Appointments

Availability

Appointments are available every week day between 08:00 and 20:00.

Making an Appointment

When you contact us to make an appointment, the doctors have instructed our reception team to ask you if you can tell us what the appointment is for. This information is to help you to get the right appointment with the right clinician—and of course if you do not wish to impart this information, the receptionists will respect your decision. The receptionist may be able to help you immediately; take a message to a clinician and contact you with the answer; arrange a telephone or a face to face consultation—either with a practice nurse or a doctor.

Routine Appointments

Routine appointments with a doctor can be pre-booked up to one week in advance. We recommend you try and plan ahead to ensure you get an appointment with your first choice of doctor. The practice believes in continuity of care, and we encourage you to see the same doctor for your particular medical condition on each occasion. There will be times, however, when your first choice of doctor is not available, due to training or leave.

Urgent Appointments

If you have a medical problem which you feel needs to be dealt with urgently, for example an acute infection or severe pain, please telephone the practice.  Our reception team are trained to ask questions which will mean we can direct you to the most appropriate clinician to see you.  A number of appointments are available for booking the same day.  Alternatively, you may be given telephone advice, advised to attend your local pharmacy, offered a routine appointment, or advised to attend the nearest Accident and Emergency Department.

Please note that it is ultimately the clinician's decision whether you are given a same day appointment or not. Please do not come to the practice initially if you have an urgent medical problem, as we do not offer a walk-in service, and it may be that your problem can be dealt with over the telephone. Many infections, particularly the flu and flu-like illnesses, are due to viruses, which cannot be cured by doctors. Attending the practice with this type of illness increases the risk of infection to other vulnerable patients who may be attending the practice.

If you have a life-threatening emergency, please call for an emergency ambulance by dialling 999.

Appointment Lengths

The majority of GP and nurse appointments are fifteen minutes duration. Your appointment is booked for you only, so please do not expect the doctor to deal with the problem of a relative or a child in addition during your appointment. Please make a separate appointment for your child if they need to see a doctor as well as yourself.

Telephone Consultations

If you are uncertain if you need to see a doctor face to face, need medical advice by telephone, have a query about a referral, or want to find out the results of tests, we encourage you to contact the practice by telephone first rather than book a doctor's appointment.

Please advise the receptionist of your query as they may be able to help you themselves without disturbing the doctor – if you do need to speak with a doctor then the receptionist will book a telephone consultation for you, and this may be the same day, or again can be booked in advance.

If you ask to speak to a particular doctor, regarding an on-going problem, your returned call may take a little longer depending on the doctor's scheduled working times. If your usual doctor is on leave, then they will have assigned a deputy who will try and help you in their absence.

Chaperones

We recognise that intimate examinations by health care professionals can be distressing or embarrassing for patients. Wherever possible, you will be offered the security of having a chaperone present.

Please feel free to advise the receptionist in advance of your appointment, if you think this will be the case, and do not hesitate to ask the doctor or nurse for a chaperone if you are not offered this option during your consultation. If you would prefer to see only a doctor of a specific gender to discuss your medical problem, then again please advise the receptionist of this when booking your appointment.

Late Arrivals

If you are late for your appointment, you may be asked to rebook your appointment for another day and time. As a general rule if you are more than 15 minutes late for your appointment you may be asked to rebook.

Cancellations

If you cannot attend an appointment for any reason please inform us as soon as possible in order for us to give the slot to someone else.

Home Visits

The doctors are happy to visit people at home if they are housebound or genuinely too unwell to come to the surgery.

Home visits are, however, very time consuming and reduce the number of appointments we are able to offer – doctors could see 4 or 5 people in the surgery in the time taken for just one visit. At home we do not have full records and equipment so care is generally better delivered in the surgery.

As a rule, we ask that people come to the surgery whenever possible even if it means asking a relative or friend to bring you or getting a taxi. Children should always be brought to the surgery rather than seen at home.

We are only obliged to visit at home on the grounds of clinical need and not because of difficulties with transport.

If you think you may need a home visit, please call the surgery before 11:00 in the morning. Visits are usually done over lunchtime and requests coming in later in the day are highly disruptive to afternoon surgeries causing inconvenience to other patients. Afternoon visits are therefore reserved for medical emergencies only.

The doctor may call you before coming out to visit to see if there is another way to help with your problem.

Sickness Certificates

You do not require a doctor's sickness certificate for any illness lasting seven days or less. Your employer may however require you to complete a self-certification form (SC2) which is available from your employer or on the HMRC website.

Evidence that you are sick

If you are sick for more than seven days, your employer can ask you to give them some form of medical evidence to support payment of SSP (statutory sick pay).

It is up to your employer to decide whether you are incapable of work. A medical certificate, now called a 'Statement of Fitness for Work’ (see below) from your doctor is strong evidence that you are sick and would normally be accepted, unless there is evidence to prove otherwise.

You could also provide evidence from someone who is not a medical practitioner, e.g. a dentist. Your employer will decide whether or not this evidence is acceptable. If your employer has any doubts, they may still ask for a medical certificate from your GP.

Statement of Fitness for Work - ’Fit Note'

The 'fit note' was introduced on 6 April 2010. With your employer's support, the note will help you return to work sooner by providing more information about the effects of your illness or injury.

For more information see the DirectGov website (where this information was sourced)

Urgent dental care

If you are not registered with an NHS dentist, then please phone the Wiltshire Dental Helpline (Monday-Friday 8.30am-5.00pm).

If you are registered with an NHS dentist, then please call them first, as they will have their own process for providing urgent care.

Urgent out of hours dental treatment 

Outside of the hours mentioned above, please call 111.

(The NHS 111 service is for when you need urgent care but it's not a 999 emergency. It's available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year and calls are free from landlines and mobile phones.)

More serious problems

Please go to the Emergency Department or call 999 immediately if you experience any of the following:

• Uncontrollable bleeding following dental extractions
• Rapidly increasing swelling around the throat or eye
• Severe trauma to the face and jaws

Frequently Asked Questions

What is considered as an 'urgent' dental problem?

If you experience either of the following:

• Severe dental and facial pain not controlled by over-the-counter preparations.
• Acute facial swelling or dental abscess.

What happens when I ring the out of hours dental service?

Specially trained staff will answer your call.  They will ask you some questions, for example your name, address and the reason for your call. Your problem will initially be assessed over the phone.

They will then either:

• Put you through to a Nurse to give you advice on how to look after yourself
• Ask you to come in to one of our centres to be treated by one of our team.  

All calls to the out of hours dental service are treated in confidence.

There will be a charge for treatment at the out of hours service. NHS charging bands give more information. 

Where else can I go for dental advice and treatment out of hours?

Your local Pharmacy may be able to offer advice. Check notices at your local Pharmacy or look in your local paper to find out which chemists are open outside normal hours.

The NHS Choices website (www.nhs.uk) provides 24-hour, confidential healthcare advice and information; or you can call them on 0845 46 47. All staff are trained Nurses or healthcare professionals.