General Practice like all services working for and within the NHS are facing considerable pressure. In the past year Chorleywood Health Centre has provided 39,765 appointments. 29,128 of these were face to face appointments.
From the 14th November we will be implementing the following changes to the appointment system.
These changes have been introduced to manage the demand for same day appointments and to ensure that appointments are given based on clinical need. We hope to avoid the frustration and stress caused by the 8.00am rush to get an on the day appointment or being asked to call back the next day.
We ask our patients to read the following in order to make best use of our services and to adjust expectations accordingly.
Same day appointments
We will no longer offer same day appointments except for the following reasons:
Minor Illness appointments
Patients presenting with minor illnesses will be offered a referral to the community pharmacy service. Once referred you will be contacted by a clinical pharmacist within 4 hours. This service is not the same as visiting your local pharmacist. With this service you will be seen / spoken to by a trained member of the pharmacist team and will be given a full consultation. Following the consultation if you require a GP appointment you will be referred back to us to book an appointment.
Urgent appointments
If you require an urgent appointment that for medical reasons cannot wait for a routine appointment, we will be re-introducing our walk-in urgent clinic.
Our urgent clinics will be at 11am and 5pm each day. You must arrive 15 minutes prior to the start of the clinic and you will be seen in order of arrival. The cut off time for registering for the clinic will be 10.55am and 4.55pm.
- They are 5 minute appointments
- They are for 1 problem only
- You are required to state the nature of the urgent medical condition when booking your appointment and complete a form
- It is not possible to offer a choice of clinician for urgent appointments
These appointments are NOT to be used for the following reasons. If you attend the clinic for any of the reasons listed below you will be offered the next available routine appointment.
- Non urgent medical conditions
- Prescription Requests
- Referral Request
- Follow up to a routine appointment
- Test Results
Routine Appointments
All routine GP appointments are available to book online via the NHS App or other online service. We will no longer be releasing same day appointments. You may also request an appointment via Patient Triage and select the contact us online option. You can access this form via our Home Page and by selecting contact us.
For those that do not have access or are unable to use the NHS App or our website then our reception team will continue to be available to assist by calling the practice – 01923 287100.
For those that are able, Patient Triage is a great way for you to contact our practice for non-urgent medical or admin requests. It is very simple to fill out so please do give it a go if you need to contact us. Although the character count is limited on the form, please try to give as much specific and concise information as possible. We really think it is easier for most people than waiting on hold to speak to a receptionist but would love to hear your feedback.
Other Appointments
If you feel that your appointment is neither routine nor fits the Urgent clinic then we will require you to complete the Patient Triage form on our website and select the contact us online option. For those that do not have access or are unable to use the NHS App or our website then our reception team will complete the form on your behalf. This will be triaged and you will be contacted and offered an appointment based on your clinical need.
Blood Test Results
It is important that you book a follow up appointment with a clinician to review your results. You should do this within a day of your blood test. You should expect to book an appointment for results within 2 weeks of your blood test. You will be contacted by the practice team if your blood test result requires an earlier appointment. You will not be able to book a same day appointment for a blood test result.
Nurse Appointments
Nurse appointments are not currently bookable via the NHS app. This is because nurse appointment times differ dependent on the treatment being given. You can request a nurse appointment by completing the Patient Triage form or by calling the practice.
Review of Changes to the Appointment System
These changes have been made with agreement of Dr Lakasing and Dr Turner and based on feedback from patients. We hope that you will see the benefit and we welcome feedback. Should you wish to provide feedback then please complete the feedback form. We will review the changes that we have made to our booking system and feedback from our users after 12 weeks. We will provide an update at that time.
