Appointments

All consultations are made by appointment only 

To make an appointment with the doctor or practice nurse either telephone 947 6828 between 8.00am and 6.30pm or call in person between the same hours.

If you feel you need to see a doctor on the same day, please tell the receptionist. She will ask for your telephone number and a brief description of the problem if you are willing to tell her. If the problem is very urgent please tell the receptionist. The DUTY Doctor will telephone you back as soon as they are able. In exceptionally busy periods this may take up to three hours.

When the Duty Doctor speaks to you they will either give you the advice you need on the telephone or give you an appointment THE SAME DAY. If you have given a mobile number, please ensure that your mobile is switched on.

If you do not need an appointment on the same day you can book an appointment between two days to four weeks ahead. We will try to give you an appointment with the doctor of your choice, but when he or she is not available you will be offered an appointment with another doctor. Nurses’ appointments are all pre-bookable.

When dealing with patients and their sometimes complex problems, the doctors will inevitably run late at times. Please be patient if you are required to wait as it may be you who needs more time when you come to the surgery on another occasion.

Routine appointments are 10 minutes long. If you feel you need longer please tell the receptionist.

If your doctor feels that you need referral to a hospital specialist for further assessment, then he or she will discuss this with you during your appointment.

If you cannot attend an appointment please let us know so that it can be offered to another patient. We can send appointment reminders 2 days in advance if you provide us with your mobile phone number.

Home Visits

Home visits are normally reserved for emergencies, the elderly and infirm. Please contact the surgery before 10.30am.

Give the receptionist the patient's name, age, address, and telephone number. It is also helpful to briefly state the reason for the visit in order that the doctors can decide in which order to make their calls.

Please do not call the doctor out unless the patient is obviously unable to come to the surgery. Home visits take the doctor far more time, and sometimes full examinations and tests cannot be done in the home.

Home visits are only available for patients who are housebound because of illness or disability.

Please remember that several patients can be seen in the practice in the time that it takes to make one home visit. There are also better facilities for examining and treating patients at the surgery.

Some problems such as severe chest pains or shortness of breath are medical emergencies and you will be advised to dial 999.

Test Results

Specimens are taken to the hospital at 10.45am and 4.00pm.

The time taken for us to receive the reports vary. Blood tests take up to a week, x-rays seven to ten days and cervical smears three to six weeks. You will be notified only if the result is abnormal, except in the case of cervical smears where you will always receive the result.

If you wish to know your results please telephone 947 2431 after 11am to speak to the receptionist.

Note that the practice has a strict policy regarding confidentiality and data protection and we will only release test results to the person to whom they relate unless that person has given prior permission for the release of this data or they are not capable of understanding the results.

When you take your test you will be told how long it will be before the results are returned to the practice.

It is your responsibility to check your results and to make an appointment to discuss them with your doctor if you are advised to do so.

Telephone Advice

If you wish to speak to a particular doctor please leave a message with the receptionist.

If you feel the matter is more urgent you will be referred to the Duty Doctor.