Surgery Appointments
Please inform us as soon as possible if you no longer need or are unable to keep your appointment so that it can be offered to another patient and not be wasted.
You do not always have to see the doctor for your appointment and in most cases it is better to see another member of the healthcare team. Please provide as much information as possible to our reception team in order to best help us direct you to the most appropriate healthcare professional for your condition.
Contact Details
Please ensure that you inform us of any changes to your name, address, telephone number etc. This ensures that we can contact you in the case of any abnormal results and also that the local Hospitals will have accurate contact information for you.
Advice and self help
It is estimated that every year 50 million people visit their GPs for minor ailments such as coughs, colds, mild eczema and athlete's foot. By visiting your local pharmacy you could save yourself time and trouble.
If you are looking for information or advice you could ring NHS 111 (you simply dial 111) and they can offer help and advice or tell you the best place to get the information you are looking for.
There are some good websites which give excellent information for patients and help with symptom checking.
www.nhs.uk
or
www.patient.co.uk
Keep your contact details up to date, especially phone numbers. A contact email address and mobile phone number is always helpful.
Medication
Only order the medication you require. Some patients order too much and “stock pile”. This is estimated to waste £300 million per year, this means that this money cannot be spent on medications or treatments which could help other patients. Take your medication as prescribed (over 20% of patients do not!). If you have concerns about your medication or are not happy to take what is prescribed to you, discuss this with your GP.
If your repeat medications are not synchronised, ask for them to be aligned. This will help you, but will also help the practice.
Many practices have the facility to order regular medication via the Practice website. This will be easier for you and will also help us to provide a better service.