Appointments System
We are currently seeing a huge demand for appointments, and we are trying our best to meet this demand through emergency triage appointments, pre-bookable telephone appointments and pre-bookable face to face appointments.
If your medical problem is MEDICALLY urgent please phone from 8am on the day and we will triage your problem via the triage team who will decide on the best next steps for your medical problem. We reserve around 200 same day available appointments each week.
If your medical problem is not medically urgent for the day, please call us AFTER 10am to book a pre-bookable appointment. The reasoning behind this, is so that anyone who requires medically urgent help and advice, can receive this in a timely manner as the care navigators will be able to process the urgent calls before 10am.
We like to encourage continuity when it comes to seeing the GP and therefore if you would like to see the same GP please ask the receptionist team and they will try to accommodate this where possible. This might not always be possible, particularly if it is an urgent problem, but we will try to keep the same GP for you where we can.
Our reception team are trained as care navigators and therefore they may ask the nature of your call to enable them to direct you to the best person to care for your needs at that time.
The team have access to lots of different services in-house including; advanced practitioners, GP trainees, practice nurses, healthcare assistants, phlebotomists, first contact physiotherapists, clinical pharmacists, midwives etc. As always your information will be treated with care and only shared with the appropriate clinicians. We want to ensure we get you to the most appropriate person as soon as possible to avoid you having to call back. We are here to help you and provide you with the best care we can and your help with this is much appreciated.
Non-urgent advice: Urgent Appointments
We are currently using a triage system via a team of clinicians on the day. If you require an urgent appointment (same day) please try to call before 11am.
You will be added to a triage list and they will EITHER call you to discuss your symptoms and EITHER treat you over the phone or make you a face to face appointment if they feel it is appropriate. If, after looking at your records and information, your problem is not medically urgent or requires a different NHS service, they may ask the care navigators to call you back with an alternative solution.
If your problem is not urgent, we have a limited number of pre-bookable appointments available around 2-3 weeks in advance.
Alternatively you can visit the NHS website to find other services which may be better suited to your problem so we advise you to use these where appropriate to help free up the burden on primary care.
Non-urgent advice: Enhanced Access
Enhanced GP access service is accessible 7 days per week. This is separate to our Southwell Medical Centre opening ours (8am to 6pm). If you require an appointment please enquire with the reception team.
We can book appointments with doctors and nurses between 18:30 -20:00 in our extended access these appointment may not be here at the surgery you may be asked to travel to a different surgery for this service . These are offered throughout the week and then between the practices we all do 1 Saturday a month . All these are subject to availability .
We also offer morning appointments between 07:30 – 08:00 in the mornings at Southwell Medical Centre for certain clinicians.
Staff will have some access to your medical records and should be able to help you in the same way as the doctors here, but this is dependent upon your consent prior to booking the appointment.
Please note that this service is for BOOKED APPOINTMENTS ONLY.
Appointments outside of our opening hours will be advised on how to access the building through the side entrance when their appointment is booked.
Cancel an Appointment
Whilst we understand circumstances change and sometimes at short notice, we ask that if possible you could inform the reception team if you are unable to attend your appointment, this will allow that appointment to be offered to another patient.
Please telephone 01636 813561 to cancel appointments.
We would really appreciate your help with this so all our patients have access to as many appointments as possible.
Upon Arrival
When you arrive at the medical centre for an appointment please ensure you book in at reception.
Our self check-in facility is also available to use, this is a touch screen computer system and is located at the far end of reception, near the disabled toilets. This only takes a matter of seconds to book your self in for an appointment, and will alleviate waiting time at the reception desk.
If you require somewhere private to talk to the reception team please let them know and they will ensure you can talk somewhere confidential.
Doctors Surgeries
Morning Surgeries
Doctors and advanced practitioners are available for appointments each morning from 08:00, with enhanced access appointments starting from 07:30 where available.
Nurse and HCA appointments are available from 08:00 – 12:00 each morning, with enhanced access appointments starting at 07:30.
Afternoon Surgeries
Afternoon surgeries are held daily between 13:00 – 18:00 each afternoon.
Saturday Mornings
There are no surgeries or clinics held on a Saturday morning except for our scheduled enhanced access appointments which take place during approximately 16 weekends per year, but the surgery will remain open between 08:00 – 10:30 am for the collection of prescriptions and routine administration.
Consent
We will always try to involve you in your healthcare, and all our staff will explain carefully what treatment (if any) is needed, and also about the possible outcomes.
If you and your doctor decide that minor surgery is needed, the process will be explained to you, and if it is possible for us to do the minor surgery here in the surgery, that will be offered. This may include procedures such as joint injections or the removal of ingrowing toe nails.
If you agree to any minor surgery, we will always ask you to sign a form to say that the doctor has explained the whole procedure to you, and that you are happy to go ahead.
Home Visits
If you find that you are too ill or incapacitated to attend the surgery, please telephone as soon as possible. You may be asked a few questions about the problem so that the doctors can assess the degree of urgency and plan their rounds to see the more urgent cases first. Please request visits before 11 am. This will help ensure that we have capacity to visit you after our morning surgeries finish.
House visits are only available for patients who are housebound because of illness or disability.
Please remember that several patients can be seen in the practice in the time that it takes to make one home visit. There are also better facilities for examining and treating patients at the surgery.
GP Training
We are an approved site for new GP training. These doctors are called GP Trainees. They are fully qualified doctors, having spent 5-6 years in medical school; who now wish to specialise in general practice in order to become a GP. This involves a further 3 year training period with 20 months in general practice and 16 months in hospital specialities.
Each GP trainee has a named trainer within the practice who supervises their training. Each GP trainee may spend anywhere between 3-12 months within the practice.
At times you may be offered an appointment with a GP Trainee. Consultations are carried out by the GP Trainee alone and will be reviewed by the supervising doctor from the practice if the need arises.
You may also be asked if you would be willing for the consultation to be video recorded. The video is used for training purposes only and is not seen by anyone other than the GP Trainee and the supervising doctor. Any recordings made will not be kept but erased once used for training purposes.
All your information remains confidential as it would if you were seeing a doctor from the practice in the usual way.
Your consent to have the consultation with a GP Trainee recorded is always requested before the consultation and you will be asked to sign a consent form on arrival at the practice. This is in keeping with the rules set for obtaining consent for any patients to be seen by doctors in training as required by The General Medical Council. You are under no obligation to have your consultation videoed and not wishing to do so will have no effect in your care.