Middle Chare Medical Group - How to make an appointment to see your doctor or nurse at the surgery

Noticeboard

**** We are closed every 3rd Thursday from 12pm for staff training

**** Park Run Practice - Middle Chare is pleased to announce our involvement as a Park Run Practice - for more information please visit http://www.rcgp.org.uk/clinical-and-research/our-programmes/clinical-priorities/parkrun-practice.aspx

**** We are now offering group consultations for patients with long term conditions such as asthma and COPD. If you would like further information please call into the surgery and speak to our group consultations facilitator.

**** Visit us on Facebook

**** From 1st December Middle Chare Surgery will be opening on a Saturday morning from 08.00am - 11.30am instead of a Monday evening. There will be GP and Nurse appointments available.

People with dementia want to feel confident and comfortable doing the things that are important to them, in their community. We as a practice have registered to become Dementia Friends and are encouraging our staff, colleagues and volunteers to become Dementia Friends also, you'll be making a huge difference to people affected by dementia.

Patient Online Service

This practice offers the facility for patients to view online, export or print detailed coded information including documents held in their own records from 1st March 2017.

This practice currently offers the facility for patients:

to book, view, amend, cancel and print appointments online
to order online, view and print a list of their repeat prescriptions for drugs, medicines or appliances
to view online, export or print summary information from their record, relating to medications, allergies, adverse reactions and any other items agreed between the practice and individual patient
to view all detailed coded records

We will publicise and promote our online services to our practice’s patients through the practice website, practice waiting room leaflets, posters and the Patient Participation Group.

NHS England require that the net earnings of doctors engaged in the practice is publicised, and the required disclosure is shown below. However it should be noted that the prescribed method for calculating earnings is potentially misleading because it takes no account of how much time doctors spend working in the practice, and should not be used to form any judgement about GP earnings, nor to make any comparison with any other practice.

All GP practices are required to declare the mean earnings (e.g. average pay) for GPs working to deliver NHS services to patients at each practice.

The average pay for GPs working in this practice in the last full financial year was £51,550 before Tax and National insurance. This is for three full time GPs, four part time GP sand one locum GP who worked in the practice for more than six months.

Appointments

Home Visits

Telephone Advice

Referral for further treatment

Patient Transport to Hospital

Accountable GP

Access the online appointment system

Appointments

Check_throat If you wish to see a Doctor, please make an appointment either by calling at the surgery or telephoning. After you get through to your chosen surgery you will speak to one of our receptionists. Please be aware that they may need to ask you further, personal questions in order to get you the appropriate choice of care with an acceptable time scale. Our receptionists are bound by confidentiality agreements and are here to help you. We would appreciate your co-operation in this matter.

We do our utmost best to operate a 48-hour appointments system, which ensures you will be offered an appointment for the same day if medically urgent, or a telephone triage call with Pat our Advanced Nurse Practitioner.

A number of pre bookable slots will be available on request.

All emergency cases will be seen on the day of contact.

Please help us by cancelling any appointment you cannot attend, otherwise you may deprive other patients from getting an appointment.

Please help us by being punctual: if you are late there is no guarantee you will be seen. Remember: one appointment for one patient. Please do not bring other patients with you and expect the doctor to see more than one patient when only one appointment has been made. Our appointment slots are 10 minutes, if you feel you need longer to discuss your current medical problems please ask for a double appointment slot. We will always try to see our patients within 20 minutes of their booked appointment time.

We are also operating an on line appointment system, to allow patients to book GP appointments. Please ask at reception for further details.

Home Visits

Doctor's bag In a real emergency, please dial 999 and request an ambulance.

Patients whose illness prevents them from visiting the surgery can be visited in their own homes. Requests for visits should be made between 8.00 and 10.30am.

Please be ready to give the receptionist your name, address, telephone number, age and brief detail of what is wrong. The doctor may ring you back to ask you about your condition.

Please remember that the Doctor can see several people at the surgery in the time it takes to do a home visit. Lack of transport, or looking after children, is not a reason for a home visit.

Telephoning For Advice And Results

Telephone the receptionist and tell her your needs. If she cannot help, she can arrange for you to speak to a Nurse Practitioner or your Doctor, though they may not be immediately available as they may be consulting with a patient. The doctors will not take telephone calls during surgery times, other than in an emergency.

For test results please telephone after 1.00pm.
For advice, please telephone before 12 noon.

This page is currently been developed

Patient transport services (PTS) provides free transport to and from hospital or NHS provider for:
- patients with a medical need for transport;

- escorts for patients who have a medical need for an escort.

You can ring the surgery if you wish to book patient transport to hospital between 1.00pm - 5.00pm.

Alternatively
-   Durham Travel Response Centre (TRC) is to take on the role of making
    bookings for patients requiring non-emergency transport across North
    Durham;
-   To make a transport booking, patients, their family members or carers will
    need to dial 03000 269 999, where they will be taken through the national
    eligibility criteria by a TRC call handler to ensure there is a medical need for
    transport;
-   Once eligibility is confirmed, TRC will then complete the booking via the North
    East Ambulance Service's on-line booking portal.

This service will be available for use between the hours of 9.00 a.m. to
5.00 p.m., Monday to Friday (excluding Bank Holidays).

Please only ask for transport if you have a medical need for transport or a medical need for an escort.
Your local patient transport service is only for those with a medical need.

Thank you.

All patients, including children will be allocated a named accountable GP.

What does 'accountable' mean?

Requires the named accountable GP to take responsibility for the co-ordination of all appropriate services required and ensure they are delivered to each of their patients where required (based on the clinical judgement of the named accountable GP).

The contract remains 'practice based', so overall responsibility for patient care has not changed. This is largely a role of oversight, with the requirements being introduced to reassure patients that they have one GP within the practice who is responsible for ensuring that this work is carried out on their behalf.

All newly registering patients will be allocated a named accountable GP on registration.

What are the named GP's responsibilities to 75s and over?

This is unchanged from 2014-2015; for patients aged 75 and over the named accountable GP is responsible for working with relevant associated health and social care professionals to deliver a multi-disciplinary care package that meets the needs of the patient ensuring that these patients have access to a health check as set out in section 7.9 of the GMS Contract Regulations.

Does the requirement mean 24-hour responsibility for patients?

No. The named GP will not take on vicarious responsibility for the work of other doctors or health professionals take on 24-hour responsibility for the patient, or have to change their working hours. The requirement does not imply personal availability for GPs throughout the working week be the only GP or clinician who will provide care to that patient

Can patients choose their own named GP?

In the first instance, patients should simply be allocated a named GP. However, if a patient requests a particular GP, reasonable efforts should be made to accommodate their preference, recognising that there are occasions when the practice may not feel the patient's preference is suitable.

Do patients have to see the named GP when they book an appointment with the practice?

No. Patients can and should feel free to choose to see any GP or nurse in the practice in line with current arrangements. However, some practices may see this change as a way to encourage and promote a greater degree of continuity of care for patients.