Managing Your Appointment

If you want to contact us by phone please ring:

Moss Valley - 01246 439101

Gosforth Valley - 01246 419040

Appointments are for 10 minutes and are for one patient only. Although you are registered with a specific doctor, you may see any available doctor or nurse within the practice. This means that you can choose to see someone in the practice who has a special interest in your type of condition.

Sometimes a doctor has to leave the surgery because of an emergency. If this happens, we may ask you to wait, see another doctor or make another appointment.

Attending for your appointment

We have a patient check-in system which allows you to avoid queuing at reception when attending the practice for booked appointments.  It is easy to use: just follow the step by step guide on the screen.

We operate an appointment system and try to see patients on time, although there will be times when the doctor is running a little late.

Unfortunately as a result of late attendances and the adverse impact this has on the practice, we may be unable to honour your appointment if you arrive more than 5 minutes late. If you think you may struggle to arrive on time for an appointment, please let us know as soon as possible. It may be necessary for you to re-book another alternative appointment.

Please inform us if you are unable to keep an appointment as often it could be offered to somebody else.

If you have online access, you can cancel an appointment online. Alternatively, you can telephone the practice and select the option to cancel an appointment. You will hear a recorded message, after which you should leave your name and details of the appointment you wish to cancel. If you fail to attend for an appointment, you may receive a letter from us explaining the problems this causes and the need for improvement. If you fail to attend repeatedly, we will ask you to meet with us to discuss the problem further.

One person & one problem please...

In order to aid the smooth running of our Practice we advise you:

To avoid ‘squeezing’ in other members of your family into your appointment slot.

Try not to save several problems for one appointment—if there are several concerns that you need to discuss, please book a double appointment.

Always discuss the most urgent / serious problem first.

Advice by phone

We are happy to give advice over the phone. Call the surgery and request a routine telephone appointment with the doctor or practice nurse. We will offer you the next available routine telephone appointment, although this is unlikely to be the same day, unless it is for an urgent problem.

Chaperones

It is the policy of this practice to respect the privacy and dignity of our patients.

If you would like a chaperone to be present during a physical examination by a doctor, or any other health professional you may be consulting at the surgery or if you would prefer to be examined by a doctor or health professional of the same sex as yourself, please let us know and we will do our best to comply with your wishes.