LATEST NEWS

Self Referral

If you are registered at the surgery as a patient, there are a number of hospital and community services that you are able to self refer to directly without needing to see a GP or nurse first.

Please find our page on self referral here.

Before Booking an Appointment

We would like you to consider reading this advice first. We are always happy to see or speak our patients but are also happy if we can make sure that you see or speak to the right person or service as soon as possible to address your health issue. Sometimes this is not the GP.  

Please consider running through this checklist before booking a GP appointment.

1. Check with the NHS app or 111

The NHS App is great for finding out when and where to get help with your health. Alternatively, you can call 111 or visit the 111 online service here to get high quality NHS advice and guidance.  

2. Consider talking to your community pharmacist

Our practice is fortunate to have many high quality community pharmacies in close proximity staffed by expert pharmacists. You can search online for pharmacies here.  Pharmacists can help with a large range of minor health conditions, and can also provide help and advice for long term conditions like asthma and diabetes.  The pharmacist will direct you to a GP if needed.

3. Consider self referral

In Islington, you are able to refer yourself to a number of services including physiotherapy, podiatry (foot care), urgent eye problems, antenatal care, psychology and mental health services. Please see our self referral page here.

4. Contact a dentist instead

As a medical practice, we are not trained or qualified to treat tooth or gum problems. If you have a tooth or gum problem, please contact your dentist and not the GP surgery. You can search for an NHS dental service here.

5. Think about which health care professional to see at the surgery

We have a number of different health care professionals at the GP surgery in addition to doctors. It may be that your problem is best dealt with by one of them and not the doctor. Our team includes:

• Practice nurses 
• Health care assistant
• Practice based pharmacist

6. Are you looking for a sick note or a prescription?

If so, you probably do not need a GP appointment. Please see our guidance on how to request a sick note here.  Please see our guidance for prescriptions here.

Booking an Appointment

To request an appointment, please submit on online eConsult form.  We will then get back to you with a response.  We will respond same day for any urgent requests for an appointment received before 5pm on a working day (i.e. Monday to Friday). We will respond to all the non urgent requests before the end of the next working day. 

If you think that you cannot complete on online eConsult form, or will find this difficult, please call our reception on 0207 226 6363 who can assist you.

We will always try to ensure that you see the doctor, nurse or pharmacist of your choice. This is not always possible, particularly if the appointment is urgent.

Urgent Appointments

For urgent medical problems, please submit on online eConsult form.  We will get back you same day if you submit your form before 5pm on a working day (i.e. Monday to Friday) and usually within a few hours of receiving the form. 

If you think that you cannot complete on online eConsult form, or will find this difficult, or the matter is very urgent, please call our reception on 0207 226 6363.

A clinician will triage all urgent eConsult forms and calls, and we will offer you an urgent appointment if needed.

Clinician Triage Appointment System

The practice operates a clinician triage appointment system. This means that all patient requests for medical help/advice/appointments are triaged by a clinician (a doctor, nurse or pharmacist). The clinician will then advise on how best we can help with each  request. This may be with an urgent or non urgent appointment with a clinician either in the surgery or over the phone.  You may be offered an appointment in the evening or weekend in one of the local Islington GP surgeries that we are partnered with.

Sometimes, the best response may be with an email or SMS text or a prescription, or signposting the patient to a service outside of the surgery.  

Telephone and Video Consultations

We offer telephone and Video consultations with a doctor, nurse or pharmacist.

Chaperones

Tell us if you would like someone to accompany you during an examination.

Home Visits

If you are housebound, or are too unwell to attend the surgery, we are able to visit you at home. We carry out our visits at lunchtime so please submit an online eConsult form or call our reception on 0207 226 6363 to request an appointment call us as early as possible in the day to request a visit. The emergency doctor will call you back and arrange the visit if needed.  We are only able to visit patients who live in our practice catchment area.

eConsult FAQs

How do I contact the practice?

We ask all our patients to submit an eConsult for any queries or requests, including clinical, admin or appointments.  eConsults are available anytime Monday to Friday.

What is an eConsult?

An eConsult is an online form which enables you to contact a GP or other health professional over the internet. It saves you waiting for an appointment or going to the GP surgery. You can tell your GP about your health using a smartphone, tablet or computer.

How do I submit an eConsult?

Go to: Consult Online from Home - Elizabeth Avenue Group Practice (webgp.com)

From here you will be able to click on the link that best describes your request. Please choose the form that is the closest match for your condition.  If your answers to eConsult indicate it may be a more urgent matter, eConsult will direct you to call us or call 111 if we are closed.

What if I can’t do an eConsult?

An eConsult is the best way to contact us so if you are able to complete this, or have someone who can help you, then we ask you do so.

We recognise some people are not able to use the eConsult system, for example if they are visually impaired or have difficulty reading or writing. If you are unable then you can call reception who will assist you to complete an eConsult or complete an ‘eLite’ request on your behalf. They will ask you several questions to complete this fully, so please answer them in as much detail as you can. Our reception staff are fully trained to only ask relevant and necessary questions and to treat your responses with the same respect and confidentiality as a doctor, nurse or other healthcare professional would.

Isn’t it quicker to just phone instead?

The eConsult forms should not take too long to complete. If every patient who can complete an eConsult does, then our phonelines will be freed up for those vulnerable people who can’t. Ultimately this means shorter waits for everyone and prevents people being in a long phone queue to speak to reception or being unable to get through at all. It also enables our reception staff to spend time on their many other tasks which contribute to the smooth running of thpractice.

Why are there so many questions on an eConsult form?

Most of the questions on eConsult will only require a yes or no response so should not take too long to answer. eConsults are designed to be a safe way to collect information. The questions will ask you important ‘red flag’ symptoms which may indicate you need to go to hospital, call 999, or call the surgery or 111 directly to discuss your symptoms. It will also ask you questions about the nature of your symptoms and duration which will help us decide the best possible course of action.  All the questions provide important information for us. What might seem an irrelevant question to you may be a key question for your doctor.

What happens after I submit an eConsult?

This practice uses a total triage system. Your eConsult will be looked at to determine which healthcare professional is most suitable to help you- for example a nurse, a practice-based pharmacist or a doctor. It will then be triaged by this healthcare professional. Triaging is important to establish the most efficient and safest way to manage a problem. Every day, GP practices receive requests for help or advice from many different patients or other healthcare professionals in hospitals or community teams. The eConsult information help the practice to sort patients based on their needs, which is why it’s so helpful when it is filled out honestly and fully.

A healthcare professional will look at your eConsult the same day if received before 5pm, or the next working day if after. For a clinical eConsult you will receive a response by the end of the next working day with either advice, a treatment or a plan for an appointment. For an admin eConsult it will be within 5 working days.

Is there any benefit to me?

Absolutely. Not only do eConsults ensure patients are seen in order of clinical need (avoiding a long wait for a potentially urgent problem) and save you time by preventing unnecessary appointments, they also give you an opportunity to state exactly what you would like from us and who you would like to see.  You don’t have to wait on a phone queue, and you can fill them out anytime Monday to Friday when it is convenient for you.

Is there any benefit to the practice?

General practice has never been under as much pressure as it is currently, and there is more demand for services than ever before. We have more patients, with more complex needs, than any other time in NHS history. We want to be able to provide high quality care to everyone who needs it and eConsults help us to provide an efficient service for thousands of patients in a safe and sustainable way.