NEW Appointment System from November 2022 

Over the last 12 months we have been listening and responding to your feedback on our appointment system.  Our current system of “book on the day” is the most effective and the best use of our resources. However, we do acknowledge how frustrating the 8am rush can be to get an appointment; and how quickly the appointments get booked up.

From Monday 14th November 2022 our new appointment system will go live and will include:

  • A proportion of appointments for routine GP Telephone Appointments will be bookable online 3 days in advance via the Ask First app symptom checker.
  • A proportion of appointments for pre-bookable routine GP face to face appointments which can be booked via our Patient Service Team.
  • Online booking via the Ask First app symptom checker for on the day urgent appointments; these will be a TELEPHONE appointment in the first instance, the clinician will offer you a Face to face or Video appointment if required.
  • Evening telephone calls with a Pharmacist for medication reviews (currently only bookable by the Practice Pharmacy team)
  • We will continue to have our “on the day” Duty List for all urgent requests.

Our new telephone system was installed late August 2022 and has made a big difference to queue waiting times, however demand on the telephone lines has increased significantly.  We now see an average of 2000+ calls coming into the surgery each day.  To relieve pressure on the phone lines, we would encourage you to use online options like the Ask First app, patient access or the NHS App wherever possible.

The Ask First app can provide easy online access for:

  • Booking Cervical Screening and NHS Health Checks 
  • Cancelling ALL appointments
  • Checking your symptoms
  • Making general enquiries/admin requests like extension of fit notes.

Download the Ask First app here:

  

NHS App and Patient Access:
Please download one of these Apps to be able to view your GP record in full and request repeat prescriptions.

Download the NHS app here.
Download the Patient Access app here.

Cancelling appointments
When we previously offered pre-bookable appointments, some patients decided they no longer needed the appointment and failed to tell us beforehand. DNAs (did not attends) are a serious problem for the NHS. Research shows that around 13 million GP appointments and 6 million practice nurse appointments are missed each year. We do monitor repeat offenders and send warning letters and consequences may be a removal from the practice list. Unfortunately there is little we can do for the loss of clinical time that these occurrences create so please always cancel an appointment that is no longer needed.

Please click HERE for digital support on how to cancel your appointment. 

We will be actively monitoring the new appointment system over the next few months and we value your feedback.

 

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