Making Appointments

Appointments can be made by ringing 01244 351000, the Medical Centre between 8.00am and 6.30pm. 

We offer face to face and telephone appointments with our clinicians.

Pre-Bookable Appointments:

Nurse appointments are available 2-3 weeks in advance. Pre-bookable appointments can also be made for telephone advice.

GP Appointments:

We have appointments released each day at 8.00am.  To obtain a day release appointment you need to ring the surgery from 8.00am onwards.

NB  All our GP appointments are 10 minute consultations, if you have more than one issue, please ask for a double appointment.

You may see the doctor of your choice but try to keep to the same doctor for a single period of illness.  However, please be aware that you may be offered an appointment with a different GP due to availability.  Please be assured that all Clinicians will have up-to-date information of your medical history with our clinical system EMIS Web. 

Other services

Before you make an appointment to see your GP, think about what other services might be able to help.

• Go to a pharmacy for advice and treatment for minor conditions that do not need a prescription. Read about services you can get from a pharmacist.
• Call NHS 111 if you have an urgent medical problem, but you're not sure what to do.

All patients are entitled to have a chaperone present during any consultation, examination or test where they feel one is required. Sometimes you may wish to be accompanied by a family member or friend. Other times you may wish to have a formal chaperone present, i.e. a trained member of the practice team. Wherever possible please make this request at the time of booking your appointment so that the necessary arrangements can be made. Whilst we will always do our best to provide a chaperone when requested, this may sometimes require us to re-book your appointment for a time when one is present.

On occasions your GP or nurse may require a chaperone to be present, this is in accordance with our chaperone policy.

Home Visits

If you are too ill to attend surgery then please telephone 01244 351000 between 8:00 - 11:00 State clearly the name and address of the patient and describe the symptoms. This helps the doctors to decide the urgency of the calls and plan their rounds.

A doctor or nurse may phone you back as it may be that your problem can be dealt with by telephone advice, or that it would be more appropriate to send a nurse, or indeed arrange a hospital attendance.

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 Medical Centre.

DUTY CLINICIAN TRIAGE

There is an increasing demand on primary care for same day appointments, and GP practices are finding their appointment system under inordinate amounts of pressure. The rising populations along with the transfer of many hospital based services into the community has seen the GP workloads increase dramatically without the necessary resources to successfully deliver these services. As a result of this increasing workload, patients are waiting increasing lengths of time to be seen by a GP. 

According to the National GP survey in England, one in six patients need to wait a week until the next available appointment, and one in four will resort to attending A&E if they deem their appointment not soon enough. According to a Health watch survey, one in five patients also admits to misusing A&E for non-emergency treatment as a result of poor access to their GP.

 The growing emphasis on enhancing patient access to their practice has encouraged us to look into re-evaluating the way we book our appointments. At The Elms we are very fortunate to have a highly skilled nursing team with various specialities. Together with the GPs and the nursing team we have created a hybrid system where our patients will be signposted appropriately to the right clinician for their problems. This has led to developing the role of the Duty Clinician which comprises of a team consisting of Duty Doctor, Nurse Practitioner and Nurse Prescribers who will call back our patients who feel that they need to speak with a clinician urgently on the day.

 The system can be explained with the following process; 

1. Patients will call the practice and speak with the reception as usual to book an appointment. (Please remember that we can pre-book appointments 2 weeks in advance for GPs and 4 weeks in advance for nurses; for non-urgent health issues).
2. The receptionist will ask the patient their name, date of birth and a brief description of their health problem.
3. Using the signposting criteria developed by the clinicians the receptionist will offer the most appropriate appointment available.
4. If you are booked with the Duty Clinician, they will call you back as soon as they can, depending on their current workload. Unfortunately due to the unpredictability of the Duty Clinician’s day we are unable to give you a specific time for the call back. It is imperative that you give the receptionist your current contact details.
5. When the Duty Clinician calls you back the patients are able to talk to them about their health problem in the same way they would if they were in the practice attending an appointment in person.
6. If the Duty Clinician thinks that the patient needs to come into the surgery to be seen (either the same day or in the next few days) they will book you in a suitable time with the clinician themselves.

 Key points to remember

• If the patient wants to speak to a clinician urgently (i.e. if it is an emergency situation) then they must let the receptionist know who will inform the Duty Clinician.
• If either the Duty Clinician or the patient feels they need to be seen, then a face to face appointment can be booked. We are not trying to stop patients seeing their GPs.
• If the patients want the Duty Clinician to call them back at a specific time due to work commitments etc. then please let the receptionist know of this.
• Patients are still able to book face to face appointments and telephone appointments with the GPs in advance.
• Patients do not necessarily need to ring first thing in the morning as the appointments are available throughout the day and the Duty Clinician will prioritise the calls.

 We are hoping that with these changes, we can;

• Manage the clinical case load more effectively and efficiently
• Improve utilisation of our nursing team and other health care professionals in primary care
• Reduce DNA’s
• Free up GP’s time to enable them to proactively provide preventative primary care, improve long term management of chronic disease and promote self- care and empower patients; rather than firefighting on the day!

Enhanced Access Appoinments

The Enhanced Access Hours Service makes it easier for you to get an appointment at a time that suits you, including evenings and weekends.  The service offers pre-bookable, routine primary care appointments with GPs, ANP, Nurses and Health Care Assistants. The service is provided at Garden Lane Practice and has to be booked by your GP Practice.

For more information on their extended access service, however more information can be found here: Enhanced Access | primarycarecheshire 

How do I book an appointment?

Contact your GP practice in the usual way to request an appointment. Some appointments will be available to book up to 2 weeks in advance and some will be available to book on the day. 

What can I be seen for?

A range of usual services will be available, from GP or Nurse appointments to Health Checks and Medication Reviews.

Who will I be seen by?

Your appointment will be with an experienced clinician. It is unlikely that you will be seen by your own GP or Nurse. If you would prefer to see your usual GP or Nurse, please book an appointment with your registered practice during their normal opening hours. 

Will the clinician I see have access to my medical record during my appointment?

Your medical record will, with your consent, be available to the clinician that sees you. Your record will be updated at the time of your appointment. An appointment with this service will be just like an appointment at your own GP practice.