Orchard Surgery - How to make an appointment to see your doctor or nurse at the surgery

Noticeboard

Online Services

Please call into the practice to register for our online services.

To use services please select the icons at the bottom of the home page.

You can now order your repeat prescriptions via the icon at the bottom of the home page as well as the usual ways of ordering.

If you would like to view elements of your medical record from 1st April onwards, the Assistant Practice Manager can activate this for you. This can only be done by specific request from the patient only. Please contact the surgery to have this service enabled.

2016/2017 Patient Survey

We will be running an ongoing Patient Survey and welcome your participation. All feedback will be collated and reviewed by our PRG at the end of the year, with results published on our site under the Survey link in the right hand menu.

Please take part and let us know how you rate our services.

The survey can be found at the bottom of our website.

Patient Representation Group

We have a group of patient representatives who are part of our virtual patient group. We contact them regularly to hear their views, comments and suggestions on our services as representatives of our patients.

Please follow the link for more information.

Access the online appointment system

Appointments

Appointments can be made by ringing 01763 260220. You may see any doctor of your choice but we encourage you to remain with the same doctor for a particular problem. Appointments are available mornings and afternoons Monday-Friday (depending on availability).

Our telephone system menu is option 2 for appointments.

The current appointment system in operation is:

On-the-day appointments – can be booked on the day for routine matters. Patients will be given a time to attend during the morning surgery.

Urgent appointments – these are booked on the day for matters considered urgent and appointments are allocated at the duty doctors discretion.

Routine appointments – can be booked up to six weeks in advance and are available for both morning and afternoon surgeries.

Online appointments - can be booked via the appointments icon located on the home page or via the Appointments tab from the main menu. All details of this service is available under the Online Appointments tab. Patients can use this facility on a 24 hours, 7 days per week basis.

Evening surgeries (extended hours) – this surgery offers routine appointments that will be available one evening a week. Appointments are intended for patients who have difficulty attending during normal surgery hours and can be booked in advance.

Telephone Advice

Your doctor is always happy to speak to you on the telephone and the best time to ring is about 12:30pm. Please ring earlier if you feel you may need an appointment or a visit that same day.

Practice Nurses

In a number of cases it might be worth considering an appointment with a practice nurse rather than a doctor. Practice nurses are qualified to deal with many ailments and you may be seen more quickly. Our nurses are also happy to give advice over the telephone.

Cancellations

If you cannot attend an appointment for any reason please inform us as soon as possible in order for us to give the slot to someone else.

Booking Online Appointments

To access these services you will be required to register for on-line services and obtain a user name and password from the practice. In order to do this you will need to attend the practice in person with the following identification; photo ID (i.e. driving licence, passport or student card) and address ID (i.e. utility bill, credit card statement - this must be dated within the last 3-months). These forms of ID will ONLY be used to clarify who you are and that we have the correct address details for you on our clinical system, no copies will be taken.

N.B We require this information, so that patient confidentiality can be maintained. No one else can register for online services on your behalf, unless registration is for a child under the age of 15y 11m (proof of ID can include an NHS card, vaccination card, passport), a parent/guardian can register on their behalf. Over 16s can register themselves, or if previously registered can ask for thier log in details to be changed for confidentiality reasons.

Once this verification has taken place, the receptionist will register you for on-line services and your login details will be created. Once registered, you should be able to access the service within 1 hour of registration.

Appointments are available for GP consultations via our online booking system. There is an option to view and cancel any future appointments already made.

At present ONLY a 10 minute appointment can be booked on-line for a GP, therefore it is not advisable to use this service if you require longer then 10 minutes (i.e. driving medical, minor surgery or maternity booking).

On-line services can be accessed 24-hours, 7 days a week

Please feel free to register for on-line services when you are next in the practice for an appointment, if you are unable to attend before hand. Our receptionist will be happy to help you. Please remember your 2 forms of ID.

Home Visits

Doctor's bag If possible please try to telephone reception before 10:30 if you require a home visit.

You may only request a home visit if you are housebound or are too ill to visit the practice. Your GP will only visit you at home if they think that your medical condition requires it and will also decide how urgently a visit is needed.

You can be visited at home by a community nurse if you are referred by your GP. You should also be visited at home by a health visitor if you have recently had a baby or if you are newly registered with a GP and have a child under five years.

Sickness Certificates

You do not require a doctor's sickness certificate for any illness lasting seven days or less. Your employer may however require you to complete a self-certification form (SC2) which is available from your employer or on the HMRC website.

Evidence that you are sick

Sickness Certificates If you are sick for more than seven days, your employer can ask you to give them some form of medical evidence to support payment of SSP (statutory sick pay).

It is up to your employer to decide whether you are incapable of work. A medical certificate, now called a 'Statement of Fitness for Work’ (see below) from your doctor is strong evidence that you are sick and would normally be accepted, unless there is evidence to prove otherwise.

You could also provide evidence from someone who is not a medical practitioner, e.g. a dentist. Your employer will decide whether or not this evidence is acceptable. If your employer has any doubts, they may still ask for a medical certificate from your GP.

Statement of Fitness for Work - ’Fit Note'

The 'fit note' was introduced on 6 April 2010. With your employer's support, the note will help you return to work sooner by providing more information about the effects of your illness or injury.

For more information see the DirectGov website (where this information was sourced)

DNA rates

usage

On average 3% of appointments are marked as 'Did not attend' (DNA), each month.

If you are unable to attend an appointment them please contact the surgery so the appointment can be made available for someone else.

We are looking at new ways to help with reducing DNA rates and making it easier for patients to contact the practice to cancel appointments - one way is on-line booking/cancellations - if you would like to find out further information please go to the 'Online Appointments' tab at top of this section.

The following link shows an illustration of our DNA numbers for 2012.

DNA Rates