Urgent appointments
We will still have urgent appointments each day with our Advanced Nurse Practitioner. Please note urgent appointments are not for repeat prescriptions, fitness for work certificates or for signing forms. These appointments are to deal with emergencies and serious problems.
To request an urgent appointment for today or tomorrow (Monday to Friday):
- phone us on 01773 880099, Monday to Friday from 8am to 6.30pm
- visit the surgery and speak with a receptionist, Monday to Friday from 8am to 6pm
When you get in touch, we’ll ask what you need help with.
We will use the information you give us to choose the most suitable doctor, nurse or health professional to help you.
Routine Appointments
All surgeries are by appointment and can be made in person or by telephone. We are not a walk-in service and therefore ask that all patients book an appointment first before arriving at the surgery. This will mean you are less likely to be kept waiting.
To request a routine appointment:
- phone us on 01773 880099, Monday to Friday from 8am to 6.30pm
- visit the surgery and speak with a receptionist, Monday to Friday from 8am to 6pm
When you get in touch, we’ll ask what you need help with.
We will use the information you give us to choose the most suitable doctor, nurse or health professional to help you.
Your Appointment
However you choose to contact us, we may offer you a consultation:
- by phone
- face to face at the surgery
- alternative method of consultation
Appointments by phone can be more flexible and often means you get help sooner.
How our GP appointment system works
We understand that different patients want different things from our appointment system. Some people like to fit appointments in with their work or other commitments whilst other prefer to ring for a same day appointment. Many people have more routine matter to discuss whilst other people have potentially life threatening health issues needing prompt attention.
We try our best to meet these varying needs within the limitations of the number of GPs and appointments available. Like most GP surgeries, the demand for GP appointments here at Whitemoor is very high. Every month our GPs provide well over 3000 consultations for patients and demand continues to rise. Therefore our receptionists will normally ask you a few questions to help you find the most appropriate point of care.
We have four types of appointments available
Booked in advance
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. Other appointments are released 2-5 working days ahead to make it easier for you to see your usual GP with a problem that is not urgent but you would like to be seen within a few days. A number of appointments are also available to book online.
Available on the day
Every day at 8.00am a limited number of appointments become available, enabling you to see our Advanced Nurse Practitioner or a doctor quickly if that is your need. At such short notice there is much less flexibility over the time of the appointment and choice of clinician.
Urgent medical problems
If you have an urgent and serious problem but all the appointments for a particular day are filled, please tell the receptionist. The telephone triage doctor (one of the GPs) will call you back to either give advice on the phone or arrange to see you as an urgent appointment at a specified time. As such there is no flexibility over appointment time or choice of GP. These appointments are specifically to address the urgent medical problem within an already full surgery.
Telephone
Each day there are a number of telephone appointments for when you need advice but not to be seen in person. The receptionist will ask for brief details to ensure this approach is the most appropriate for your needs. They will give you the time frame in which your call will be returned; you may leave a mobile number but please ensure your mobile phone is switched on.
Whatever your situation the receptionist can only offer you the appointments that are available. Appointments are always in great demand and the GPs have a finite number of hours in the day in which to meet the needs of our 12,600 patients.
Missed and Late Appointments
Missed appointments waste huge amounts of time and effort.
Please bear this in mind the next time you ring and can’t get an appointment – it may be because someone didn’t come to their appointment and forgot to cancel. Please let us know if you cannot make it to your appointment, so that we may give your appointment to someone else. Patients who repeatedly fail to attend their appointments will be sent a letter, and may be removed from our practice.
If you are more than ten minutes late for your appointment, you may only be seen at the discretion of the doctor or nurse but most likely you will have to rebook your missed appointment.
Cancelling or changing an appointment
To cancel your appointment:
- use your NHS account (through the NHS App)
- phone us on 01773 880099, Monday to Friday from 8am to 6.30pm
- reply CANCEL to your appointment reminder text message
If you need help when we are closed
If you need medical help now, use NHS 111 online or call 111.
NHS 111 online is for people aged 5 and over. Call 111 if you need help for a child under 5.
Call 999 in a medical or mental health emergency. This is when someone is seriously ill or injured and their life is at risk.
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
We do offer home visits in some limited circumstances, normally where a patient is
- Terminally ill or,
- Housebound and cannot be mobilised
It is normally always best for us to see a patient at the Medical Centre. This is because we will have full access to their medical records and better facilities for both examination and treatment of any problems identified.
Although a traditional part of general practice, home visits are time consuming. Please remember that several patients can be seen in the practice in the time that it takes to make one home visit. Please help us to help you and our other patients by visiting the surgery whenever possible.
In the past, GPs were able to do routine follow up home visits. Sadly, pressures of time and more patients needing attention means this is usually no longer possible.
Transport – We cannot undertake home visits for reasons of convenience or lack of transport .We will be happy to provide you with details of local taxi firms. From experience, we are aware that relatives, neighbours or friends are often willing to help out. Our responsibility to you is to resolve the medical problem you have; your responsibility is to take all the reasonable steps you are able to, to enable us to do that.
Please request visits before 10am whenever possible as this allows the Doctor to plan their day accordingly. Late requests often lead to disruption of the appointment system and excessive waiting times for others.
A doctor/nurse will call you back on most occasions to assess your problem. This is to enable the doctor to prioritise visits.
It may be that your problem can be dealt with by telephone advice, or that it would be more appropriate to send a nurse, or indeed arrange a hospital attendance. It also prepares the doctor to collect some information required as necessary for the visit.
Text Message Reminders
You can now register to receive information by text message on your phone regarding appointments and health care.
If you wish to register for this messaging service please fill out the consent form.