HOW DO I...
MAKE AN APPOINTMENT?
You may see any doctor. Every effort
is made to keep to appointment times - please help by arriving on time. Each
appointment is booked for 10 minutes - please help your doctor keep to time -
ONE appointment - ONE person - ONE problem.
Routine appointments
are usually available within a couple of days. You will always be able to see
a doctor if the need is URGENT but it may not always be possible for you to see
the doctor of your first choice at the time of your choice. Please do not abuse
this facility by requesting urgent appointments for non-urgent problems. Those
patients needing to be seen urgently the same day may be asked to come at the
end of surgery, but should be prepared to wait.
If you arrive more than 10 minutes late for your appointment, it will be at the doctor's discretion whether you will be seen or not. (The reception staff cannot decide as they have to follow the doctors' instructions.) You may be asked to re-book.
PLEASE TELEPHONE
THE SURGERY IF YOU CANNOT KEEP AN APPOINTMENT.
Patients who persistently fail to attend booked appointments without explanation will be removed from the practice list.
HOW DO I...
OBTAIN A HOME VISIT?
Please help by attending surgery whenever possible. This will ensure the
doctors avoid wasting time travelling and so have adequate time to deal with sick
patients. The doctor can see on average three patients for every home visit. If
the patient has a rash or a high temperature, coming to the surgery will do no
harm and will not endanger others, but please inform the receptionist when you
arrive - a separate waiting area is available. If it is impossible to attend
surgery for medical reasons* please request visits before 10.00am.
Let the receptionist know if it is urgent and be prepared to give her some simple
details. Please do not ask for home visits unless the patient is genuinely too
ill to come to the surgery.
*Doctors do not do home visits because a patient
lacks personal transport.
HOW
DO I...
OBTAIN
TEST RESULTS?
If you have been advised to ring for the result of a test, please telephone
after 11.00am as the telephone lines are normally very busy between 8.30-11.00am.
All patient records on file or on the computer are confidential. In order to maintain
confidentiality, laboratory and X-ray results will only be given to the patient
themselves, or to parents of minors if appropriate.
HOW
DO I...
OBTAIN
TELEPHONE ADVICE?
Interrupting the doctors during surgeries
can be very disruptive. It would be a great help to the doctors if you do have
a query to give as much information as possible to the reception staff and they
can obtain the necessary information from the doctor when surgery is finished.
If you feel, however, that your query can only be answered by discussion with
either a doctor or nurse, you may be asked to ring back at an appropriate time.
Alternatively, the receptionist may take your telephone number so that the doctor/nurse
can ring you.
Please do not abuse this facility by making queries that
can be dealt with by the system of message taking in order to ensure that the
surgeries run smoothly and the telephone lines are not blocked unnecessarily.
