Appointments
Triage Service
The Triage Service is intended to help you if you have a medical problem.
This allows the Medical Staff to speak with you and decide who is best to deal with the problem or they may be able to safely provide care by telephone.
If an appointment is needed this will be arrange at a time suitable to you by the GP.
When you call the Practice the receptionist will ask you to provide a brief description of the issue and a telephone number that you can be called back on.
Pre-bookable appointments are available up to around 2 weeks in advance with our Practice Nurses or if the Doctor has requested this be done in advance.
Emergency Appointments
If you feel that you have a problem which needs to be dealt with the same day please ring the surgery and inform the receptionist that you wish to speak to a Clinician the same day.
Evening Surgeries
17:30 —18:45, 2 evening per week on alternating Monday and Friday. These appointments are intended for patients who are unable to attend during the day.
It is important to note that these appointments are not for emergencies and the Out of Hours Service will operate as normal. The surgery telephone number will continue to be diverted to NHS24 at 18:00 every evening.
As these surgeries are out with normal working hours, there will be certain limitations on the service that can be provided. For example, we are unable to carry out some blood tests, and certain other procedures. If you have any queries, please clarify with the receptionist at the time of booking your appointment.
Chaperone Policy
This Surgery is committed to providing a safe, comfortable environment where patients and staff can be confident that best practice is being followed at all times and the safety and comfort of everyone is of paramount importance.
All patients are entitled to have a chaperone present for any consultation, examination or procedure where they feel one is required. This chaperone can be a friend or family member. On occasions you may prefer a formal chaperone to be present i.e. a trained member of staff (usually a nurse).
Wherever possible we would ask you to make this request when you book your appointment so that arrangements can be made and your appointment is not delayed. Where this is not possible, we will endeavour to pro-vide a formal chaperone at the time of request. However, in this case it may occasionally be necessary to reschedule your appointment.
Your healthcare professional may also require a chaperone to be present for certain consultations in accordance with our chaperone policy.
Waiting Times
All effort will be made to see patients on time in surgery. However, surgeries can run late for a number of reasons. If clinics start to run 20 minutes late or more we will aim to let you know. Please bear with us.
Unfortunately if patients are more than 10 minutes late for an appointment the healthcare professional may not be able to see you, or you may be asked to wait until the end of their clinic or re-book
Giving Consent for Treatment
You have the right to accept or refuse treatment that is offered to you, and not to be given any physical examination or treatment unless you have given valid consent. If you do not have the capacity to do so, consent must be obtained from a person legally able to act on your behalf, or the treatment must be in your best interests.
Your valid consent (agreement to the course of action) is needed for the treatment that's offered to you before any physical examinations or treatment can be given. If you haven't given your consent, you can accept or refuse treatment that's offered to you.
It's important to be involved in decisions about your treatment and to be given information to help you choose the right treatment. When making treatment choices, you'll often discuss the options with your doctor or another healthcare professional.
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.