at the surgery. For this reason it is in the doctor’s and the patient’s best interests that, whenever possible, an effort is made to get down to the surgery. This does sometimes mean patients having to wait a while, but efforts are made to see people as soon as they arrive if their condition so dictates.

Request for a home visit should be made before 10:00 am, and the receptionist will need to be given a brief outline of the problem. Please ensure you give the receptionist your name, address and telephone number. It is very important to inform the receptionist if you are not staying at your home.

The GP may telephone you first to discuss your home visit request and from the information provided the doctor will then decide what action to take next.

Telephone Consultations

You can book telephone appointments with our GPs, Physicians Associate or Nurses in advance for various issues such as ongoing medical problems, sick notes, medication changes, blood test results, investigation results and many other things to save time and your journey.

Advanced Booking

Bookable up to 2 – 3 weeks ahead, these provide choice and flexibility as to when and by whom you are seen. If these appointments are filled on a particular day the receptionist will look for an acceptable alternative.

A number of these appointments are available to book through the NHS App.

Missed Appointments

Do you feel frustrated when you cannot get an appointment?

Every year wasted appointments cost NHS £162 million. This can cause serious delays in treatment for other patients. On average approximately 150 patients each month Did Not Attend (DNA) their appointment. This means the patient did not turn up for the appointment and did not contact the surgery in advance to cancel or change the appointment. This currently results in approximately 40 hours of wasted clinical time each month.

Please note: Each DNA is added to your file.

Please call ahead if you think you might be late or no longer want your appointment.