HOW TO USE OUR SERVICES

The Practice holds a PMS Contract and provides all core services, all Direct Enhanced Services, the majority of Local Enhanced Services, and a selection of National Enhanced Services.

Reception

All our Receptionists are here to help all of our patients at all times. As Reception is the first contact with the Surgery it would be helpful if you would share details of your problem so that you can be directed to the most appropriate person to answer your queries. Reception work covers a wide, complex range of tasks including answering queries, tests investigations, taking messages, booking ambulances, generating prescriptions etc as well as making your appointments. We ask that you treat our Reception staff with respect and in a manner that you would like to be treated.

Physically or verbally violent, aggressive or abusive people will be removed from the Practice List.

Do you really need to see a Doctor?

You may need to see a health professional but there are several options within the Surgery to access treatment of problems or conditions as well. Your problem may be dealt with more appropriately and more quickly by a member of our clinical team other than a doctor.

We have a range of staff for you to see as an alternative to a doctor:

* Nurse Practitioners
* Practice Nurses
* Healthcare Assistants

Our clinical team works closely together; any causes for concern are passed on to the doctors. When you make an appointment, please discuss with the Receptionist the most appropriate person for you to see. This will probably help us to give you quicker access to an appointment.

We would encourage you to provide information to our Reception staff as they will be able to assist in offering quicker alternative appointments.

NURSE PRACTITIONER

Our five Nurse Practitioners work complementary to the doctors in that they are qualified to examine, and treat, patients with minor illnesses and injuries.

Usually they can see patients on the same day or offer them professional advice over the telephone.

They are able to provide care and prescribe for patients that are suffering from minor, but uncomfortable, illnesses or injures in the daily 'emergency' clinics. These clinics operatein the mornings and function as a joint Docyor/Nurse Practitioner service. Nurse Practitioners are qualified to offer help and treatment to patients whose conditions fall within their area of practice.
Examples of the types of problems Nurse Practitioners can advise on and treat are:

They are all able to prescribe for these conditions where appropriate.
Nurse Practitioners are Independent Nurse Prescribers which means they are able to sign their own prescriptions.
By seeing patients with less complex problems the Nurse Practitioners are helping to promote better access to the doctors' appointments, thus allowing the doctors more time to care for patients with more complicated and serious conditions.
Finally, they are also able to give advice to patients over the phone if all that is required is reassurance, and perhaps self-medication, which again may save an unnecessary visit to the doctor.

PRACTICE NURSES

Our Practice Nurses offer a wide range of services including health promotion and prevention clinics to facilitate regular management of conditions such as:

It is very important that patients attend specialised clinics, eg diabetes, asthma, etc. when requested to do so. Failure to do so may result in medication being withheld until you do.

If you have problems or concerns that relate to any of these then you can make an appointment with the appropriate Nurse to discuss it.

HEALTHCARE ASSISTANTS

Our HCAs are able to provide a range of services including:

THE APPOINTMENTS SYSTEM

The appointment system for all clinical staff works both for your convenience and to aid the clinical team.

Please do not walk in without an appointment, as we do not have the resources of a Walk-in Centre.

We operate a 4-week booking system with the doctors to prevent long waiting times.

Whenever possible we hope to have a doctor's appointment available for you to be able to book one straight away in that five-day period.
Holidays, sickness or study leave will inevitably place extra strain on our appointments system. Nonetheless, we try hard to give you convenient appointments.
Every day, we operate a morning 'emergency' clinic which is a joint Doctor/Nurse Practitioner service. PLEASE RING BEFORE 10.00AM FOR EMERGENCY APPOINTMENTS ON THE DAY
Appointments with the Practice Nurses and Healthcare Assistants can be made at any time in advance.
As the Nurse Practitioners deal with urgent problems their appointments are usually only booked on the day itself.
Appointments can be made in person or by telephone.

Patients are now registered with the Practice rather than individual doctors. This does not prevent patients expressing a preference for their choice of GP when requesting an appointment, but please be advised that you may experience a longer waiting time for an appointment if a specified GP is requested.

Appointment slots are for 10 minutes each and we urge you to keep to this timescale to avoid long waits. If you feel you may need more time please ask for a double appointment. There should only be one patient per appointment. Please ensure that you arrive for your appointment on time. Late arrival may mean that you will be asked to re-book.

If you cannot keep your appointment please contact the Surgery as soon as possible so that the time can be used for someone else. Missed appointments and late cancellations can waste up to one day's appointments each month per GP.

Our Practice has a very large list size of 14,000 patients. We need your co-operation and understanding for things to run smoothly.

How Do I... Make An Appointment?

There is a range of appointments available through the day.

There are GP appointments between 8.00 to 11.40am, and 2.00 to 5.20pm, but please note that not all GPs have appointments at these times.

There are Nurse and HCA appointments available between 8.10am to 12.30pm, and 1.30 to 5.30pm, but please note that not all Nurses/HCAs have appointments at these times.

Urgent Appointments

Telephone the Surgery between 8.30 and 10.00am and, if the Nurse Practitioner thinks it appropriate, an urgent appointment will be given for the same day. Abuse of this facility will lead to considerable inconvenience to other patients.

How Do I... Obtain A Home Visit?

Telephone between 8.00 and 10.00am. All requests for a home visit are dealt with by a Nurse Practitioner. She will normally speak to you on the phone, or return your call if she is not available at the time. Severity is determined and urgent actions can be advised.

Most patients requesting a home visit will be urged to come to the Surgery. Home visits are intended only for those people who are too ill to be transported to the Surgery. Attending the Surgery can reduce the length of time waiting to see a clinician and allow any appropriate tests to be performed straight away and treatment started.

Any request for a home visit should be made before 10.00am wherever possible, and please be prepared to give some details of the symptoms since this will help decide the urgency and priority of visits.

How Do I... Obtain Test Results?

When enquiring about test results, please ring between 11.00am and 3.00pm to enable us to keep our telephone lines free for urgent calls in the morning. In the majority of cases a message will be passed on to the doctor asking them to comment on the result and add a message to your records on the computer screen, so you will normally be asked to ring again later.

To ensure continuity of care, routine result requests will be added to the diary of the doctor who requested the tests. You may be asked to ring back in a few days for the doctor to give their reply, as they may not be in surgery on that day.