Appointments

We encourage you to call us 30 minutes before your appointment, to check your doctor is running on time.  We can give you our best estimate of how well they are running at this time and, if you like, give you a call when your the next patient - giving you 15 minutes notice to attend.

We are also more than happy for you to turn up at your allotted time and wait if you’d prefer, however patients will be seen in order of booked appointments.

Please understand that our GPs are encouraged to spend adequate amounts of time with each patient, to ensure competent sound medical advice is given.  This can take time and delay your appointment, but when your turn comes around you can expect the same treatment.

Our doctors also service the local hospital, and are frequently called out to emergency presentations at a moments notice.  We may give you an indication that the doctor is on time and then when you get here they have been urgently called away.  Some days this will be for an extended period of time and the whole  appointment book will be disrupted.  Rest assured we will reschedule your appointment to accommodate you as best we can.

Our reception staff are brilliant - but cannot predict the future.  Please always be kind and respectful - we know it can be frustrating, especially when you have already waited a week for an appt and another 30 Minutes in the waiting room - but you’ll catch more flies with honey! 

 

EMERGENCY AND ON THE DAY APPOINTMENTS

In an ideal world you could see whatever doctor you’d like, at whatever time you’d like, whenever you’d like. However, we don't get to plan when patients get sick.  We see all urgent appointments on the day, and try to see as many On the Day appointments as we can accommodate.  To best achieve this we allocate a single GP to care for all of the day's emergency and "on the day" appointments.  This is rotated so each GP has a schedule of  “on the day” and “general” appointments.  

If you have an urgent medical condition you'll be seen today.  And if you don't mind which Doctor you see, you’ll most likely be able to get a non urgent appointment within a couple days too.

 

GENERAL APPOINTMENT

We suggest you book appointments a couple weeks ahead when possible, this will ensure you can see the Doctor of your choice. Some helpful hints to get appointments that fit your schedule are:

  • book an appt when you fill you last repeat on your script

  • book another appointment straight away if your GP asks to review in a fortnight, month or even 6 months

  • book both the appt for a blood test (scan or x-ray) and the follow up appt at the same time. Make your follow up doctors appt for about 3-5 days after your blood test or x-ray and we should have all the results by then. This way you have a dedicated time to discuss the results and any further questions or management - even if your results are fine!



 TRANSLATION SERVICES

Do you speak another language, an hearing impediment, or any other circumstances where communicating your health concerns with the GP might make it difficult.

You are welcome to bring along a translator with you, but we understand this is not always possible.

We are registered with both the Translation & Interpretation Services (TIS) and National Relay Service. If you require these services please let reception know when booking your appointment so we can be organised to best assist your appointment needs.

If there is another way we can best assist your needs, please do not hesitate to let us know.