Appointments

How can I book an appointment?

IMPORTANT UPDATE – APPOINTMENT SYSTEM CHANGES DUE TO CORONAVIRUS (COVOD-19) PANDEMIC

We have taken the decision to change our appointment system and how we make appointments. This is to ensure we continue to look after our patients in the safest possible way. We are following advice from NHS England, Public Health England and the Health Secretary.

From Monday 16^th March we have now suspended and changed how we make appointments for future bookings to ensure we are prepared and you are protected.

WHAT IF I ALREADY HAVE AN APPOINTMENT?

If you already have an appointment booked with us – don’t worry, the appointment has not been cancelled but you may receive a call to see if your problem can be dealt with over the phone. If you need to be seen following the phone call the clinician will arrange an appointment.

Consider if the appointment is needed (we are experiencing a high volume of requests and calls) if not needed or can wait please cancel the appointment (ideally online or call the surgery ideally in the afternoon) to cancel and rebook in a week or two,

WHAT IF I AM FEELING ILL AND THINK I HAVE CORONAVIRUS COVID-19?

• If you are worried you may have Coronavirus (COVID-19) please do the following:
  • Please try and seek advice online on NHS111 via the following link
  • 111 ONLINE
  • If you have symptoms you are worried about please call the practice during opening hours or 111 OOH
  • Only call 111 during the day if you cannot get through to the practice (we are experiencing a high volume of calls and apologise if this is the case)
• You will not be tested for COVID-19 unless your symptoms are severe and require an emergency admission please do not call 111 asking for testing if your symptoms are mild.
• In accordance with the Prime Minister and Chief Medical Officer’s speech on Wednesday, 12 March, anyone with a new persistent cough and/or high temperature is now advised to self-isolate for seven days and seek advice from 111 online.

IF YOU ARE FEELING ILL AND ALREADY HAVE AN APPOINTMENT:

If you already have an appointment booked with us – don’t worry, the appointment has not been cancelled but you will receive a call to see if your problem can be dealt with over the phone FIRST.

If you need to be seen following the phone call the clinician will arrange an appointment. If you come to the surgery please do not be alarmed if the doctor or nurse seeing you is wearing a mask, gloves or taking other precautions.

IF YOU FEEL ILL AND NEED AN URGENT APPOINTMENT BUT DON’T YET HAVE ONE:

If you think your problem is urgent and you need to be seen, please call the surgery as you normally would. The practice is OPEN and you will be seen you as soon as possible.

Following a recent incident, we would remind all patients that if you are experiencing symptoms of severe respiratory difficulty you should not put yourself at risk by coming into the surgery, of course we will always try and help but the practice is not equipped or staffed to practice as an A and E centre, please call 999 to ask for immediate medical attention and advice.

If you have breathing problems or any other urgent problem that is moderately severe but not needing urgent and immediate medical attention them PLEASE CALL IN ADVANCE and try not to walk into the building without warning.

We need to triage all urgent phone calls for assistance in order to assess whether or not we can manage you at the surgery and to enable us to get ready to see you with full Personal Protection gear in order to protect our staff and other patients in the building who could be at risk or elderly. Please do not ignore this request.

WHAT IF I HAVE AN APPOINTMENT BUT WANT TO AVOID COMING TO THE SURGERY?

If you have a routine appointment and are feeling well, but wish to avoid coming into the surgery (which we recommend) please:

• Cancel the appointment online
• Call the surgery and ask them to book you a telephone appointment instead.
• Email the surgery (portcullis.surgery@nhs.net) with the subject heading “PLEASE EMAIL ME WITH ADVICE”.
  Please include your name, date of birth and the first line of your address. Then ask for your appointment to be cancelled, detailing your problem, so we can answer you either by return email or a telephone call. If you have a rash, for example, you can send us an email with a photo of the rash, including some information, and we can respond with advice.
• Please bear with us we are experiencing a high volume of requests for help- we may take upto 5 working days to answer your email.

HOW DO I MAKE A NEW APPOINTMENT OR GET HELP FROM THE SURGERY NOW?

If you think your problem is urgent and you need to be seen, please call the surgery as you normally would. The practice is OPEN and you will be seen as soon as possible BUT DO NOT WALK INTO THE SURGERY AS THIS WILL PUT OTHERS AT RISK OF CATCHING COVID-19.

For non-urgent medical matters we are still able to care for you. However, we need to do things slightly differently to protect you from Coronavirus. For all of the services listed below please email or call the surgery – WE ARE OPEN AND HERE TO HELP:

• Telephone and face-to-face appointments
• Email advice
• Counselling or care-coordinator appointments
• Appointments for blood tests, any other tests, dressings, wound care, smears, family planning, vaccinations or other routine procedures
• Any medical and medication advice or queries.

ALL YOU NEED TO DO IS:

• Call the surgery on 01584 872939 for urgent requests
• Email the surgery (portcullis.surgery@nhs.net) for non-urgent requests with the subject heading or, for example, include:
  • PLEASE BOOK ME AN APPOINTMENT FOR A BLOOD TEST OR TEST
  • PLEASE BOOK ME A FACE-TO-FACE APPOINTMENT
    • Please include your name, date of birth and the first line of your address
    • Please give some detail about why you need the test, appointment, dressing etc. as this will really help us direct you to the best available clinician. You will then be called back either by a receptionist or a clinician to book the appointment or discuss your appointment
    • Please attach photographs if helpful i.e. of rashes etc.

VIDEO CONSULTATIONS:

We will soon be sending details of how you can book a video consultation with a doctor or nurse.
If this is something you would like to do please email portcullis.surgery@nhs.net with the subject heading “PLEASE ADD ME TO EMAIL LIST FOR SETTING UP VIDEO CONSULTATIONS”. Please include your name, date of birth and the first line of your address. We will be sending out detailed information about this very soon.

IGNORE ADVICE BELOW DURING CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC

You can book an appointment by:

a) calling the practice and asking for an appointment (please call early in the morning if you need an “urgent” book on the day appointment or after 10am if its not urgent). You may be asked what the appointment is for by the receptionist in order to guide you to the most appropriate clinician. Please answer their questions as fully as you can in order to help them book the best suited appointment for you.

For information about what services we have at the practice please follow the following link

b) booking online, once you have registered for online access you can also book an appointment here: https://www.patientaccess.com/

Not all available appointments are visible online, if you can’t find a convenient time or the type of appointment you need, please call the surgery.

c) asking at the front-desk, we do not recommend coming to the practice to make an appointment as its difficult for our staff to be able to signpost you to the most appropriate clinician in an open space where you can be overheard but if you cannot call or book online please come to reception, ideally after 10am and we will do our best to guide you.

Who should I book with?

Urgent Appointments

Please remember that our Nurses and Advanced Nurse Practitioners can manage many problems and you do not always need to see a Doctor:

Please follow the link for more information about Urgent Problems:

Urgent Problems

New problems

Some medical problems are not urgent and can wait a few days however you may be worried about it because it is a new problem or something has changed. If you would like to see someone about your problem but you don’t think the problem is urgent or you would prefer an appointment at a convenient time for you in the next few days or weeks please ask for a routine non-urgent appointment with a nurse, advanced nurse practitioner or doctor.

We also have evening appointments 6.30-8pm with doctors and nurses on Monday and Wednesday evenings at the surgery and some Saturday morning appointments for your convenience please ask your receptionist for details.

We value continuity especially for an ongoing problem however if its a new problem it may be best to book with the next doctor or ANP available rather than wait for a specific doctor or nurse.

If you have a new problem, please see the link below for information about who to book with:

I have a new problem who can I book an appointment with?

Routine appointments

Most medical problems are not urgent and can wait a few days or weeks inorder to book with the right medical professional to manage your problem. We do value continuity in this practice so we do encourage you to book with the right person especially if you have seen a nurse or doctor for an ongoing problem before:

If you have an ongoing problem, or need to book for a specific clinic or investigation please see the links below about who to book with:

I have an ongoing problem who can I book with?

If you want to book into a specific clinic or for a specific test see the link below about who to book with:

I need to book an appointment for a specific test or clinic, how can I book this?