Appointments during COVID-19
We would encourage you to contact us through eConsult for all appointment requests. Click on the link above. We will respond before the end of the next working day or sooner.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, where an appointment is required, this will initially be by telephone.
If your need is urgent, a member of our Health Care Team will call you back the same day.
For less urgent matters, you will be booked into our next routine appointment slot. You will be contacted by a member of our Health Care Team by telephone on the day of your appointment. If there is disruption to our service due to COVID-19, we will aim to contact you within 3 working days of this appointment time.
A video call may be set up should the clinician feel this is necessary.
For Video Calls - please click the link below:-
In keeping with Government guidelines we aim to allow access to a health professional within 48hrs. We guarantee to see patients with urgent problems on the same day, if the patient considers this to be necessary.
For fairness to all patients, appointments are for 10 minutes per patient. If you think you may need a longer appointment, please ask the Receptionist for a double appointment or make a further appointment to come back.
Making an Appointment
Our telephone lines remain open continuously from 8am - 6pm.
Surgeries are held between the hours of 8.20am - 12.30pm and 2.00pm - 5.30pm, Monday to Friday (Tel: 01224 562888).
We also offer Extended Hours consulting on 1-2 days a week with GPs as follows:
7.30 - 8.30am - face-to-face appointments
5.30 - 6.00pm - face-to-face appointments
6.00 - 6.30pm - telephone consultations ( only certain GPs)
All consultations are by appointment, which can be made by telephone or in person during normal surgery hours. Please book well in advance for routine appointments. If possible, try to avoid Mondays for routine appointments as this is the busiest day of the week for patients who need to be seen with acute illnesses.
The Receptionists will ask you for details of why you require an appointment in order to signpost to the most appropriate Health Professional. We appreciate that there will be occasions when you may not feel comfortable providing such information and we would respect your privacy in such instances. You may be directed to see your local Pharmacist in the first instance for minor ailments or offered an appointment with our Nurse Practitioner who can manage many minor illnesses, such as chest and urinary infections. She can prescribe the same medications as the Doctor, and there is always a Doctor available to see patients should this be required.
If you wish to see a specific Doctor you may need to wait longer for an appointment.
Duty Doctor appointments for acute illness are available every day. These appointments are for patients who are acutely unwell and who feel that they cannot wait for a routine appointment. At times of increased demand for appointments a Clinician will sometimes call you back (sometimes referred to as triage) to prioritise the urgency of appointment requests on the day. Please be aware that Reception staff may ask you to expect a call from a Clinician if they are triaging requests for appointments.
Lastly, if you are unable to keep an appointment PLEASE telephone us in good time so that the appointment can be used for someone else. This helps us to reduce waiting times and improve our service to you.
One Problem per Appointment
Remember that each appointment is only 10 minutes long. To be fair to other patients and help us run our clinics on time, we politely ask patients to discuss one issue only in an appointment. You should not expect multiple problems to be assessed in one appointment unless those problems are all urgent or related to the presenting acute condition.
This also helps prioritise your GP or Nurse Practitioner's attention on the problem most important to you. When many problems are presented at once, this increases the risk that we may miss important issues.
We appreciate your co-operation in this matter.