Our system for prioritising appointment needs is called 'Klinik' and is accessible online (click on the image opposite). 

By using Klinik you can be assured your request will be assigned an appropriate level of urgency and handled accordingly by our clinical and administrative teams. 

The majority of patients have access to a smartphone/internet device or computer and so ask that these patients use the online service, leaving the telephone lines for patients who cannot.

Check out our guide to getting the best out of Klinik, helping us to help you:

TOP TIPS FOR USING KLINIK.pdf

For issues that cannot wait for a routine response we aim to ensure that either a telephone or face-to-face appointment will be available with a primary care professional that same day.  Sometimes it may be necessary for a clinician to telephone you first.  For non-urgent issues they may book you a telephone or face-to-face consultation in a few days time with the clinician who knows you well, or who may be dealing with a particular issue for you at that time.  Please be assured that if you need to be seen urgently then an arrangement will be made for you to see a member of our duty team that day and we will endeavour to offer as many options as possible as to site location and time of day.  We have a skilled team including acute illness nurses, advanced nurse practitioners, specialist paramedics, physiotherapists, mental health practitioners, GPs in training and qualified GPs at the surgery. They work together and mutually support each other.  If your initial appointment is booked with a clinician who is not a GP, be assured that one is always on hand should the clinician need their opinion or advice.

It is always helpful for our staff to understand which clinician knows the current situation with your healthcare the best as they are usually going to be able to provide the most effective care and advice to you, so please do mention that clinician's name when first contacting us.  A clinician does not always need to see a patient face-to-face and dealing with some issues over the phone saves patients time in coming to the surgery and enables the clinician to manage their workload.  In turn this also helps reduce the burden on car parking space for those patients who do need to physically come to the surgery.  We are aware parking can sometimes be difficult and regret that we are not able to expand our car parks further. 

We also offer evening appointments, both telephone and face-to-face with doctors, nurse practitioners or members of the nursing team.  Ask for an 'extended hours' appointment if you find it difficult to attend during the normal working day.

In a number of cases it might be worth considering an appointment with a practice nurse rather than a doctor. Practice nurses are qualified to deal with many conditions and you may be seen more quickly.

Our nurses hold daily surgeries for things such as wound management and dressings, cervical smears, injections and blood pressure checks.

It is important that you inform the reception staff if you are unable to attend your appointment, this will allow that appointment to be offered to another patient. If you fail to notify the Practice that you are unable to attend, you will be sent a letter informing you that you have defaulted from your appointment. Persistent defaulters maybe removed from the list.

The easiest way to cancel an appointment is to reply to your appointment reminder text message with the word 'CANCEL' or there is a 'cancel your appointment' option via 'Klinik' on our website so this can be done at the click of a button. Every week many patients do not attend their appointments and the wasted time would amount to at least another full-time GP being available at the practice for other patients. 

If possible please try to telephone reception before 10:00 if you think you, or someone you care for, may require a home visit that day.

Home visits are for entirely housebound patients or are too ill to visit the practice. A clinician will always telephone you back in the first instance so that they may make an appropriate clinical assessment of urgency so please ensure that you, or someone with you, can stay near a phone.  Having spoken to you, the clinician can decide the best course of action and will only visit you at home if they think that your medical condition requires it.  Our clinical visiting team includes GPs and Specialist Paramedics supported by the Community Matron team and our own Advanced Nurse Practitioners and GPs back at our surgery sites.  Either a GP or Specialist Paramedic may come to visit you depending on your assessed clinical needs that day. Alternatively we may refer to the Community Matron or another member of the community nursing team to come and see you as appropriate.

GP Registrars: As an approved training practice, we usually have at least one doctor with us for a 12 month period as a registrar. The registrar is a fully qualified doctor with several years experience in hospital medicine and who is completing the post-graduate training in general practice. The registrar functions as an independent practitioner, sharing the on-call and surgery duties.

We may occasionally request your consent to video these consultations to be used in general practice training. Please be assured you can decline to participate at any time with no prejudice to your care.

Medical Students: We also have medical students with us from time to time. Medical Students usually see a patient on their own for 20 minutes and then the supervising doctor will join the consultation with the patient for up to a further 10 minutes.  The receptionist will inform you of the name of the doctor supervising the student that day as this will be the clinician taking responsibility for your appointment. 

We are very grateful to our patients for supporting the training of future generations of doctors and GPs.