Appointments

The Reception Staff will ask you for a brief outline of the problem so you can be appointed with the most appropriate GP or Nurse. You will be added to our triage system. You will receive a call from a clinician who will assess your symptoms by telephone. If necessary they will arrange for you to attend the practice at an agreed time.

GP & Nurse Appointments

Please telephone the surgery between 08:00 - 18:00 to arrange appointments. Patients with urgent medical problems are seen on the same day usually by the nurse practitioner. All consultations are by appointment only, lasting for a minimum of 10 minutes.  However, if a patient has a difficult problem or requires hospital admission during surgery, delays can result.  We appreciate your patience should you experience delay.

Nurse Practitioner Appointments

We also have appointments available daily with our nurse practitioner Tracey Easson.  A nurse practitioner is a registered nurse with advanced nurse education that includes training in the diagnosis and management of common minor illnesses as well as complex medical conditions.  When you phone telephone for an appointment the receptionist will ask for some details from you to decide whether the nurse practitioner could help you, either over the telephone or by attending the practice.  The nurse practitioner can prescribe medications if they are required, and can help you with lots of conditions including; earache, urinary symptoms, chest infections, backache, emergency contraception, eye infections, skin complaints, diarrhoea & vomiting.

Please also note:

• One appointment – one patient – please do not ask the doctor or nurse to see other members of your family during your appointment as the records will not be available and this causes longer waiting times for everyone.
• Alwaysmake sure that the receptionist is aware that you are in the waiting room.

Telephone Consultations

On some occasions patients may wish to speak to a doctor or nurse on the telephone as an alternative to a face-to-face consultation in the surgery.  The doctors are available at designated times to speak to patients on the telephone.  Ask the receptionist to arrange this for you. Please remember that you can leave messages or speak by telephone to other member of the practice team i.e. practice nurse, health visitor, district nurse, practice pharmacist.

Cancellations

If you cannot attend an appointment for any reason please inform us as soon as possible in order for us to give the slot to someone else.

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 10:30.

You may only request a home visit if you are housebound or are too ill to visit the practice. Your GP will only visit you at home if they think that your medical condition requires it and will also decide how urgently a visit is needed. Please bear this in mind and be prepared to provide suitable 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.

Sickness Certificates

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 would 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)