Appointments

Consultations are by appointment and can be booked in person or by telephone or by submitting an eConsult or via the electronic portal (patients must register for this service)-  

If you think that you have a problem that cannot wait until the next available appointment please either contact a local Pharmacy or NHS 111 or NHS 111 online or sign up for the NHS App.

Our Care Navigators are here to help you; they have a difficult job and are very busy with phone calls and enquiries. When telephoning for an urgent appointment the Care Navigator will ask you for a few details. They have been trained to make these enquiries so that they can help you and signpost to the  most appropriate service.

Your confidentiality will be respected at all times.

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.

The use of appointments is audited at all times to ensure appropriate resource allocation.

We will write to patients who persistently misuse the services of the surgery.

Home Visits

If you are not fit enough to come to the surgery and feel that you need a home visit please telephone before 10:00 if at all possible. If you call later in the day you are likely to have to wait much longer to see the doctor and it may not be possible to see the doctor of your choice.

Since the 1st April 2005, you have not been registered with a particular doctor but the practice. The doctors now share their workload and it may not be possible for the doctor you have traditionally regarded as your GP to perform a home visit.

House calls are only intended for the very ill or housebound patients. There are very few illnesses made worse by a short car journey and surgery consultations allow doctors to see more patients and offer better facilities for examination and treatment.

If you are requesting a home visit, the Care Navigators will ask for some details of your problem so that the doctor can prioritise his visits and attend to the more urgent problems first, then plan his route to the other destinations. If you feel the problem is urgent please say so and give your reasons.

It is a great help to us if you can give clear directions if your home is not easily identified. We appreciate it if your house has a name, or number, which is clearly visible from the road, particularly at night when an outside light should be left on. Otherwise there may be an unnecessary delay in finding the house.

If you cannot decide if you need a home visit, please telephone and ask for advice.

IF YOU FEEL IT IS A DIRE EMERGENCY OR ACCIDENT, PLEASE TELEPHONE 999 FOR AN AMBULANCE.

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).