Make an appointment

Appointments booking system – making sure you have a choice.

Each patient’s needs are different. You may need help and advice quickly or you may need help with a continuing problem. You may need to see a clinician or you may need to simply speak to one rather than waiting for an appointment and making a journey to the surgery.

The way in which we provide care to you may be different to what you are used to, such as consulting by telephone or video call. However, our aim remains to ensure that you have access to appropriate treatment with the right person within a safe and reasonable period of time.

In order to ensure this we use the following system:

We accept requests from 8:15am each morning. This is for both same day and pre- bookable consultation requests.
These should be requested via our online system known as PATCHS.
Please put as much detail as you can on the online form. This is essential to ensure that you see the right person within a safe period of time. Giving us an idea of your problem really helps us to help you.
Please do not make your request in person by visiting the surgery. If you do visit the practice then please be aware that a form will be completed on your behalf and you will be asked to return home to await further instruction. Please remember that we do not offer a walk in service.
You will be asked to provide a contact number by the Reception team as part of your request.
You will be contacted by text message or phone with further instructions with regards to your request. You may be asked to book an appointment at the practice or you might be asked to attend an appointment elsewhere. You could be referred to some of the specialist staff within our primary care network. These include physiotherapists or mental health nurses.
We are not able to accept any same day requests once we reach capacity unless your need is medically urgent for that day. You may be asked to contact the surgery on another day if your need is not urgent or you may be offered an appointment at one of the GP Federation hubs located across the city dependant on availability.
If you are acutely unwell and need help the same day, your request will be assessed according to the urgency by the senior clinicians who are on call.
If appropriate, we may signpost you to other health professionals. These include a pharmacist, dentist, Healthy Minds, optician, the voluntary or community sector.
Self certificates can be completed and sent online. These are available at: Employee’s statement of sickness to claim Statutory Sick Pay – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

HOME VISITS

If you need to request a home visit, you can do this via our PATCHs communication tool or by calling the practice.
Your home visit request will be triaged by the on call GP that day who will assess your needs to ensure that you receive the appropriate treatment.

PATCHS

Please note that PATCHS is an alternative method of communication with us rather than having to phone the practice. You can request an appointment for any of our clinicians or other health related information such as blood test results or request a sick note. PATCHs does not have the capability to book an appointment for you automatically. Your PATCHs request will be assessed by a member of our practice team and you will receive a text message advising you of your management plan. This might be a link for you to book an appointment at the practice or at another health facility or it may give you advice and signposting. When all available slots have been booked, PATCHs will not accept further requests for an appointment on the system. If you need our help urgently that day, then you should ring the surgery as you normally would.

Fit notes – Fit notes can be requested via PATCHS. Click on the PATCHs banner below. When making a request, please select the “Admin request” option. . Further information about sick notes is available on Fit note – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)