Patient Information Update 08.03.24

We thought it may be helpful to address some of the common queries our team regularly encounter from patients and explain why we make some of the decisions we do…

If you consider yourself or your child unwell enough to need an ‘on the day’ appointment then we would not expect you to be in work/school and so should be available to accept the appointment offered.

We cannot offer impromptu calls to discuss matters with a GP. Any patient contact requires a GP appointment and needs to be prioritised and booked accordingly.

We have a finite number of appointments each day, to offer more would compromise the quality of care we are able to provide and may place patients at risk. This is why when full we ask patients to contact 111 to see if an alternative service can help you rather than see or speak to a GP.

We are not an emergency service, if you feel you have a need that is a clinical emergency then the appropriate place to access care is A&E.

As GPs our Doctors are generalists with the knowledge to treat many things. Understanding what is wrong can sometimes be a process of elimination which may involve trying more than one treatment and the solution may not be immediate.

Our GPs refer to specialists for further advice and care as needed. Once referred, the responsibility of this care sits with the receiving organisation. We are unable to chase outstanding appointments and do not have access to this information to update patients. Please do not ask us to.

Our Secretarial team cannot chase Hospital Appointments, book Practice appointments or provide test results. Every inappropriate query passed to the admin team causes a delay for those depending on further care. If unsure please choose the ‘other queries’ option when you call.

We need 72 hours from your request for repeat medication to authorisation and this can only be issued if your medication review is up to date. Non-attendance for reviews will cause delays.

We are not trained to advise patients on the NHS App. If you are having difficulties in accessing the app then please contact their helpdesk directly.

We have a committed team who do their best every day to meet our patients needs in an extremely challenging climate. We do not always get everything right but we are willing to learn and improve the way we do things when the opportunity arises.

Our team are here to help. They cannot offer what we do not have.

Becoming agitated, aggressive or raising your voice will not change this. If just one patient each day speaks to our team in this way then it will make staff retention challenging and as a result the service we are able to provide will inevitably deteriorate. We have a duty to protect our team and uphold our zero tolerance policy strictly, such behaviour will not be tolerated.

We thank you for your patience and understanding.

Melanie Gearing

Practice Manager