Urgent Appointments
To request an urgent appointment for today or tomorrow (Monday to Friday):
- phone us on 020 8305 3007, Monday to Friday from 8am
- 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
To request routine nurse/chronic disease appointments in the next 4 weeks:
- phone us on 020 8305 3007, Monday to Friday from 8am
- visit the surgery and speak with a receptionist, Monday to Friday from 8am to 6pm
- Submit online triage request for non-urgent medical and admin queries
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.
Sick (fit) Notes
If you’ve been off sick for more than 7 days
To request a sick note:
- fill out a sick note request form, here.
- phone or visit the surgery from 10am to 6pm
If you’ve been off sick for 7 days or less
If you’re off work sick for 7 days or less, your employer should not ask for medical evidence that you’ve been ill. Instead, they can ask you to confirm that you’ve been ill. You can do this by filling in a form yourself when you return to work. We call this self-certification.
Find out more about sick notes on the NHS website
Test Results
Getting your test results
If your test results show that you need more tests or treatment, we will contact you.
Once a doctor has reviewed your test results, you can view them:
- in your NHS account
- Submit online admin request using AccuRx
- phone or visit us between 10am to 4pm and we will tell you what the results are
Questions about your results
If you want to talk to someone about your results, Please call us.
Your Appointment
However you choose to contact us, we may offer you a consultation:
- by phone
- face to face at the surgery
- by text or email
Appointments by phone, by text or email can be more flexible and often means you get help sooner.
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, face-to-face, by video call or by text or email
- if you need an interpreter
- if you have any other access or communication needs
The Fairfield Practice is committed to providing a safe, comfortable environment where patients and staff can be confident that best practice is being followed at all times and the safety of everyone is of paramount importance.
All patients are entitled to have a chaperone present for any consultation, examination or procedure where they feel one is required. This chaperone may be a family member or friend. On occasions you may prefer a formal chaperone to be present, i.e. a trained member of staff.
Where ever possible we would ask you to make this request at the time of booking appointment so that arrangements can be made and your appointment is not delayed in any way. Where this is not possible we will endeavour to provide a formal chaperone at the time of request. However occasionally it may be necessary to reschedule your appointment.
Your healthcare professional may also require a chaperone to be present for certain consultations in accordance with our chaperone policy.
We aim to offer services which are ‘teenage-friendly’. In summary, this means that:
- We welcome teenagers and aim to put them at ease when they contact the practice
- We can assure teenagers that confidentiality will be maintained if aged 12-16, and they ask to keep details of their consultations confidential or if they consult us about potentially sensitive issues
- Teenagers are welcome to see/speak to a clinician on their own if they wish and are aged 12-16. We would however advise them to be joined by an adult where possible.
Sexual health advice is available, as is advice on other issues such as depression, drugs, alcohol and self-harm and we can advise teenagers about emergency contraception if required.
Our doctors and nurses will listen to you and take your concerns seriously, sometimes, young people can find it more difficult than adults to talk about the underlying problem and the reason for seeing a GP.
As a young person, you can have a consultation on your own, with no lower age limit. Our reception staff can make an appointment for you to speak to a GP without a parent if you would prefer to.
For face-to-face appointments, if you come with a parent/carer/friend, you can still be seen on your own for part of the consultation while they wait outside.
People aged 16 or over are entitled to consent to their own treatment. This can only be overruled in exceptional circumstances.
Like adults, young people (aged 16 or 17) are presumed to have sufficient capacity to decide on their own medical treatment, unless there’s significant evidence to suggest otherwise.
Children under the age of 16 can consent to their own treatment if they’re believed to have enough intelligence, competence and understanding to fully appreciate what’s involved in their treatment. This is known as being Gillick competent.
You have the right to accept or refuse treatment that is offered to you, and not to be given any physical examination or treatment unless you have given valid consent. If you do not have the capacity to do so, consent must be obtained from a person legally able to act on your behalf, or the treatment must be in your best interests.
Your valid consent (agreement to the course of action) is needed for the treatment that’s offered to you before any physical examinations or treatment can be given. If you haven’t given your consent, you can accept or refuse treatment that’s offered to you.
It’s important to be involved in decisions about your treatment and to be given information to help you choose the right treatment. When making treatment choices, you’ll often discuss the options with your doctor or another healthcare professional.
Cancelling or Changing an Appointment
To cancel your appointment:
- reply CANCEL to your appointment reminder text message
- use your NHS account
- phone us on 020 8305 3007, Monday to Friday from 8am to 6.30pm
Home Visits
If you think that you need a doctor to visit you at home, either because you are housebound or because you are too ill to be brought to the Centre, please telephone 020 8305 3007, before 10:00am whenever possible.
When requesting a home visit it is helpful to give as much information as you feel able to the receptionist as this will enable the doctor to assess the urgency of your call.
You can be assured that your call will be dealt with in the strictest confidence.
Our Extended Clinical Team
You may not always need to see a doctor! Out team here at The Fairfield Practice provide a range of specialised clinics and services which mean you may not need to see a GP – you may find a nurse appointment, Social Prescriber, Mental Health Nurse, Pharmacist for medication related and/or a physios would better meet your needs.
Non-urgent advice: If you need help when we are closed
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.
