Booking an appointment

When contacting the Practice, our trained Care Navigators will ask questions regarding your request for an appointment in order that you are booked with the right Clinician in the right timescale. 

Consultants are often offered via the telephone, the Clinician will call you, discuss your problems and if necessary will arrange for you to be seen face to face.

There are many clinicians at the Practice other than the GP's who may be able to help you, these include -

Advanced Nurse Practitioners - Can prescribe themselves

Coughs, colds, sore throats, ear-aches, insect bites, conjunctivitis,  minor injuries, urinary tract infections, diarrhoea and sickness, hayfever, minor rashes, eczema, heartburn, blocked ears

Practice Nurse

Contraception, Travel Advice and Baby Immunisations, wound dressings and suture removal, cervical screening, asthma, COPD, flu vaccinations

Clinical Pharmacist - for medication reviews, hospital medication changes, prescribing for long term conditions, minor ailments

Healthcare Assistant - for blood pressure checks, diabetic foot checks, ECGs, dressings, smoking cessation, new patient health checks, phlebotomy

Physicians Associate - for coughs, colds, urinary tract infections, diarrhoea and sickness, minor skin rashes, wounds

Physiotherapist - for musculoskeletal health issues such as back, muscle and joint pains, arthritis

Link Workers/Social Prescribers - for non-medical matters such as loneliness, anxiety, unemployment, illness or debt. Link Workers and Social Prescribers work in partnership with GP surgeries and can help people to access appropriate support in the community to help them make positive changes to your personal wellbeing.

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Important - Please note that at all times during the working day, emergencies always take priority over fixed appointments.  

Please note that an allocated appointment is for one patient only. Do not be offended if your request to address another person’s problems is refused. 

Missed Appointments - if you are unable to keep a pre-booked appointment please ensure that you phone the Practice well in advance to cancel your appointment.

Appointment Cancellation Hotline - 07936843797

This telephone number is for the cancellation of appointments only and may not be used to book an alternative time

Consultation Ethics

During consultations we aim to ensure the following; that

1. Your privacy, dignity and confidentiality are respected at all times.
2. You can discuss health related matters with a professional of the same sex wherever possible.
3. You are offered a chaperone if undergoing an intimate examination.
4. You will be offered an explanation of your problem, and treatment planning will be discussed with you.
5. We will take appropriate action to organise a second opinion if your symptoms warrant a specialist referral.  

Telephone Appointments

Doctors and Nurses are available from 8.00am – 6.30pm for telephone appointments.  

On receiving the request from a patient to speak to a GP or a nurse the message is taken by the receptionist for the named clinician, and the message is then conveyed for appropriate action by the clinician. 

The clinician will then telephone the patient.  Receptionists cannot put calls directly through to clinicians during clinics unless the situation requires emergency attention.  
 

Home Visits 

Home visits are a privilege and not an entitlement. 

Lack of transport cannot be accepted as a reason for a home visit nor does the Practice offer transport service.

Home visits are primarily for patients -

*Confined to home due to illness

*Confined to home due to disability

Patients should contact The Practice before 11.30am to arrange a home visit which are then triaged by a clinician who may contact the patient firstly by telephone to discuss the nature of the problem.

It will be the clinician who will decide whether a home visit is appropriate. 

Specific times are not available for home visits but determined by the amount of visits required. as this will be determined by the number of home visits requested. 

Weekend Appointments

Patients can pre- book weekend appointments at the surgery please call the Practice to book an appointment

Weekend and Bank Holiday GP Service

Patients can pre-book weekend/bank holiday appointments with a GP or Practice Nurse via the Practice Reception Team.

If you need to be seen at the Weekend or OOH, you will need to contact 111

From Saturday 12^th June 2021, these Weekend Services will be held at -

GPHA Clinic

Suite 3,

351 London Road

Hadleigh

SS7 2BT

01268 206408

OR

Audley Mills Surgery

57 Eastwood Road

Rayleigh

SS6 7JF

01268 740501

THESE ARE NOT WALK-IN SERVICES

For blood test results please telephone the Practice

after 2.00pm - phone 209339 (option 2)

What does the NHS App do? 

The NHS App allows you to access a range of NHS services on your smartphone or tablet.  

You can use it wherever you are, at any time. It puts valuable information about your health and treatments at your fingertips. 

You can: 

• book and cancel appointments at your GP surgery
• order repeat prescriptions
• view your GP medical record
• register for organ donation and change your donation preferences
• use the symptoms checker, including an A to Z of conditions and treatment advice from the NHS website
• access 111 Online, for advice on self-care and whether urgent help is needed

How to register through the NHS App 

Download the app from your mobile device’s app store and follow the easy step-by-step registration instructions. It will help if you know your NHS number, and have a form of ID (passport or driving license) to hand.