We understand how frustrating and difficult it is to get an appointment with your doctor at the moment.
We want to reassure you that your GP practice is open as usual and ready to help you. However, we are experiencing huge demand for appointments with the GP.
So, to help make sure everyone can get the care and treatment they need, we ask for your patience and remind you of some small things you can do which can make a huge difference in easing the pressure on your GP Practice.
If we all try to adopt some of these simple habits, your practice will be able to deal with more patients, more quickly and more effectively.
Before you make an appointment to see your GP, think about what other services might be able to help.
- Go to a pharmacy for advice and treatment for minor conditions that do not need a prescription. Read about services you can get from a pharmacist.
- Call NHS 111 if you have an urgent medical problem, but you’re not sure what to do.
- Visit 111.nhs.uk for urgent medical advice for people aged 5 and over only.
- Visit a sexual health service for testing for sexually transmitted infections and contraception advice.
Free up telephone lines
One easy way to help is to free up your GP practice telephone lines.
- Last month, we answered XXXX calls
- Last month, XXXX appointments were wasted due to patients not attending their appointments
- Last month, we offered XXXX appointments
If your call isn’t urgent, you can make a big difference if you delay calling in until later in the day
You could use our admin, non-clinical request form on the website to make requests for example requesting a Fit Note.
Remember you can use the NHS app to do the following:
- request your prescription
- view test results
- view referrals to a specialist service
- check your vaccination status
- notifications about your upcoming appointments
- useful reminders when you need to book in for an appointment
How we are responding to your feedback
We listened, We did..
We listened to your feedback in relation to the length of time you wait on the phone
We are in the process of reviewing our phone lines. We check at intervals how quickly our calls are answered by our reception team.
Last month, 3 patients indicated how likely they would be to recommend our services to their friends and family.