Appointments

In July, Aug and Sep 2018, a total of 456 appointments were not attended- this is 76 hours of wasted 10 minute appointments. Please be considerate to other patients who are in need of an appointment and let the surgery know in good time if you are unable to attend. We appreciate that sometimes circumstances take over and that cannot be helped, however if you can let us know, we can then offer that appointment to someone else.  

Please read this important information about booking your appointment online. Online appointments are not available with a nurse.

Consultations are by appointment only and can be booked either in person or over the phone or you can register to book some appointments online.

The doctor will always see you the same day for emergency medical attention.

An urgent care surgery is available both morning and afternoon for acute problems which have arisen in the last 24 hours and are booked for patients that have been triaged by telephone. These appointments are shorter in length and are not appropriate for ongoing problems. An appointment time is given, although this is only a guide. Please be patient, you may not always been seen straight away and may have to wait if the doctor or nurse has an emergency to deal with.  A triage system is in operation which will determine who is the most appropriate person to deal with your problem. Not all problems will need to be seen by a GP. Coughs, colds, sore throats and minor ailments do not need to be seen by a GP - your local pharmacist can advise a suitable treatment and discuss options with you. PLEASE NOTE THAT THE URGENT CARE SURGERY IS NOT A WALK IN SERVICE- APPOINTMENTS MUST BE BOOKED VIA THE TRIAGE SERVICE IN ORDER TO PROVIDE A HIGH STANDARD OF PATIENT CARE AND PROTECT PATIENT SAFETY. FURTHER TRIAGE INFORMATION IS AVAILABLE ON THE TRIAGE TAB AT THE TOP OF THIS PAGE.

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Routine appointments are available to book with the doctor next day, in one weeks time and up to four weeks in advance. 

Telephone appointments - it is not always necessary to be present in the surgery for an appointment and you may prefer to have your consultation over the telephone. You will be given an appointment time - the doctor will do their best to call you at this time or at least within 45 mintues. The receptionist will ask for an indication of the reason for the appointment.

On line appointments are available for patients who register.  This makes booking appointments available even when the surgery is closed.  You can register for on-line appointments either at the surgery or through this website.  Please note that on-line appointments are only for routine appointments with the GP.  If you require anything else - a procedure such as blood taking or cervical smear you will need to contact the surgery.  More information is available from our Online Services Section.

If you have several problems you wish to discuss please tell the doctor straightaway so that they can decide which are the most important. We try to keep to time with appointments.

Please let us know as soon as possible if you are unable to keep your appointment so that we can offer it to someone else. To cancel an appointment you can call 01483 573194 and choose the CANCEL option.

If you have informed us of your mobile telphone number you will recive an appointment reminder by text. If you do not wish to receive this sevice please let us know and remember to tell us if this number changes.

Home Visits

If possible please try to telephone reception before 10am if you require a home visit.

A doctor or nurse may phone you back as it may be that your problem can be dealt with by telephone advice, or that it would be more appropriate to send a nurse, or indeed arrange a hospital attendance.

House visits are only available for patients who are housebound because of illness or disability.

Please remember that several patients can be seen in the practice in the time that it takes to make one home visit. There are also better facilities for examining and treating patients at the Health Centre.

Test Results

If your doctor asks you to ring for a result please telephone between 2.30 - 5.30pm Monday to Friday.

Enquiries about tests ordered by the hospital should be directed to the hospital and not the practice.

Note that the practice has a strict policy regarding confidentiality and data protection and we will only release test results to the person to whom they relate unless that person has given prior permission for the release of this data or they are not capable of understanding the results.

When you take your test you will be told how long it will be before the results are returned to the practice.

It is your responsibility to check your results and to make an appointment to discuss them with your doctor if you are advised to do so.

If you supply us with a Mobile telephone number we can send an appointment reminder or message for the purpose of health promotion by text.

If you would like this service please ask at reception and remember to let us know if you change your mobile telephone number.

Extra GP Appointments Available in Evenings and Weekends for Guildford and Waverley Patients

From Monday 6 August 2018 additional GP appointments will be available, initially from 6 – 8 pm on weekday evenings, 8 – 12 am on Saturdays and 10 – 2 pm on Sundays.  These extra sessions will be provided at Binscombe Surgery near Godalming, and at the Fairlands Practice in Guildford.  Patients registered at any GP practice in Guildford and Waverley will be able to book through their own practice and attend at either of these locations.   We are planning to expand the capacity of the service later in the year, including provision of nurse appointments.

This service is part of a national ‘Extended Access’ programme which is being introduced to increase capacity in general practice and make it available to the public 7 days per week.  It is being introduced both in response to increasing pressure on GP services and to provide patients who need to see a health practitioner with evening and weekend access.

Procare Health is the Federation of GP practices in Guildford and Waverley.  We work with all of the GP surgeries on initiatives to develop services and improve experience for patients and staff.  Procare have been commissioned by NHS Guildford and Waverley CCG to provide the Extended Access service in partnership with the two host practices at Binscombe and Fairlands.

Patients can now book appointments using the Extended Access service, at either location, via their own GP practice.

Telephone Triage Explained

Triage in this case is a process by which patient access is managed in a GP surgery when all the routine appointments have been taken. Telephone Triage is a method by which a health professional contacts a patient and manages their care based on the outcome of that telephone call.

FAQ

• Is it to stop me getting an appointment?
  No not at all –It is to ensure that all the patients that need to be seen on that day are seen by an appropriate health care professional It is also a tool for which a telephone consultation can be used to appropriately manage patient’s concerns even if an appointment is not required.
• How does it work?
  Any patient who needs to be seen urgently on a day when all the routine appointments have gone are not turned away. Their name and contact details are put on a triage list. A GP, Paramedic or a Triage Nurse  then contacts the patient and either brings them in to an emergency clinic set up precisely for that purpose or else the problem is dealt with appropriately in another way. (e.g. blood test arranged, referral completed,  appointment with Practice Nurse arranged or prescription query discussed) This system has been used successfully for several years now in many GP surgeries.
• Practices and audit has shown that this process significantly improves access.

Why is the Practice doing it?

1. To improve access.
   There were 92 hours of wasted appointments in -April, May & June 2018--- where patients did not turn up for their appointments.
2. To optimise GP appointments.
   With an ever developing workforce less complicated needs can be dealt with by other members of the health care team.
3. Reduce waiting times.
   Feedback from patients in the past has highlighted that for certain things they do not want to have to attend surgery and feel that a telephone consultation will be far more appropriate (medication queries/requests for blood tests/results etc.)

We regularly audit this process to ensure that it is achieving the goals and expectations that we set. This process is only one of the processes put in place to help us improve access and reduce risk. We will continue to work with patient groups to identify and improve areas of concern.  This Practice is committed to listening to feedback and working with patients to improve and develop our service.