The Medical Centre

Whilst we constantly strive to provide a good, friendly and efficient service, we realise that occasionally things do not go as smoothly as we would like. We are always pleased to receive constructive criticism, so if you have any suggestions or are unhappy about any aspect of our service please bring it to the notice of the Doctor and not the Receptionists, or preferably, ask to make an appointment with the Practice Manager.

HOW DO I...
MAKE AN APPOINTMENT ?

The Appointment System: Telephone 01322 525000 or 01322 558085

The appointment system operates both for your convenience and to aid the Doctor.

ALL SURGERIES ARE BY APPOINTMENT ONLY. Appointments are generally 10 minutes long, and may be booked between Monday and Friday by calling into the Surgery or telephoning on the above number.

Do plan ahead for non-urgent appointments by booking as far as possible in advance, as your usual doctor may not be available for several days. It should be noted that each of the doctors based at the surgery operates different appointment systems which, in some cases, restrict the number of days in advance that bookings can be booked. To keep the surgeries running as smoothly as possible, please remember the following points:

1. Please arrive on time for your appointment. Patients who arrive more than 15 minutes late for their appointment may not be seen.

2. An appointment is for one person only.

3. Children under the age of 16 should be accompanied by an adult, preferably a parent.

4. Please don't save up six problems for one appointment.

5. PLEASE REMEMBER TO CANCEL YOUR APPOINTMENT AS SOON AS POSSIBLE IF IT IS NO LONGER REQUIRED, so that it can be offered to another patient whose need may be urgent. The Practice operates a ‘Did not attend’ (DNA) policy and patients who fail to attend a pre-booked appointment on four or more occasions within a 12-month period will be removed from the Practice patient list. The full policy and procedure is available from the Practice Manager.

6. Interruptions during Surgery are upsetting for both Doctors and patients and for this reason the Receptionists have been asked not to disturb consultations with telephone calls.

7. Your Doctor will try to find the best way of helping you. You will not always be given medicines as there are other ways to treat you; please do not expect a prescription on every visit.

8. Abuse of the system will cause inconvenience to other patients.

Our Receptionists are experienced and trained to help you arrange appointments but at busy times are restricted to offering urgent appointments. These are ONLY FOR MEDICALLY URGENT CASES.

Please do not blame the Receptionist if the Doctor is running late for your appointment, or if she is unable to offer you exactly what you want.

Consulting Times By Appointment

To try and avoid wasting your time and to ensure that people do not have to wait too long, we operate an appointment system. As you will appreciate, occasionally Doctors are called out of Surgery and therefore delays may be unavoidable.

However, we would be grateful if you could arrive for your appointment on time.

Whenever possible, you will be given an appointment to suit you WITH YOUR PREFERRED DOCTOR.

To allow the smooth and efficient running of the Practice, for the benefit of both patients and staff, we ask you to be understanding and not make unfair or unreasonable demands after a clear explanation has been given to you.

Emergency Consultations

For an EMERGENCY DAYTIME PROBLEM you must contact the surgery as early as possible and it helps the GP if you can give the receptionist some details. If there are appointments available for that day, you will be given a routine appointment with a GP. Alternatively, you will either be given an appointment with Beverley Starbuck, nurse practitioner, who is able to take a full medical history, perform physical examinations, give a diagnosis and issue a prescription or be asked to come to the surgery and wait until a GP is able to see you.

The doctors prefer to deal with emergencies after their morning surgeries. These “extra” consultations are five minutes long and tend to be busy. Therefore, we would be grateful if you could be brief and only mention the urgent problem, as this will avoid unnecessarily delaying other patients.

Telephone Consultations

If you do not need a face-to-face consultation with a GP, you can book a telephone consultation. Dr Cameron has pre-bookable appointments for telephone consultations between 8.30 and 8.55am on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Patients wishing to speak with any of the other GPs or a member of the Nursing Team can be allocated an appointment within their normal surgery. The GP or Nurse will ring you as near to the allocated time as possible on the telephone number given at the time of making the appointment. Please note that we do not ring mobile telephones and therefore if you only have a mobile telephone number available, you will be asked to telephone the surgery at an allotted time and the GP will endeavour to take your call without delay, but please be aware that you could be asked to wait on the line until the GP is available or to ring back.

HOW DO I...
OBTAIN A HOME VISIT ?

Telephone 01322 525000

Please do not ask the Doctor to call unless the patient is too ill to come to the Surgery. If the patient has a temperature or a rash, coming to the Surgery will do no harm and will not endanger others, but please inform the Receptionist of any relevant facts on arrival.

Remember that house calls are very time consuming and that patients should be seen at the Surgery whenever possible. The time available for home visits is limited and patients can be examined more thoroughly in a Surgery environment.

IF A HOME VISIT IS UNAVOIDABLE please telephone 01322 525000 BEFORE 10.00am on the same day. When you request a visit, the Receptionist will ask for full details of the patient's name, address, age and telephone number and the reason for the visit. This information allows the Doctors to determine whether a visit is necessary, plan their calls and allows urgent visits to be dealt with promptly.

If you and the Receptionist are unsure as to the need for an urgent attendance or visit, the Doctor's advice will be sought and he/she may speak to you on the telephone to discuss the matter.

If you telephone after 11.00am, the visit will be carried out by the Doctor "on-call" for emergencies, which may result in your visit being delayed.

Abuse of the system will result in considerable inconvenience for other patients, staff and Doctors and it is at the Doctor's discretion as to whether a home visit is deemed necessary. The GP may be able to deal the problem by way of a telephone consultation rather than undertaking a home visit.

HOW DO I...
OBTAIN TEST RESULTS ?

Telephone 01322 525000

The results of all pathology tests requested by a GP/Nurse will be sent back to the surgery by way of an electronic report and the Doctor will check the results. If there are any problems and/or we need to discuss the results further with you, a comment to this effect will be added to your computerised medical record. Patients should therefore contact the Surgery approximately one week after the test and ask the Receptionist for your test result. Any comments added by the Doctor will also be conveyed to you. PLEASE TELEPHONE THE SURGERY AFTER 2.00PM, MONDAY TO FRIDAY when the telephones are less busy and the receptionist has more time to find the result.

All patients' records on file or held on the computer are confidential. In order to maintain confidentiality, all test results will only be given to patients themselves or to parents of minors if appropriate.

If you think you may be pregnant, you will need to do a home pregnancy test to confirm this before you see the doctor.

HOW DO I...
REGISTER WITH THE PRACTICE ?

Patients applying to join the practice patient list must live within the practice area shown on this website. Each applicant is required to complete a new patient questionnaire and return it to the surgery reception with the following documentation:

• A valid medical card signed in the appropriate section. If a medical card is not available, a Form GMS1 must be completed in full.

• A valid passport

• Two utility bills or official letters to confirm address

FAILURE TO PROVIDE THE REQUESTED DOCUMENTATION MAY RESULT IN THE REFUSAL OF YOUR REGISTRATION.
Within two weeks of applying all applicants will receive a letter confirming their acceptance and an appointment for a new patient registration examination. It is practice policy for all patients over five years of age to attend a new patient registration examination with a member of our nursing team as it may well take several months for us to receive your full medical records. It also gives us the opportunity to make sure that your vaccinations are up to date and that any regular medication is recorded on the computer. The doctors feel that it is very important for all new patients to attend these appointments with our healthcare assistant, who will take your medical and family history and carry out checks, such as blood pressure and urine analysis. PLEASE NOTE THAT A PATIENT'S REGISTRATION WITH THIS PRACTICE IS NOT COMPLETE UNTIL THIS EXAMINATION HAS BEEN CARRIED OUT, THEREFORE FAILURE TO ATTEND MAY RESULT IN YOU BEING REMOVED FROM OUR PRACTICE PATIENT LIST.