FAQ

No, we are closed on Bank Holidays. However, if you need medical advice or attention during this time you can:

Visit your pharmacy – Your local pharmacy can provide confidential, expert advice and treatment for a range of common illnesses and complaint. Visit NHS Choices to find a pharmacy open near you.

Call NHS 111 – If you need urgent medical advice but your condition is not life threatening. NHS 111 Is open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Calls are free from landlines and mobiles.

A&E or 999 – for a genuine medical emergency including; loss of consciousness, acute confused state and fits that are not stopping, persistent and/or severe chest pain, breathing difficulties, severe bleeding that cannot be stopped.

No our reception is open over lunchtime.

Many people believe they have a right to a home visit. This is not the case.

Home visits are very inefficient – often three or more patients could be seen in the same time at the surgery. In addition the surgery has high tech equipment, access to help and diagnostic tests and even drugs that can’t be taken out to patients’ homes which means often a patient can be assessed and treated better at the surgery. We generally do not see children at home for this reason.

Please also note that general practice is not an emergency service – we aren’t commissioned to be first responders. In many cases a call to 111, 999 or attendance at A&E is more appropriate.

These include: acute chest pain, collapse, acute confusion, and suspected minor injuries.

In a lot of cases a GP might not be the most appropriate person. Often a district nurse, or other allied health professional would be better being the point of contact. They can be contacted direct.

If you are unwell and are genuinely housebound, you can ring and request a visit. Expect this request to be triaged by the reception team who might divert you to a more appropriate service. Being unable to drive is not a reason to request a home visit – there are friends, neighbours and public transport. Similarly the surgery is designed to cope with unwell patients who might be vomiting, or feeling feverish and are potentially infectious – we can often fit people in straight away – meaning you will be seen much faster than waiting for a visit and you will be directed to a side room on arrival where you can be assessed.

Examples of valid requests for home visits are patients in the last stages of life needing palliative care (although these will be pre-planned visits), those in too much pain to move, or the very elderly frail person where moving them might make them worse. To request a visit telephone 01270 275050 before 10.00am Monday to Friday, as this assists in the planning of doctor visits in the early afternoon. For some conditions a visit on another day by a doctor that knows you might be more appropriate than a same day visit.

As stated, you will be asked the details and reason for the visit by the reception team who are trained to handle this and are subject to the confidentiality policy of the practice. Always ensure there is a contact telephone number because the doctor may need to speak with you prior agreeing to visit – always make sure you make sure we have the right address and note that we do not visit patients outside of our practice boundary.

Patients recently discharged from hospital, and who need nursing follow up, will routinely be seen by the district nursing team. Patients in a nursing or care home should liaise with the staff as there are separate arrangements for them.

Visits take place after morning surgery usually between 11:30 and 15:00 and we cannot guarantee a time or any particular doctor though as a practice we try to encourage continuity of care, i.e. sending a doctor that knows you where possible.

Any abuse of this system will not be tolerated – requesting a home visit at a certain time to fit around going out to the hairdresser has been known and is not accepted.

Please ring after 14:00pm for test results.

Your results cannot be given to another person due to confidentiality reasons, unless you have already requested this and it is recorded in your notes – 01270 275050.

Please allow 4 working days for the results to return, with specialised tests taking longer. X-ray and scan results are usually received by the practice 10 days after the test was performed. It is your responsibility to telephone for results, as we process large numbers of tests each day and are unable to telephone individual results. However if we receive an urgent abnormal result we will try to contact you so make sure we have a up to date contact number. We offer SMS messaging of results – speak to your doctor/nurse about this.

We can also turn on result viewing on the online records system on a person by person basis – this is particularly helpful for patients who are under different hospitals or who have chronic diseases. Speak to reception about this.

To make an appointment telephone 01270 275050 and book with the help of a receptionist. Alternatively, you can visit us an book directly with the receptionist at the desk or you can register with them for our appointment online. If you have registered for the online booking service you can access it here.

For continuity of care we ask that wherever possible you make your appointment with your usual doctor or nurse. Ashfields is large and it may take a while to get to the right place. Please arrive in plenty of time and make sure you let us know you have arrived by either using the touch screens provided or by speaking to one of our receptionists.

We will endeavour to give all patient the opportunity to:

• Book routine appointments 6 weeks in advance
• More urgent problems will be seen within 48 hours
• Encourage continuity of care
• Make telephone access at the practice easier

Please note: If you are booking in with a GP for a smear test or coil fitting, please do not book online but call us on 01270 275050 to arrange as these appointments are given longer than a routine GP appointment.

Arrivals

For all doctors’ appointments, please book in at the first floor reception. If you experience difficulty getting to your appointment please speak to one of our receptionists.

For the following clinics, please book in at the main reception on the ground floor:

• Nursing
• Physiotherapy
• Podiatry
• Vasectomy
• and other clinics

Cancelling an appointment

If you need to cancel an appointment, we ask that you let us know as soon as possible by calling 01270 275050.

If you booked your appointment online, you can also cancel it via the online system.

You can also cancel by replying ‘cancel’ to the text appointment reminder.

Urgent help during surgery hours

If you are ill and need to get some advice about your illness that day, please speak to one of our receptionists first. They will be able to direct your enquiry to the right person. Alternatively, call NHS 111.

Patients must live within the practice boundary to be eligible for registration at the practice.

If you are unsure if your home address is within our boundary please contact us for confirmation. We are unable to keep patients on our list who move out of this practice area.

You will need to complete a registration form to register at the surgery.

Initially we will ask you to complete a health questionnaire as it is important that we have as much information as possible on your past medical history. We will, of course, be asking the appropriate authority to send your medical records once they have been retrieved from your previous General Practitioner, but this will take at least 2-6 weeks. You will be offered a new patient health check with the practice nurse.

Guide to GP Services

The Royal College of General Practitioners has produced a useful guide for patients about the services on offer at GP Surgeries and how to access them.

If you live within the practice boundaries (if you are unsure our team will be happy to help) you can register at the practice.

You can either register by visiting our practice and speaking to one of our reception team who will help you complete a form or by downloading the form beforehand and taking it to our reception team.

More information can be found on our ‘New Patient Registration’ page.

If you have a new address or phone number then please contact our reception team who will be able to update your details on our system.

Most adults in England have to pay prescription charges.

Some items are always free, including contraceptives and medicines prescribed for hospital inpatients.

The current prescription charge is £9.35 per item.

A prescription prepayment certificate (PPC) could save you money on NHS prescription costs:

• a 3-month PPC costs £30.25
• a 12-month PPC is £108.10

Find out how to save money with a PPC

If you find out you are pregnant, you will need to register with the midwife. You can do this by telephoning 01270 273127.

You will not need to physically see a midwife until you are approximately 16 weeks pregnant, but the midwife will keep in touch with you in the interim.

If you suspect you have an STD (Sexually Transmitted Disease) or if you have had it confirmed by your GP, you can call 0300 323 1300 to make an appointment at a local clinic.

The clinics and their opening times can be found here.

The CQC (Care Quality Commission) is the organisation making sure health and social care services provide people with safe, effective, compassionate, high-quality care and encourage care services to improve.

Before a care provider can carry out any of the activities that regulated by the CQC, they must register and satisfy them that they will be able to meet a number of legal requirements. Activities regulated includes the treatment, care and support provided by hospitals, GP practices, dental practices, ambulance services, care homes and home-care agencies.

For more information about the CQC, you can visit their website.

The reception staff are members of the practice team and it has been agreed they should ask patients ‘why they need to be seen’. Reception staff are trained to ask certain questions in order to ensure that you receive the most appropriate medical care from the most appropriate health professional at the most appropriate time.

The receptionists are asked to collect brief information from patients to help:

• doctors prioritise house visits and phone calls
• ensure patients receive the appropriate level of care
• direct patients to see the nurse or other health professionals rather than a doctor where appropriate.

Reception staff, like all members of the team, are bound by confidentiality rules:

• Any information given by you is treated strictly confidentially.
• The practice would take any breach of confidentiality very seriously and deal with it accordingly.
• You can ask to speak to the receptionist in private, away from the reception desk.
• However, if you feel your issue is very private and do not wish to say what this is, then this will be respected.