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Improved service for urgent appointments.

Following on from our successful telephone consultation service, we have improved the way in which we deal with requests for urgent appointments. We were concerned that the 1130 emergency clinic was sometimes very busy and could mean a long wait to be seen - this is the last thing you need when you are feeling poorly!

This is how the new improved service works:

If you phone up and ask for an urgent or same-day appointment, you will no longer be booked directly into the 1130 emergency clinic.
Instead, the receptionist on the phone will take your details and contact number. It is helpful if you can give an idea of what the problem is, though we understand at times you would rather not say.
Our duty doctor or new minor illness nurse will call you back for a telephone consultation. If your problem can be sorted out on the telephone, either with advice or issuing a prescription, this is what will happen.
If the doctor or nurse feels you need to be seen, they will make you an appropriate appointment - this may be a same day appointment with the duty doctor or minor illness nurse; it may be on a different day with your usual doctor.

The system has been running since 14.02.11 and has already proved very beneficial to our patients. We have had a lot of good feedback - people are particularly pleased when we can help on the phone and save them a trip to the surgery!

As with any change, there may be some teething problems at first. We would appreciate any feedback you have so we can tweak the system to run as smoothly as possible. Feedback forms are in the waiting rooms and you can also drop us a line via this feedback link.