Requesting appointments and home visits

We have three different types of GP appointments:

Pre-booked and same day appointments

Every doctor or nurse practitioner (NP) has a mixture of pre-bookable and same day appointments during their surgeries. You may pre-book with you preferred GP or the NP up to a month in advance. These appointments are ideal if your problem does not need attention on the same day. Please, notice that we operate a tight system and we try hard to reduce as much as possible wasted slots. If you do not attend for whatever reason and do not cancel a pre-booked appointment, you will not be able to pre-book and appointment for the coming year.

If you are requesting an appointment on the day (either by telephone or in person), we will strive to offer you an appointment within 24 hours. This means an appointment in the morning or in the afternoon (if you request it in the morning), or an appointment in the afternoon or the following morning (if you request it in the afternoon). We will try to get you an appointment with your usual/preferred clinician if there are appointments left, otherwise you will be given an appointment with whoever clinician has room for you.

It is now possible to book an appointment using the internet. Some "pre-bookable" sessions are now available to book online. You can also cancel or change your appointment online. To use this service, you first need to register at reception. You need to bring two proofs of identity - at least one bearing your photograph. You cannot do this on behalf of anybody else or a person who is below 16 years of age, even if he/she is your own child. You can register only for your own personal use.

Once you have obtained all the details from reception, please click on the link below to create your account and start using this service.

INTERNET ACCESS TO APPOINTMENTS

Urgent appointments

You can book an urgent appointment with the duty GP/Nurse Practitioner (NP). You will see a GP/NP on the day (either in the morning or in the afternoon) but you will not have a choice of clinician. There is one duty GP/NP in the morning and a different one in the afternoon. It may well happen that your usual doctor is "on duty" that day. However, please remember that these appointments are ONLY for the one urgent problem that you feel cannot wait.

Please note we DO NOT deal with dental problems. Please contact your dental surgery. For emergency dental treatment please contact either your dentist or Kings/Guys Hospital on 020 8299 5509 and you will be given details of how to access dental services out of hours.

Can I see a nurse instead of a doctor?

We have three very skilled and highly trained nurses. They cover all general nursing duties and, in particular, they see patients for chronic disease management such as patients with diabetes, heart disease, asthma and chronic bronchitis. If there are any problems they cannot answer they will advise you to see your usual doctor.

You can pre-book your appointments with the nurses, but there are also some same-day slots available.

If you are unsure whether or not a nurse could deal with your problem, bear in mind that it is easier to see a nurse, and she is most likely to be able to deal with your problem. If not, she will arrange for you to see a doctor.

You can see the practice nurse for:


* Routine check for diabetes, ischaemic heart disease or asthma/ chronic bronchitis.
* Advice to stop smoking – see Jane Dowell
* Dietary advice
* Cholesterol checks and advice
* Routine blood pressure checks
* A smear test
* Repeat contraceptive pills
* Contraceptive injection
* Vaginal swabs
* New patient medical
* Vaccines – travel, childhood or flu
* Travel advice
* Dressings
* Stitch removal
* Routine medication check
* Routine medical checks

Your usual doctor

You can consult any member of the practice team you wish. This does not have to be the doctor listed on your medical card - this is for administrative purposes only. Although we work closely as a team, we are best able to tailor care to your particular needs when we know a bit about you personally. This is the reason why we strongly encourage our patients to chose a doctor they can stick to. Your care will be improved, and doctors' work will be more efficient and safer. So it's worth remembering who your usual doctor is, and asking for him or her whenever possible. Just tell the receptionist who your usual doctor is when booking an appointment. She will do her best to accommodate you. If your problem cannot wait and your usual doctor is not available, you may also wish to have a second choice doctor as a back up. This is fine. We are sure you will have a greater experience.

Home visits

Please reserve requests for home visits for cases that genuinely cannot attend the surgery. Most of the times these are for the elderly or the housebound. If you require a home visit, please phone before 10.30 a.m. if possible. Your usual doctor -or the duty doctor if your usual doctor is not available- will ring you back by lunch time to discuss the problem.

Please, ensure you leave a working telephone number for your doctor to call you back.

Remember - a doctor can see 6 patients in the time that it takes to do one home visit!

What happens if there are no further appointments when you turn up?

With the current system, this is a rare occurrence. However, during particularly busy periods or when there are staff shortages, you might find that getting an appointment may be a bit more difficult.


If this happens, please leave a message for either your usual or the duty clinician (if your usual clinician is not available that day). We'll ask you to briefly explain the reason for your request, and whether you need to be contacted the same day or not (e.g. whenever your usual doctor is available). A clinician will call you back as soon as feasible.


Remember that the duty doctor sees patients in the surgery and has to fit your call in between or after seeing these patients. Please, be patient.


Please, ensure also that you telephone can accept "anonymous" or "withheld" calls. When we call from the practice, by default our lines will appear as "withheld" and we might not be able to get through.

Ways in which you can help

1. If you feel able, please give the receptionist an indication of the reason for needing an appointment so that she can guide you.


2. Tell her who your usual doctor is.


3. If you do want to see your usual doctor, can it wait a few days or does it need to be today?


4. Be on time for your appointment. We do not see anyone who is more than 10 minutes late unless your doctor agrees to see you, in which case you are liable to wait till the end of the surgery.


5. If you need to cancel, please do so at least 24 hours before your appointment. In this way, we can offer your slot to someone else. Next time, it might be you to be offered a slot that another patient has cancelled.


6. If you book in person on the day and then go away, please book in again into reception when you return. Otherwise, you may not be registered as arrived and the clinician will not call you in.

Why sometimes your doctor or nurse runs late

We only have 10 minutes per patient.

Patients often bring several problems at a time. It is sometimes better to book a double appointment (20 minutes) if you are sure you need more time.

Elderly patients and those with psychological problems often take longer.

Patients can be very ill and the doctor needs to arrange urgent referrals or admit him/her to hospital.

Emergencies! These are unpredictible and are part of doctors' work.

If you have been waiting for more than half an hour, please check at reception and they will let you know when you are likely to be called.