Appointments

How to make an appointment at Bridge Street Medical Centre:

If you are ill your GP surgery is often the first port of call although NHS direct can also be an excellent source of information http://www.nhsdirect.nhs.uk/ or 08454647.

Not all medical problems may need to be dealt with by a GP directly and we at Bridge Street Medical Centre will advise you who the best suited health care professional will be to help you. If you are able to give our receptionist an idea of the problem they can often direct you to the best appointment for you but this is by no means obligatory. Please remember that all the Medical Centre team respect the confidentiality of all patients.

If in doubt please do ask as we are always happy to advise!

If you are not sure which appointment type you need please refer to the “Make the most of your appointment” section.

We understand that our telephones are very busy at 8:30 and ask that patients should only ring at this time if they need an appointment that day. If you wish to book an appointment for another day, or have any other queries, it would be most helpful if you could telephone after 9:30.

Types of appointments:

• Advanced GP appointments up to 6 weeks ahead bookable online, at reception or contact us on 0844 477 3939

• Same day or urgent GP appointments – see below for further information

• Telephone GP appointments

• Nurse appointments

• Health Care Assistant

• Phlebotomy

• Walk in clinic for young people in term time

Advanced appointments up to 6 weeks ahead:

Ideally we would like to offer appointments with the doctor or nurse of your choice on the day of your choice. This is generally only possible if you book well in advance. This also includes telephone appointments with the doctor of your choice.

Approximately seventy percent of our GP, nurse, health care assistant and phlebotomist appointments can be booked in advance; the remainder are booked on the day. You can now also book appointments online. Once you have completed the registration process outlined in the Clinics & Services section you will be able to book routine, ten minute appointments with the doctor on-line. Please do not book on-line appointments with the doctor for nurse led issues. Please refer to the Clinics & Services section of the website for further clarification or speak to a receptionist. Please be aware that you may have to re-book an appointment if it is not appropriate for a routine, ten minute appointment.

Click here to book or cancel an appointment online.

GP preference: If your GP is currently treating you for a particular illness or it is a long standing problem you should seek a normal GP appointment with your usual GP. If you wish to see a particular GP please mention this to reception when you make an appointment. Every effort will be made to accommodate your wishes, although this is not always possible. As the majority of our GPs are part-time, it is advisable to become familiar with at least two GPs, if the need arises to regularly see the same GP as we think it is best for both patient and doctor and provides a continuity of care.

If your own doctor is not available then we will offer you an appointment with another doctor. If the doctor is on holiday or having time out for any other reason this will affect the appointments we are able to offer. Unfortunately we can only inform you of this when you contact us for an appointment. Please be aware that most of the doctors work part-time and may not be running a clinic on the day you request. To help with this please see the chart below to see the days the doctors are currently working.

Same day or urgent appointments:

To enhance responsiveness to your needs we have introduced a telephone triage service for patients calling with new, acute illnesses which require on the day treatment. This system has proved to be popular as it enables you to speak directly to a doctor with minimal delay and, in the majority of cases, have your questions or concerns addressed. The triage system may also save you from the inconvenience of having to travel to the surgery for an appointment when this may not necessary. For those who do need to come in to the surgery following telephone triaging, the practice has daily, urgent clinics run by both doctors and nurses into which the doctor can book you. We also have a number of morning “Same Day” appointments that can be booked directly but please note that it is not possible to give you a same day appointment with the doctor or nurse of your choice.

Test Results

If you have attended the surgery for a blood test, your GP will contact you by letter, if they wish to speak to you about the result. You will not be contacted if the GP requires no further action to be taken. We regret that Receptionists are unable to give out results.

How you can help:

• When booking appointments, it is helpful to let the receptionist know the reason for your visit, but this is by no means obligatory.

• Appointments are usually 10 minutes long, unless otherwise requested, and are meant for one person and one item only.

• If you are unable to attend an appointment, please let us know in good time, so the appointment may be used by someone else.

• Please be aware that if you arrive late for your appointment, it may not be possible for you to be seen.

How to make the most of your appointment

We offer 10 minute appointments with our GPs and 10 minute appointments with our nurses that are meant for one person only. We would like to offer longer appointments but demand means that this is not practical. Therefore we would request that at each appointment you just deal with one item. If you do have a list of problems to discuss please make sure you mention the most important one first and then you and your health care professional can decide if there will be time for any other items. We know that it can be frustrating being asked to return for a further appointment to deal with other items but it is important to ensure we have given each item enough time and consideration.

Time keeping: We always try to run on time in the surgeries but please help us by being on time for your appointment. We do apologise that there will be times that you may be kept waiting for your appointment. However if you are late you will be asked to re-book to ensure that the surgeries run to time wherever possible.

Telephone appointments: Not all problems need a face to face GP or nurse appointment and often minor problems or queries can be dealt with satisfactorily on the telephone. Therefore if you would like to speak to your doctor and feel that an examination will not be necessary do consider asking for a telephone appointment.

Patients under the age of 16 are expected to attend with either a parent or responsible adult. Our policy is to encourage children to discuss their problem with a parent or guardian but we appreciate this might not always be possible, for example in sensitive areas such as contraception. We respect the confidentiality of minors in the same way as adults.