The COVID-19 pandemic has brought about a change in the way we book appointments for clinicians.

As patients' lives have returned to normal and demand has increased, we have been listening to our patients and adapting our appointment systems to meet the population need as best we can.  GP appointments are currently a mix of face-to-face appointments and telephone appointments, with a limited number available for booking up to 14 days in advance (available online) and a portion reserved for urgent cases on the day.

Nursing or HCA appointments for all healthcare including chronic disease checks, injections or blood tests are available to book 14 days in advance.

Requests for GP appointments will be Care Navigated by our highly skilled reception team who will provide you with advice about who can help you with your health need; this could be a telephone consultation with the nurse, pharmacist or GP or another healthcare provider within the community.

As a practice we promote self-care wherever possible; depending on your medical concern you may be Care Navigated by the reception team to the Minor Ailments Scheme run locally by pharmacies.

If your condition requires medical care and advice from a member of our clinical team then you may be triaged by a practice nurse or GP who are here each weekday offering help and advice over the telephone.

Home visits are at the discretion of the doctor and for medical reasons only. Generally home visits should only be requested for housebound patients or serious illness.

Visits should be requested by telephone between 08:30 and 10:00, except for emergencies which may be requested at any time. Please inform the receptionist when telephoning that you are requesting a home visit.

The practice is introducing the use of online consultations to give patients an alternative way to contact the practice for non-urgent administration and healthcare queries.

Any patients registered with the practice can use this site - you do not need to receive a login from the practice but if you have a login for Patient Access you can use the link on this site to send your query.

Appointments should be attended on time; if you are 10 minutes late then you may be asked to rearrange your appointment. If you are not seen you will not be able to rearrange your appointment until the next working day - except in the event of a medical emergency that requires immediate attention.

If you require an interpreter to help you at your appointment; please notify the receptionist. The practice can arrange for an interpreter for you but this does require booking in advance of the day of attendance.

It is important that you inform the reception staff if you are unable to attend your appointment, this will allow that appointment to be offered to another patient. If you fail to notify the practice that you are unable to attend on 3 occasions, you will be sent a letter informing you that you have defaulted from your appointments. Persistent defaulters maybe removed from the list.

To help you cancel your appointment you can complete our appointment cancellation notification request form above you can also use on-line access to cancel appointments.

Signing up to the text messaging service is about more than just receiving reminders about your appointment time.

Text messaging is used by the practice to inform patients of:

• Test results
• Reminders for health checks or blood tests
• Sending copies of fit notes and other documents
• Medical information from GPs
• Links to online medical information leaflets
• Prescription information
• Important practice updates
• Health promotion

To be a part of this service you need to register, this can be done verbally over the phone by a receptionist or you can complete the consent form.

REMEMBER – you need to update us of any changes in your mobile number to continue receiving this service.

Evening and weekend appointments now available - This service has currently been suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic

From 1st October 2018 everyone in England will benefit from access to general practice appointments in the evenings and weekends at a time that is most convenient to them. This is part of a national drive to help improve access to general practice and get the best possible outcomes for patients. Further information is available at:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/gp/gpfv/redesign/improving-access/.

Patients who are registered at this practice can now book an appointment to see a range of clinicians including GPs and nurses on weekday evenings (after 18:30) or at the weekend (on Saturday and Sunday).

Appointments will take place at a range of NHS settings across North East Lincolnshire. Talk to the practice receptionist to discuss an appointment.