Appointments

Opening Times

A Receptionist is available from 8:00am (on the telephone, 8.30am on Reception desk) to 6:30 pm daily.

Making Appointments

Appointments can be made by telephone (lines open at 8am) or calling in person at the surgery. Appointments are offered on a first come first serve basis and appointment slots usually fill quickly.

In order to provide optimal care you will be asked whether your appointment relates to a new or ongoing problem and which doctor you saw last. If the problem is ongoing, it is most appropriate to see the same doctor. The practice will endeavour to accommodate your request for a specific practitioner, but if this is not possible you will be offered an alternative practitioner.

Appointment times

• Morning appointments are  from 9:00am to 12:00pm
• Evening appointments with all doctors are from 4:00pm
• Emergency appointments can be made between 9:00am to 1:00pm . (This varies slightly according to which doctor is on-call and whether there are clinical or administrative meetings during the lunch hour.)
• Nurse appointments are pre-bookable . The nurse sees patients on Monday, Tuesday,  Wednesday and  Thursday mornings and Friday afternoon.

Cancelling Appointments

If you cannot keep an appointment please let us know as soon as possible so that it can be offered to another patient. It is your responsibility to notify the surgery if you are unable to attend an appointment.

If you fail to keep the last 2-3 appointments you will be sent a warning letter reminding you of the above. Persistent non-attenders will be requested to meet either with one of the partners or the practice manager (to resolve any issues with the system of cancelling an appointment) and may be removed from the practice list.

Telephone Advice

If you require advice only, then you can phone the surgery and leave some details with the receptionist and the doctor or nurse (as appropriate) will contact you back after morning surgery (usually after 12pm). If you ring after 12pm you will likely be contacted back after the evening surgery (usually after 5:30pm).

This should not be used for urgent problems.

Home Visits

House visits are only available for patients who are housebound because of illness or disability. If possible please try to telephone before 10:30am in the morning. The Duty Triage Nurse will call you back, discuss your symptoms and plan the most appropriate course of action. This will usually be telephone advice, an appointment (not always the same day) or a home visit (not always the same day). Alternatively, they might think it more appropriate to send a district nurse or suggest an ambulance for immediate admission to hospital.

Please remember that several patients can be seen in the practice in the time that it takes to make one home visit. There are also better facilities for examining and treating patients at the surgery.

Emergency Appointments

Out of Hours

If you need to contact an emergency doctor when the surgery is closed, please telephone the Out of Hours service on 0300 123 5060 or call NHS Direct on 0845 46 47. This service operates from 6:30pm in the evening until 8:00am in the morning (including the weekend from Friday to Monday and on Bank Holidays).

NHS Direct

Advice and information can also be obtained from NHS Direct Wales. If you are unsure whether you need an appointment, whether it can wait till the next working day or if you simply want further advice please call NHS Direct Wales for more information.