Our appointment book is changing with effect 4.7.22, and you will no longer be able to book an appointment in advance beyond this date.
Our appointment system is changing from July and you will no longer be able to make an appointment in advance beyond the end of June. All medical matters (that are not specific to the nursing team) will be addressed on the day.
This is to reduce the wait for all patients to see or speak to a clinician and to ensure the workload across our all clinical staff is managed appropriately.
From 4th July if you need to speak to a clinician about any medical matter, routine or urgent, you will need to call or go on line that day to make an appointment. You will be able to choose a clinician for a telephone or face to face appointment.
If you think you will need to be examined please select a Face to Face appointment. Once the appointments have all been booked for that day our reception care navigation team (option 4 on our phone system) will ask you for more information to help them to signpost you within the practice or externally to another service. For example, you might be referred to a practice based pharmacist, a physician associate, a physio, a social prescribing link worker or community pharmacy.
This is something we as doctors have asked them to do as we are not always the correct people to speak to for your particular need. Staff have been provided with relevant training and information to signpost you correctly.
We therefore appreciate your co-operation in answering their questions and following their directions. From July phone lines for appointments will open at 8am and again at 2pm. Online appointments will be available from 7am and 1pm Mon-Fri and we would strongly encourage you to use online access where possible to avoid delays on the phone.
Extended hours and nurse appointments will be unaffected by this change. Information will also be made available on our website.
Please bear with us in the early stages of this transformation and we thank you for your patience and co-operation whilst we move to this new system.