Wrafton House Surgery

OBTAIN TELEPHONE ADVICE?

The doctors run daily telephone surgeries on a dedicated number (01707 278426) during which many medical problems or queries can be dealt with. This saves time for both you the patient and for doctors. The telephone surgeries are used for the following:

1) Any medical problem that you think can be dealt with over the telephone, thereby saving a surgery appointment or house call.

2) Laboratory and X-ray results usually from the doctor who has ordered the investigation if they have asked you to ring them.

3) A medical condition that a doctor or practice nurse has asked to review over the telephone.

4) Patients who need medication alteration/additions after hospital outpatient appointments, daycare procedures or inpatient admissions.

5) Patients requiring an update/review of some of their repeat prescriptions.

Telephone Calls

If you wish to speak to a doctor or practice nurse about matters other than the above, the staff will suggest a suitable time for you to telephone. This will usually be in a telephone surgery or at the end of surgery.

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Routine Surgery Appointments

Routine appointments should be booked in advance with the doctor of your choice. Appointments with the practice nurses should also be booked in advance. If booking a routine appointment by telephone at Wrafton House please try to ring between 11.00am and 3.00pm when the telephone lines are quieter. At Northdown Road please ring between 10.00am and 12.20pm or 4.00 and 6.00pm for the same reason.

Advanced Access (Same-Day) Appointments

These appointments will be given with the first available doctor or practice nurse each morning. For these morning appointments please telephone between 8.30 and 10.00am.

Urgent Evening Appointments

These appointments are available for medical problems that arise after lunchtime on the day and cannot wait until the following morning. For these urgent appointments please ring after 2.00pm and before 4.30pm for Wrafton House.

At Northdown Road please ring after 3.30pm and before 4.30pm.

Please note that the doctor you see will only be able to treat your urgent problem.

Helpful Hints

1. When you arrive for your appointment - PLEASE REPORT TO RECEPTION

2. An appointment is for one person only. Do not make an appointment just for yourself and then expect your GP to take a look at another member of the family as well. Make separate appointments.

3. Plan ahead and book well in advance for routine appointments and special services such as diabetic checks, asthma checks, health checks, cervical smears and holiday immunisations.

4. Always inform our reception whenever you cannot keep an appointment as this frees an appointment for someone else.

5. Book an appointment of appropriate length. If your problem is complex or you have more than one problem book a longer (usually double) appointment with your doctor. Hurried consultations are unsatisfactory for doctor and patient. Remember certain checks always take longer.

- Practice Nurse Team Doctors Diabetic checks 20 or 30 minutes - Asthma checks 20 minutes - Health checks 30 minutes - Cervical smears 20 minutes - Postnatal checks - 10 minutes

6. Please be patient with us if we keep you waiting. It is not always possible to assess how long a consultation (procedure) is going to take. Be assured that when it is your turn we will work to your needs and not the clock.

7. Please note that it is practice policy that all same-day appointments and the majority of urgent appointments are available in the mornings. This is because there are more doctors available and other services are open.

Chaperone Policy

Wrafton House is committed to providing a safe, comfortable environment where patients and staff can be confident that the safety of everyone is of paramount importance. A chaperone provides a safeguard for both patients and staff during intimate examination. On rare occasions it may be necessary to reschedule an appointment if no chaperone is available.

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OBTAIN HOME VISITS?

Home visits are reserved for the housebound, infirm and seriously ill patients. If you do not feel well enough to come to surgery it is often reasonable to rest at home where the problem may be resolved using advice from the pharmacist. Rashes and sore throats, ill children etc will not worsen by coming to the surgery, and you will be seen and be able to start treatment more promptly than would be possible had a home visit been requested.

If you are ill, need to see a doctor, and are unable to come to the surgery please ring Wrafton House giving full details of the problem so that the doctor may judge the urgency of each call for planning their round.

Routine house calls should be requested before 10.00am by telephoning Wrafton House. House calls requested after 10.00am should be for emergency problems that cannot wait until the following day.

A decision to visit remains at the doctor's discretion and is based on medical necessity. A patient without a car should make every effort to attend the surgery by whatever means. It is not always easy to decide whether it is appropriate to ask for a doctor to visit at home or whether the consultation should take place at the surgery - the following guidelines may be of assistance.

GP Visit Recommended:

• The terminally ill
  
  
• Truly housebound patients
  
  

An Emergency Ambulance - Call 999. GP To Be Informed At A Later Time:

• Heart attack (severe chest pain)
  
  
• Severe shortage of breath
  
  
• Severe haemorrhage
  
  
• Falls severe enough to cause severe pain or immobilisation
  
  

GP Visit Not Usual:

• Common symptoms of childhood - fevers, cold, cough, earache, headache, diarrhoea and cases of abdominal pain
  
  
• Adults with common problems - influenza, back pain, abdominal pain unless severe etc.
  
  
• Common problems in the elderly - poor mobility, joint pain, general malaise etc.

All of the above can be transported by car to the surgery. Do try to come to the surgery as it saves the doctor a lot of time for other patients and they have more facilities available to assess you properly. Visits for non-emergency illnesses are done usually between 11.00am and 4.00pm.

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OBTAIN TEST RESULTS?

PLEASE FOLLOW UP ALL YOUR OWN TEST RESULTS.

If your doctor has asked you to telephone them personally for your results please make an appointment to do so in one of their telephone surgeries. Otherwise please ring between 12.15-1.15pm and 6.00-6.30pm Monday to Friday at Wrafton House, and 11.15am-12.15pm Monday to Friday at Northdown Road, when our test results service operates.