Need To See A Doctor Urgently?

What shouldyou do if you are ill and need an appointment with the doctor quickly?

Here’s some practical advice for when you need to get in to see your doctor on an urgent medical matter and you are offered an appointment that you believe is too far into the future.

If you need to see your doctor urgently please telephone the surgery as soon after 8.00am as possible. The earlier in the day the better so we have more time to liaise with our Community and Hospital Colleagues if this is necessary.

  • You will be offered either a telephone or face 2 face appointment the same day if we have appointments available.
  • Our receptionists will do their best to:
  • Accommodate requests for specific appointment times but this is not always possible. Be prepared to come to surgery at any time we have available.
  • Accommodate requests for specific doctors but this is not always possible. Be prepared to see any of our doctors
  • If no appointments are left, then you will be offered the soonest available appointment.
  • If you feel that this is not soon enough you should tell our reception Staff. They are here to help you and make sure you get an appropriate appointment based on medical need.
  • We keep a ‘daily list’ of patients for whom our reception Staff cannot offer an appointment but who have a medical need to be reviewed by a doctor the same day:
  • Receptionists are instructed by our doctors to take full details of the problem for their information. They are not being nosey, our doctors needs this information to prioritise your call and make a decision on whether a telephone or face 2 face appointment is more appropriate depending on your symptoms. We included this information on our ‘daily list’ so it is readily available for the doctor.
  • Our receptionists do not decide who will be seen from the ‘daily list’.
  • Our doctors triage all requests for urgent appointments. They may telephone you and, depending on the outcome, may not need to see you in surgery.  If they do wish to examine you they will usually make arrangements for you to be seen within 24 hours should your condition warrant this.
  • If you are asked to come to the surgery our doctors advise that it is quite safe to wrap up children who are unwell against inclement weather and bring them to the surgery.
  • We do not offer transport to the surgery and we suggest that you have arrangements in place should you be asked to attend.   

You will be offered the next available routine appointment if your request for a ‘same day’ appointment is not medically urgent.

Routine doctors’ appointments are available up to 6pm every day. All Surgeries are by appointment.

Please let us know well in advance if you cannot keep an appointment so that it may be offered to another patient. This avoids any unnecessary wait for patients wishing to see to see the doctor urgently or the practitioner of their choice. Missed appointments waste a considerable amount of time each week for both doctors and practice nurses.