Appointments 

Appointments can be made in person or by telephone during opening hours.

Appointments are now available on-line to use this service you will require a password - Please ask at reception.

If you feel you that you need to see a GP today we will ensure you are able to discuss your concerns with a clinician today, if appropriate.

Late Arrivals

If you arrive more than 10 minutes late for your appointment you will be asked to re-book.

Cancellations

If you cannot attend an appointment for any reason please inform us as soon as possible in order for us to offer the appointment to another patient.

Ratby Patient Participation Group have asked Ratby Surgery some questions that they feel patients would like to know regarding the practice and their current services:

• Why do receptionists ask so many questions regarding our medical problems when we wish to book an appointment?

Our reception team ask questions to ensure that you see the right health professional within the right time frame and are trained to do this. We offer emergency/very urgent appointments on the day, urgent appointments within three days and routine appointments and we do this to ensure we are able to care for patients with urgent medical issues quickly whilst still being able to book patients in for routine problems. We feel this is a fairer system than an 8am ‘Ring and hope’ method  for patients to try and get through to us quickly over the phone before all appointments have been booked for the day leaving patients with urgent medical problems without an appointment.

• Why have I been booked in with someone who isn’t a GP?

Over the last two years, the number of clinical staff has increased, but they are not all GP’s. We now have a highly skilled specialist physiotherapist trained to see all muscular and joint problems.  Unlike standard physiotherapists which simply teach you exercises she is able to diagnose, treat, request scans or refer on to hospital if needed We also have two clinical pharmacists who can care for certain medical conditions and review your medications and any side effects. This means that the doctors can be seeing some of the more complex conditions that the others are unable to treat. If for some reason your condition isn’t able to be treated by this person they contact the GP directly to rebook you or ifpossible squeeze you in that day.

• Why is the waiting time for a routine appointment longer than it used to be?

 The practice has historically always had very good waiting times for a routine appointment compared to other practices in Leicestershire. Whilst our waiting times have increased over the pandemic, the number of appointment we are offering has increased as we are now offering appointments with Jane our Specialist Physiotherapist and Deepa and Aisha, our Clinical Pharmacists. All areas of the country are seeing an increased demand for medical care per average patient , whether in hospital or GP practices over the last 18 months and this is affecting all GP practices waiting times.  Due to understandable hospital delays patients who normally would have been seen by now after a referral to the hospital team are needing more appointments or care whilst they are awaiting the hospital teams input.   The workload has also changed with more blood test results, letters from hospital teams for change in prescrptions or new medications and all of this still needs GP time.

• Why do receptionists suggesting contacting other services such as the local chemist?

Local chemists are trained to deal with minor ailments that can be treated with over the counter medications. If patients with minor illnesses like these see the pharmacists, this  can help to free up GP appointments for patients with more complex medical problems.  This is a national change and not just our practice  The chemist also writes back to the practice so we know what treatment they have suggested or in rare circumstances if they are unable to treat it they contact us directly to arrange an appointment in a suitable timeframe for your condition.

• The practices lists size is increasing, so is the practice recruiting more staff?

Our list size has been increasing rapidly over the last five years and we have been recruiting GPs to the practice to support that. Over the last six years, we have had three new GPs,  Dr James Ogle, Dr Reema Parwaiz and Dr Asim Parwaiz join the practice. However we have been trying to recruit an extra doctor to the practice to support us but there is a national shortage of GPs and we have not been successful yet. So to support us instead we have recruited two clinical pharmacists and a Specialist Physiotherapist to care for certain illnesses to free up GP time for patients with other health problems.

• Why do we have to have a telephone call with the doctor first?

The practice has not been following a telephone triage system since the summer of 2022. All patients are offered the choice of either a face to face appointment or a telephone call depending on their wishes, their symptoms and which clinician it is most appropriate for them to see.

• How can a doctor decide if I am ill over the phone?

Doctors are trained to deal with medical conditions both face to face and over the phone as part of their training. Certain conditions can be easily cared for over the phone and others might only need to be seen occasionally for a longer term condition. However, if your medical problem needs to been checked face to face, we would book you in for that appointment after the telephone call.  It also minimises the duration you need to be in the surgery for as your appointment will often run quicker as the doctor/nurse has this background information already to hand.

• Why can’t I have a fixed time for my telephone call?

If reception gives you a fixed time unlike when youcame into the surgery fopr most appointments and you could see the waiting room was packed the change to telephone means that all the following appointments run late with no way of explaining this.  When we trialled it we subsequently had lots of calls from patients understandably wanting to know why they had not been contacted yet.  This blocked up the phone lines immensely and caused further frustrations.  If there are set times that are better suited if you give a few options there is a higher chance of the GP team being able to fit in with this but if incredibly restricted there are inevitable reasons why this doesn’t work e.g. discussions with paramedics, hospital consultants contacting us, patients who have higher priority e.g. end of life etc.

• I missed the call - why do I only get a set time period to contact the GP back before I have to rebook?

Without setting a cut off time for to contact us back we found that everyone either contacted us back afterlunch or after 5pm etc.  Sadly it simply didn’t work and as such we needed an appropriate timescale after all you have booked an appointment and are aware that a call will come in that day.  15 minutes allowed those on the toilet, in a call etc to leave in order to make that call back.  Due to the new phone system it is also much easier to get though to reception who will reset your call and inform the GP.  The GP may not be able to immediately call you back as they may be on the phone to another patient, taking a call from a consultant in hospital, seeing someone face to face etc.

• Are the doctors going to do house visits again?

The Leicestershire Commissioning Groups who contract medical services within Leicestershire developed an urgent home visiting service for patients who need a home visit urgently but not an ambulance. For routine reviews a specialised home visiting GP might come out and visit as needed or it could be another member of the team such as a district nurse.  This is to allow Gps within practices to see more patients as it takes at least 30 minutes per home visit during which time a GP can see three patients.  As such they are reserved for those who are housebound (not able to leave even for things like haircuts, hospital appointments etc).   Many patients who are quite disabled attend the surgery for their care and our reception team are happy to support patients in wheelchairs or mobility scooters to use the ramp to enter through the front door.