Appointments

The doctors see patients by appointment.  You may ask for an appointment with the doctor of your choice and this will be accommodated wherever possible. 

There are some pre-bookable appointments available with all doctors which are bookable up to 2 weeks in advance.

Appointments are for 10 minutes and you may be asked to make a second appointment if the doctor cannot deal with all your problems in that time. 

Please note that the doctor will see you for one problem per appointment and you may have to disclose the problem to the reception staff, so you can be triaged accordingly. 

Patients with problems that are considered urgent will be seen the same day.

Urgent Access patients will be seen by the on-call doctor.

We will try to accommodate any request for a particular GP when booking an appointment.

All patients have equal rights to a consultation with a medical practitioner irrespective of whether they have or have not been seen recently.  This consultation could be via telephone triage from the highly qualified nurse practitioners here at the surgery. If you require a female doctor we have several female doctors and clinicians for you to be able to pre-book into those clinics.

Practice Nurses

In a number of cases it might be worth considering an appointment with a practice nurse rather than a doctor. Practice nurses are qualified to deal with many conditions and you may be seen more quickly. The nursing team see patients by appointment.  Most appointments are for 10 minutes but this may vary according to the service being provided.  The receptionist will ask for the reason for the appointment so that they can allocate sufficient time e.g. asthma check, diabetic check.  If your appointment is of a personal nature please advise the receptionist.

Cancellations

If you cannot attend an appointment for any reason please inform us as soon as possible in order for us to give the slot to someone else. Patients who regularly miss appointments, and therefore wasting doctor and nurse time, may risk removal from the practice list.

Home Visits

Whilst we encourage our patients to come to the surgery, where we have the proper equipment and facilities available, we do appreciate this is not always possible. In this respect, if you do need a home visit, you can help us by calling reception before 12:00.

You may only request a home visit if you are housebound or are too ill to visit the practice. Your GP will only visit you at home if they think that your medical condition requires it and will also decide how urgently a visit is needed. Please bear this in mind and be prepared to provide suitable details to enable the doctor to schedule house calls

You can also be visited at home by a community nurse if you are referred by your GP. You should also be visited at home by a health visitor if you have recently had a baby or if you are newly registered with a GP and have a child under five years.

Sickness Certificates

You do not require a doctor's sickness certificate for any illness lasting seven days or less. Your employer may however require you to complete a self-certification form (SC2) which is available from your employer or on the HMRC website.

Evidence that you are sick

If you are sick for more than seven days, your employer can ask you to give them some form of medical evidence to support payment of SSP (statutory sick pay).

It is up to your employer to decide whether you are incapable of work. A medical certificate, now called a 'Statement of Fitness for Work’ (see below) from your doctor is strong evidence that you are sick and would normally be accepted, unless there is evidence to prove otherwise.

You could also provide evidence from someone who is not a medical practitioner, e.g. a dentist. Your employer will decide whether or not this evidence is acceptable. If your employer has any doubts, they may still ask for a medical certificate from your GP.

Statement of Fitness for Work - ’Fit Note'

The 'fit note' was introduced on 6 April 2010. With your employer's support, the note will help you return to work sooner by providing more information about the effects of your illness or injury.

For more information see the DirectGov website (where this information was sourced)

GP Registrars

GP Registrar Training 

We are pleased to announce that Little Horton Lane Medical Centre has been accredited as a GP Training Practice. This means the practice will have attached to it a qualified Doctor training to specialise in General Practice and each doctor will remain with us for a period usually between 6-12 months. You may therefore be offered an appointment with the GP Registrar. By the time you see a GP registrar they will have spent at least 5 years at medical school to qualify as a doctor. Then they will have done 2 years working in hospitals (previously known as “house jobs”). They will then start a 3 year training programme to become a GP, during which they will spend 18 months in a training practice. So by the time you see this doctor they may well have been working as a doctor for 4 years. 

The first few weeks of the GP Registrars training will involve them ‘sitting in’ with other clinical members of the Practice team so that they gain an understanding of each clinical role.  The receptionist will inform you prior to your appointment, if the registrar will also be in the consulting room.  If you have any questions or concerns about this or do not want the registrar to be present please inform the receptionist or clinician at the time.  At no time will this decision prejudice your care with us

As part of their training the GP registrars need to video record some of their consultations as part of their assessment. You may be asked by the receptionists if you would be happy to take part in this if you have an appointment with the GP registrar. At any time you are able to say "no" to being videotaped and this will not prejudice the way your consultation is viewed or handled in any way. At the end of your consultation, if you don't wish the tape to be used, you can state this and the tape will be erased. However please note that all videos are kept confidential and are destroyed when no longer required.

At any time if you do not wish to be seen by a GP registrar at your consultation please feel free to bring this to the attention of the receptionist or GP. At no time will this decision prejudice your care with us.