Changes to our Appointment Bookings

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From April 2023.

We are changing the way in which you can book appointments with your doctor or Nurse Practitioner. We hope this will be easier and clearer for you as a patient to obtain an appointment.

From 1st April 2023, appointments on the day will only be booked for urgent on-the-day issues. For routine issues, you will be given an appointment (face-to-face or telephone) convenient to yourself within the next few weeks. You will not be told to ring back the next day. 

Examples of Urgent on the day issues include:

• Chest infection
• Tonsilitis
• Ear infection
• Abdominal pain recently started
• Poorly children
• Chest pain (although you may wish to consider 999 or A&E)

Examples of Routine matters may include:

• Issues which have been ongoing for a few days or weeks
• Review appointments requested by your doctor or clinician
• Aching joints
• Change in medication requested
• Lumps and bumps present for a while (not including breast lumps or testicular swellings)

Clinicians are allocated a specific amount of time to try to assess and treat your problem. If you have more than 1 problem or feel that your problem is complex/complicated the please ask the reception to arrange for a longer or double appointment as the clinician may struggle to deal with everything in one appointment.

The Admin staff have been trained to ask you questions for further information and will direct you where possible so please provide as much information as you can.

These changes should help with the telephones every morning.  If you require a routine appointment, please ring later in the day.  Only ring at 8:00am if you really need an urgent appointment on the day.

E-consultations will still be used and are helpful especially with skin rashes with photos attached, queries re medication and possible side effects and sick note requests.

Finally, we would again ask every patient to attend their appointment. If you cannot attend or no longer need your appointment, please let us know. You can do this by replying to the link you receive in your text messages or ringing us. Every appointment is precious and we can use this again. 

The changes will not give us more appointments unfortunately but it will help us work out what is needed on the day and what can be pre-booked. It should allow you as a patient to be seen urgently when needed, whilst being able to prebook that appointment for the ongoing issue you may have that isn't urgent for the day.

We appreciate the demand for appointments is high and we do our very best to ensure every clinician has a full list of appointments and we also ensure holiday cover is provided but with a growing list of patients, it is never enough. The health service is under immense challenge currently but with your help we believe we can work together.

Published: Mar 30, 2023