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

Middle Chare Surgery
Tel: 0191 5947654

Woodlands Surgery
Tel: 0191 5947654

Noticeboard

16.4.24 - PATIENT INFORMATION - We are aware of some issues around our call back system. Please be advised you will receive a call back when you are the next person to be spoken to, this is when a member of the team becomes available. There may still be a period of waiting - please do not hang up as this will lose your place in the call waiting queue.

Thank you

**** Changes to repeat prescription ordering - please read below

Changes to Repeat Prescription Ordering

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Telephone Advice

Choice of Doctor

Training Practice

Sickness and Information

Access the online appointment system

Appointments

Check_throat If you wish to see a clinician, please make an appointment either by telephoning the Surgery. 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.

Depending on clinician availability you will have the choice of a telephone call or a face to face appointment. Please do not be afraid to ask for a face to face if you think this is necessary.

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 10 minutes of their booked appointment time.

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 4.00pm.
For advice, please telephone before 12 noon or complete an eConsult at any time

Patients who miss their appointments and do not inform the practice incur significant cost to the practice and to other patients in terms of lost appointments.

Middle Chare is committed to providing appointments to meet the needs of patients but we cannot replace appointments lost when a patient fails to attend.

It is our practice policy to monitor all cases of patients missing appointments (Did not Attend - DNA) so that contact can be made to understand the reasons for this failure.

A letter will be sent detailing appointments that were missed and requesting the patient

contact us with a reason and
take care to avoid a re-occurrence.

If another appointment is missed then a further letter will be sent to ask about the missed appointment and to advise that, if a further appointment is missed then the patient will be at risk of de-registration.

Please help us to help you and other patients by always cancelling an appointment you are unable to attend or no longer need.

If the reason for your appointment involves being examined in an area of the body which you might find embarrassing, or even if it's just to discuss something you would feel awkward about talking about, we are always very happy to arrange for a chaperone to be present.

A chaperone is another person, usually a member of the nursing team and usually someone the same gender as yourself, who can be there to give you moral support and make you feel more comfortable about the examination/consultation.

Sometimes our Doctor's will suggest having a chaperone present as a matter of routine practice, but you should always feel free to request one yourself.

Please feel to express a preference for a male or female doctor at the time of booking the appointment if you wish. No-one will mind at all!

man_with_lady_doctor

Although we do not operate ‘personal’ lists for our doctors, patients can request a specific doctor who they wish to see or speak to.

As most of our doctors work part time or run specialist clinics they can have limited availability in normal surgeries and so patients may have a much longer wait if they specify a particular doctor.

We have 9,500 patients on our list and with 4 whole time equivalent doctors it is unfortunate that, in busy periods, all available appointments may be taken quite early in the day

Training practice

Middle Chare medical Group is a training practice helping recruitment of quaility GPs into the practice. There will usually be one or two qualified doctors working in the practice who are training to specialise in general practice.

Registrar Training

We normally have one registrar in the practice at any one time.

Registrars are fully qualified doctors who are gaining more experience, under supervision in order to obtain accreditation as independent GPs. In order to gain as much different experience as possible, they usually only remain at a practice for six months at a time.

From time to time they may request your permission to video their consultation with you. This may be for training purposes or to prove to the accrediting body that they are ready to become GPs. You have the right to refuse permission at any time - it will not affect your care in any way.

This is a valuable training tool (frequently used by the regular doctors for continuing professional development.) The videos remain strictly confidential and are only seen by GPs within the practice or by examiners; they are destroyed after use.

Medical Student Teaching

We are involved in the teaching of medical students from the University of Northumbria

Occasionally we may ask patients if they would be kind enough to help the teaching by speaking to the students about their experience of their illness.

From time to time, students sit in with a doctor during surgery, but you will always be told if a doctor has a student sitting in with them and you have the right to ask to see the doctor without the student present.

Simply let the receptionists know prior to your appointment. Your care will not be affected in any way.

Sickness Certificates

You do not require a doctor's sickness certificate for any illness lasting 7 days or less. Your employer may however require you to complete a self-certification form (SC2) which is available from your employer or on the HMRC website.

Evidence that you are sick

Sickness Certificates If you are sick for more than 7 days, your employer can ask you to provide medical evidence to support payment of SSP (statutory sick pay).

It is up to your employer to decide whether you are incapable of work. A medical certificate, now called a 'Statement of Fitness for Work’ (see below) from your doctor is strong evidence and would normally be accepted, unless there is evidence to prove otherwise.

You could also provide evidence from someone who is not a medical practitioner, e.g. a dentist. Your employer will decide whether or not this evidence is acceptable. If your employer has any doubts, they may still ask for a medical certificate from your GP.

Statement of Fitness for Work - ’Fit Note'

The 'fit note' was introduced on 6 April 2010. With your employer's support, the note will help you return to work sooner by providing more information about the effects of your illness or injury.

For more information see the DirectGov website (where this information was sourced)

Call 111 when you need medical help fast but it’s not a 999 emergency

NHS Choices

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