Appointments

How to make an appointment

Appointments may be booked in several ways:

Contact us with eConsult

You can contact a doctor, nurse or other healthcare professional online using a website called eConsult.

By phone

Patients can book an appointment by calling reception on 0208 206 9910.

Advance booking

Bookable up to 4 weeks ahead, these provide choice and flexibility as to when and by whom you are seen. If these appointments are filled on a particular day the receptionist will look for an acceptable alternative.

On the day – urgent only

Every day at 8:45am a limited number of telephone and face to face  appointments become available, for acute emergencies only . During the consultation, the GP/nurse practitioner/ physicians associate will make a decision whether yours is an issue that could be dealt with over the phone or if you need to be seen in our practice. If the latter is the case, they will book an appointment for you to be seen either by themselves at our practice or GP at one of the hubs.

At such short notice there is much less flexibility over the time of the appointment and choice of clinician.

Telephone consultations

You can book telephone appointments with our GPs, physicians associate or nurses in advance for various issues such as ongoing medical problems, sick notes, medication changes, blood test results, investigation results and many other things to save time and your journey.

GP hub appointments

If your GP is fully booked, there are several GP hubs that also provide care for our patients.

All are open in the evenings on weekdays and on weekends. Please ask reception to refer you to the hub to avoid waiting in A&E/UCC or walk-in centre.

Missed appointments and DNA’s

Do you feel frustrated when you cannot get an appointment?

Every year wasted appointments cost NHS £162 million. This can cause serious delays in treatment for other patients. On average approximately 150 patients each month Did Not Attend (DNA) their appointment. This means the patient did not turn up for the appointment and did not contact the surgery in advance to cancel or change the appointment. This currently results in approximately 40 hours of wasted clinical time each month.

Please call ahead if you think you might be late or no longer want your appointment.

Cancelling or changing an appointment

To cancel your appointment:

• use your NHS account (through the NHS website or NHS App)
• using the GP online system: Patient Access
• phone us on 0208 206 9910 during opening times
• reply CANCEL to your appointment reminder text message

If you need help when we are closed

Please call  NHS 111 between 6:30pm and 8:45am (Mon to Fri) and at weekends for any emergencies and access to our out of hours service.

Between 8am and 8:45am Mon to Fri if you have a non urgent medical query you have the option of our automated triage line.  The system will ask you some questions about the reason for your call and then forward it to our team for further action.  This service is also available at busy times during the day and you may find this gives you a quicker response then calling the practice.

NHS 111 Online is for people aged 5 and over. Telephone 111 if you need help for a child under 5.

If you need help with your appointment

Please tell us:

• if there’s a specific doctor, nurse or other health professional you would prefer to respond
• if you would prefer to consult with the doctor or nurse by phone or face-to-face
• if you need an interpreter
• if you have any other access or communication needs

Home visits

Home visits are for those patients who are housebound or undergoing end-of-life care and therefore cannot get to the practice. In the time taken for the doctor to do one home visit, he could see 5 to 6 patients at the surgery. For this reason it is in the doctor’s and the patient’s best interests that, whenever possible, an effort is made to get down to the surgery. This does sometimes mean patients having to wait a while, but efforts are made to see people as soon as they arrive if their condition so dictates.

Request for a home visit should be made before 10am, and the receptionist will need to be given a brief outline of the problem. Please ensure you give the receptionist your name, address and telephone number. It is very important to inform the receptionist if you are not staying at your home.

The GP may phone you first to discuss your home visit request and from the information provided the doctor will then decide what action to take next.

Related information

Sick notes

Test results

Health A to Z