Frequently Asked Questions

You do not need to speak to a doctor or nurse regarding your test results unless they have specifically asked you to do so.

Your results will be on your computer record within hours of them arriving back at the surgery. Most results take about a week to come back but some may take longer.

You can telephone for your results if they were ordered from the surgery on 0113 264 5455. Please try and ring in the afternoon when the telephone is not as busy.

Please leave the form with the receptionist and she will indicate to you when it is likely to be ready.

Please note that for some forms there may be a charge and again the receptionist will be able to advise you of this.

Please do not bring forms with you for the doctor to complete during a normal consultation as this may disrupt the surgery.

It is possible to speak with the Doctor for advice. If you require this, please ring the receptionist & she will take your details & arrange for the Doctor to ring you back.

However, you can obtain advice at any time 24 hrs per day, through NHS DIRECT either through the link on this page of the website or by telephoning them on 0845 46 47

The Receptionist will take a message and get a doctor to ring you back.

However you can obtain advice at any time, 24 hrs per day,  through NHS DIRECT either through the link on this page of the website or by telephoning them on 0845 46 47

During out of hours we use an organisation called Local Care Direct . You can contact them by ringing our number 0113 264 5455 which will be automatically diverted to them. A nurse will answer your call and will give you advice. If necessary she will arrange for a doctor to give you advice or for a doctor to visit. Sometimes this service is very busy so we would ask you to be patient. If your problem is not urgent we would ask you to contact the surgery as early as possible the next day.

Another source of advice is NHS Direct, either by telephoning them on 0845 46 47 or through their excellent website which gives advice on dealing with minor illnesses and also emergencies and recognising when you might need to see a doctor. We have also included some links to useful websites. We cannot take responsibility for the content of these sites but most doctors agree that they are of good quality and offer sound advice.

In the case of an emergency you can dial 999.

If you are unsure as to whether or not your situation is an emergency NHS Direct are able to advise you. It is a good idea to look at their website and familiarise yourself with it before waiting for an emergency to arise.

We do have a computerised repeat prescription service designed to help those who are on regular long term, unchanging medication.

If this is suitable for you, your doctor can arrange this, but you must see the doctor first to discuss this and to work out how often you need to come to the surgery to monitor your condition or to check that all your medicines are still right for you.

As a result of this you can only obtain repeat medications for a limited period and the computer will not print another prescription until it has been re-authorised by the doctor. This usually means that you need to see the doctor in the surgery. When you get your prescription, any items that need re-authorising will say so on your order form and this will need to be sorted by the time you ask for your prescription again, or delays will result.

We will have your prescription ready in 48 hours.

This system is designed for your convenience and safety, but cannot therefore cope with changes to your medication, which need to be discussed with the doctor. It is not designed to cope with requests for treatment for new or temporary illnesses.

Delays will occur, both to yourself and to others, if you misuse the system by requesting items that are changed, need re-authorising, or are not on your list, without first discussing this with your doctor.

We cannot accept requests for repeat prescriptions over the phone, except for those who are housebound. If you have any difficulties, many of the chemists run prescription ordering services, so ask your pharmacist for information.

If a patient is too ill or infirm to attend the surgery a home visit can be provided. If you are able to get to the surgery we will be able to fit you in and you will probably be seen sooner.

Please telephone 0113 264 5455 if possible before 10.30am. Be prepared to give the receptionist details of the problem to enable the doctor to decide on the urgency of the visit. Visits are normally done after morning surgery. You will be visited normally around lunchtime but during busy times this may not be possible. We will let you know if the doctor is delayed.

The visits are shared between the doctors on a geographical basis and therefore we cannot guarantee which doctor will visit. Please remember that travelling to visits is very time consuming and the doctor has to plan his route as early as possible. If you ring late this may disrupt this, so visits requested after 10.30am should only be for emergencies.

EMERGENCY VISITS

If you need a visit which you think cannot wait please tell the receptionist who will put you through to a doctor or arrange for the doctor to ring you back. In some cases, the Doctor may feel that it is best to send an ambulance with a paramedic crew to attend you and to take you to the Hospital.

Out of hours we use an organisation called Local Care Direct to cover for emergencies. Your call will be diverted automatically if you ring 0113 264 5455 at any time when the surgery is closed. Occasionally Primecare are used to help out, for a period in the afternoon for emergencies. Please do not ask them to deal with routine matters as they are unable to do so. You will need to ring the surgery when it is open again. Normal opening times are included in the practice leaflet and elsewhere on this site.

Please telephone 0113 260 5884 or call into our reception desk. You will be offered the next available appointment unless you make it clear to the receptionist that you feel you need to be seen urgently on the day you are telephoning. Please ring as early in the day as you can so that we can help you more easily.

We do have cancellations during the day but we also add additional slots to meet demand. At busy times you will need to see whichever doctor is available.

These extra slots usually involve you sitting and waiting since you are being fitted in around the normal appointment times. Please give the receptionists as much information as possible so that they can make sure you are seen.

Do remember that this may disrupt the normal surgery, therefore, try to plan well ahead for routine or less urgent appointments.

Please telephone 0113 260 5884 or call in to our reception desk. If you need to be fitted in as an emergency please let us know and even if the appointments are all full we will fit you in with one of the doctors. This will be with the next doctor available and since it is being fitted in around the normal surgery it is likely that you will have to wait.

All urgent cases will be seen within 24 hours. Please ring as early in the day as you can so that we can help you more easily. We do have cancellations during the day but we also add additional slots to meet demand.

Please request emergency or urgent appointments only when absolutely necessary.

Tel 0113 260 5884

We have an appointments system and try and make space every day for
those who need to be seen. You may choose which doctor you prefer to
see until the doctors appointments are full. This does not have to be the
doctor that you are registered with.

For some problems it may be best for you to see our Nurse Practitioner,
Phyllis Laws. The receptionist can advise you.

If you wish to see the Nurse, please give the receptionist an idea of what
it is for since she can then make the appropriate length appointment.
(You do not go into any detail, just mention “dressings”, “holiday
injections”, “smoking counselling”, etc).

If you need to be fitted in as an emergency please let us know and even
if the appointments are all full we will fit you in with one of the doctors.
This will be with the next doctor available and since it is being fitted in
around the normal surgery it is likely that you will have to wait.

All urgent cases will be seen within 24 hours and most non urgent cases
will be seen within 48 hours. You can however, for routine matters,
book an appointment up to 14 days in advance.

In return we request that you ring for an appointment before 10.30am if
you wish to be seen the same day.

Please also cancel any appointments you cannot keep as early as possible
so that time can be made available to someone else.

Please request emergency or urgent appointments only when absolutely
necessary.

Please bear in mind that an appointment is for ONE patient only. If
more than one person needs to be seen, they need to make a separate
appointment.

We try to see patients as near as possible to their booked appointment
time but please appreciate that waiting times may be beyond our control
if the doctor is called out on an emergency, or at times of peak demand.
Please attend the surgery punctually, since if you are not there at the
time of your appointment, this could cause further surgery delays.

If you have a complaint or concern about the service you have received from the doctors or any of the staff working in this practice, please let us know. We operate a practice complaints procedure as part of a NHS system for dealing with complaints. Our complaints system meets national criteria.

How to complain

We hope that most problems can be sorted out easily and quickly, often at the time they arise and with the person concerned. If your problem cannot be sorted out in this way and you wish to make a complaint, we would like you to let us know as soon as possible – ideally within a matter of days or at most a few weeks – because this will enable us to establish what happened more easily. If it is not possible to do that, please let us have details of your complaint:

a) within 6 months of the incident that caused the problem; or
b) within 6 months of discovering that you have a problem, provided this is within 12 months of the incident.

Complaints should be addressed to Miss J D Martin (Practice Manager). Alternatively, you may ask for an appointment with a doctor in order to discuss your concerns. He will explain the complaints procedure to you and will make sure that your concerns are dealt with promptly. It will be a great help if you are as specific as possible about your complaint.

What we shall do

We shall acknowledge your complaint within two working days and aim to have looked into your complaint within ten working days of the date when you raised it with us. We shall then be in a position to offer you an explanation or a meeting with the people involved. When we look into your complaint we shall aim to:

a) find out what happened and what went wrong;
b) make it possible for you to discuss the problem with those concerned if you would like to;
c) make sure you receive an apology where this is appropriate;
d) identify what we can do to make sure the problem doesn’t happen again.

Complaining on behalf of someone else

Please note that we keep strictly to the rules of medical confidentiality. If you are complaining on behalf of someone else, we have to know that you have their permission to do so. A note signed by the person concerned will be needed, unless they are incapable (because of illness) of providing this.

Complaining to the Health Complaints Advocacy

We hope that if you have a problem you will use our practice complaints procedure. We believe this will give us the best chance of putting right whatever has gone wrong and give us the opportunity to improve our practice, but this does not affect your right to approach the Health Complaints Advocacy if you feel you cannot raise your complaint with us or if you are dissatisfied with the result of our investigation.

You should contact Leeds Independent Health Complaints Advocacy, Unit 3, Unity Business Centre,
26 Roundhay Road, Leeds LS7 1AB.
Tel: 0113 244 0606
Email: lihca@advonet.org.uk

Kind regards
Mrs J D Martin

Sometimes your Doctor may feel that you should see a specialist or perhaps you may, yourself, wish for a second or expert opinion. If this is appropriate your doctor will write a letter to the appropriate Hospital Department. Waiting lists vary a lot. For this reason we do not usually write to a specific consultant unless you have previously been under his care or he has a particular interest in your problem.

Sometimes, if the waiting time is particularly long, we may suggest a different hospital. If the waiting time is unexpectedly long the Primary Care Trust may offer you treatment elsewhere.

If you decide that you want to see the Specialist privately you will need a letter from the Doctor and will usually need to attend the surgery to discuss this. You will be given the letter to take with you (or asked to call back to collect it). We ask you to telephone the Specialist’s Secretary to arrange a convenient appointment.

We are always grateful to receive your suggestions or comments of any kind and these can be sent to our Practice Manager, Elizabeth Holmes, at Manston Surgery or put into the prescription request box on the reception counter. If you say something nice it cheers us up!

Scholes surgery is able to dispense to patients in Scholes. We can provide repeat prescriptions with 48 working hours notice and these can be picked up from the surgery at any time during opening hours.

If medicines are required in an emergency and the surgery is closed, please ring 0113 2645 455 where assistance can be given.