Appointments

We are a GP training practice which means we often have medical students accompanying our GPs during their consultations.

Appointment system

Demand for GP appointments in England is growing at a significant rate. York Street mirrors this growth which means that the way we handle appointment requests has had to change.

GP appointments are for illnesses and injuries that wont go away. For advice on who best to see for your problem please click here.

Many minor ailments can be treated by visiting your local pharmacy. Click here for information on how your local pharmacy can help you.

The receptionists have been instructed by the doctors to ask you some basic questions about your health issue. (you can be assured that staff observe strict confidentiality at all times). This information will help in deciding how your appointment request will be dealt with and to ensure you see the right person at the right time. It is also to ensure that appointments with clinicians are used in the best way to meet the needs of all our patients. Depending on your condition you will either be referred to your local pharmacy, offered a telephone call back with a clinician or booked into an appointment slot with the minor illness nurse or doctor.

We offer 10 minute appointments. All patients have a named GP and though we do not run rigid personal lists, we encourage patients where possible to see one doctor, as we think it is best for both patient and doctor and provides a continuity of care. If your own doctor is not available then we will offer you an appointment with another doctor.

It is our intention to offer appointments with the doctor of your choice on the day of your choice, although given increasing demand for our services this may not be possible. With this in mind there are a number of things to consider when requesting an appointment. Firstly all of our doctors work part-time and may not be running a clinic on the day you phone. To help with this please use the chart from the tab above to see the days the doctors usually work. On occasions they may be on holiday or undertaking training.

The majority of our GP appointment are released at 8.30am on the day. You need to call us or come to the surgery at this time to book an appointment. We have a mixture of telephone calls and some face to face appointments. If you are offered a telephone call and the GP needs to see you, they will call and arrange for to be seen the same day. We have a small number of pre-bookable appointments 7 days in advance, these are limited and are for problems that need to be seen in person.  Please stay on the line when you ring as you will be held in a queue. If you hang up you will lose your place in the queue.

When all the appointments have been used for the day, the receptionist will need to find out if the problem is something that can wait. If this is the case you will be asked to call back another day. If it is a clinically urgent matter that cannot wait until the next day you will be offered a telephone appointment with one of the clinicians to assess the problem.

The Practice Nurse and Phlebotomist appointments are released one week in advance so you will need to plan for these ahead.

If you are unable to keep an appointment we would appreciate as much notice as possible to cancel, in order to offer the appointment to somebody else.

We understand that our telephones are very busy at 8:30 and ask that patients should only ring at this time if they need an appointment. If you want to speak to us about anything else, it would be most helpful if you could telephone after 09.30.  Please phone for test results after 2 pm.

Multiple problems

Please inform reception if you have more than one problem you would like to discuss as we may be able to allocate you more than ten minutes. On busy days this may not be possible and you will be asked to prioritise your needs.

Patients under the age of 16 are expected to attend with a parent or responsible adult. Our policy is to encourage children to discuss their problem with a parent or guardian but we appreciate this might not always be possible, for example in sensitive areas such as contraception. We respect the confidentiality of minors in the same way as adults.

Late Arrivals

Patients are requested to arrive in good time for their designated appointment. If you arrive late please let the reception team know.

Patients arriving less than 10 minutes late could face a delay whilst we try to fit you in to a clinicians list in between patients that have arrived early or on time.

Patients who arrive more than 10 minutes late will be invited to rebook. If they have an urgent medical need they may (at the discretion of the clinician) be seen at the end of the surgery.

Thank you for your co-operation

Enhanced Access appointments

We also offer extended access appointments at a local GP surgery for routine, non urgent problems. These are GP, Nurse and Phlebotomist appointments available in the evenings or weekends. Please speak to reception if you would like to use this service. If you have made an appointment using this service and wish to cancel please phone 01223 658146.

If you need medical help when we are closed

If you ring the practice when we are closed you will hear an answerphone message instructing you what to do. During the evenings and at weekends, you can ring NHS 111 if you urgently need medical help or advice but it’s not a life-threatening situation.

For immediate, life-threatening emergencies, you should continue to call 999 . Chest pains and / or shortness of breath constitute an emergency.