Appointments

The Reception Staff will ask you for a brief outline of the problem so you can be appointed with the most appropriate service, GP or Nurse. For some problems the receptionists may redirect you to a Physio, Optician for example.  This is entirely appropriate.

GP Appointments

Please telephone the surgery between 08:00 - 18:00 to arrange appointments. We operate a mix of appointments for GP's, some pre bookable, some telephone or Face to Face on the day.  

Advance Nurse Practitioner Appointments

We have appointments available daily with our Advance Nurse Practitioners.  An Advance Nurse Practitioner is a registered nurse with advance 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 Advance Nurse Practitioner could help you, either over the telephone or by attending the practice.  The Advance 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.

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.  Ask the receptionist to arrange this for you. These appointments are still within surgery time and cannot be just squeezed

General Practice Nurse Appointments

Our GPN has appointments for injections, cervical screening and also looks after patients with Diabetes, COPD and Asthma. Please make reception aware what you are attending for as you may need a longer appointment.

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. Many hours of surgery time are wasted each year due to people failing to attend for appointments.

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.
• Always make sure that the receptionist is aware that you are in the waiting room.
• 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.

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 to the service by your GP. You may 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)