Appointments

At the Limes the appointment system was changed to improve:

• booking the right appointment for the condition
• patient safety
• access to the surgery on the telephones
• advance bookings

All our consultations are by appointment at the surgery.  To book an appointment please call the surgery on 01992 573838.  Then select option 2 followed by option 3 to speak to a receptionist. We offer face to face and telephone appointments.

To make sure that you see the right member of the team the receptionist will ask you for information.  This is needed for the booking system to work well. The receptionist will ask you:

• "how can I help?"
• "can you give me a rough idea of the problem?"
• they will then know whether this is a new or on-going problem.
• they may also ask "what's happened?"

The receptionist is not making any clinical assessment.  This information is to direct you to an appropriate appointment or call from our duty team. It is essential that you co-operate with the receptionists.  Please understand that it may be more appropriate for a nurse, healthcare assistant or a nurse practitioner to see / speak with you. It is NOT always essential to be seen by a doctor. The receptionists are all bound by strict rules of confidentiality.

Our telephone system offers a call back option between 8.30am to 12.00pm and 2.00pm to 4.00pm. Once you are in the queue, you have the option to press 8 and this will reserve your place in the queue so that you do not have to wait on the line. The reception team will then call you back once your call has reached the front of the queue.

If you miss the call, we will try again and leave a voicemail message if we are unsuccessful.

Please note that all calls are monitored for training and safety purposes.

Cancelling or changing an appointment

If you can not make your appointment let us know as soon as you can so another patient can book the appointment time. You can cancel or change your appointment:

• Phone us to Cancel or Amend Appointment: 01992 573838 option 2.  Please note, the cancellation line is an automated voicemail service. Appointment requests are not accepted on this line.
• Visit the surgery and speak with a receptionist. View our opening times

Chaperones

Every patient can ask for a chaperone during a consultation, examination or procedure. Please speak with our Front of House Team or Clinical Team about this.  A request for a chaperone can be made at the time of booking an appointment or during the consultation, examination or procedure.

Members of the Practice Team undergo formal chaperone training on a regular basis.

You must inform the surgery if you change your contact telephone numbers - your home and mobile.

View our opening times and out of hours information

Weekend Appointments Available through the Enhanced Access Service

Patients can see a GP or another healthcare professional at the weekend. This service offers extra, pre-booked appointments at times to suit your needs.

To book a weekend appointment, contact us in the usual way. We will book an appointment at a local treatment centre - through our booking system - and ask permission to access your medical records.

We will provide you with a date, time and location for your appointment. If you have booked a weekend appointment and need to cancel or change it, please ring 0300 3037300.

Try the NHS App

You can now use the NHS App, a simple and secure way to access a range of NHS services and your GP account on your smartphone or tablet.

You can use the NHS App to check your symptoms and get instant advice, order repeat prescriptions, view your GP medical record and more.

If you already use online access you can continue to use it. You can use the NHS App as well.

For more information go to www.nhs.uk/nhsapp

Home Visits

If possible please try to telephone reception before 12.00pm if you need a home visit.

A doctor or nurse may phone you back as it may be that your problem can be dealt with by telephone advice.  They might decide that it is be more appropriate to send our Extended Care Practitioners or arrange a hospital attendance.

House visits are only available for patients who are housebound because of illness or disability.

Please remember that several patients can be seen in the practice in the time that it takes to make one home visit. There are also better facilities for examining and treating patients at the Health Centre.