How our appointment systems work

Before booking an appointment with your GP, the care navigator (receptionist) will ask you what you need help with. This will help the surgery decide how soon you need to be seen and help us, to choose the most suitable clinician. This can include a doctor, advance nurse practitioner (ANP) practice nurse, clinical pharmacist, mental health practitioner or social prescriber's. You may want to see a specific GP/clinician of your choice, and you should make this clear to the care navigator at the time of your appointment request. However, please be aware that although the practice will try to accommodate your request, this may increase your waiting time and there may be occasions where this will not always be possible.

The purpose of a routine appointment is for new, general health queries, investigations and potential diagnosis. Routine appointments last for 10 minutes and where appropriate, a double appointment can be requested for more than one concern. Routine appointments can be booked up to 2 weeks in advance using the online triage system or alternatively, through contacting the practice via telephone and speaking to one of our care navigators. However, our waiting times can vary throughout the year depending on patient demand.

To provide continuity of care, your GP/clinician may request to see you again following initial investigations such as blood tests, scans and newly prescribed medications. In some cases, the practice will contact you at the direct request of your GP/clinician to arrange this appointment. However, we also recommend that you contact the practice for any test results that you are waiting for. Alternatively, the care navigator will inform you, when you contact the practice, if your request requires a follow up appointment

These provide immediate access for our patients on the same day of request. These appointments enable us to deal with significant health issues that whilst not life threatening, require immediate attention. The practice also operates an on-call GP triage system that provides additional same day access to the surgery once we have reached capacity. Following initial assessment by the GP, you may be offered an appointment, medical advice, pharmacy referral or a prescription may be issued.