Appointments

PATCHS is an online consultation service that allows you to quickly and easily access your GP services.

You will answer a few simple questions and our team will get you the help you need.

Through PATCHS you can request a face to face appointment, a telephone appointment, make a repeat medication request, send dispensary queries and administration requests, ask for a fit/sick note (med3) and more, without having to hold in the telephone queue.

How?

• Create an account by selecting the PATCHS logo on the right, you'll be asked to enter your email address and set a password.
• Login by entering your e-mail address and password.
• Choose the appropriate option and answer a few simple questions to help us understand your request/problem.
• Your answers are to sent to us and we will respond within 6 hours. Inital responses may be via online message or phone, with face-to-face or video consultation appointments scheduled if it is felt necessary unless you have specificially asked for a particular appointment type
• You can specifiy your availability for an appointment which we will always try to accommodate whereever possible, but this may not always be necessary
• Please ensure that you create an account for each registered person so that when your request comes through it comes under the correct patient name

Appointments can be made by calling 01376 553415.  We ask that you try to make an appointment in advance whenever possible. Advanced appointments are also available to book online (subject to availability). 

Please remember to make a separate appointment for each person seen. A brief description of the problem will need to be given (please see note below).  

Emergency appointments are available for new urgent problems only. These are bookable on the day only and you will not always see your preferred clinician. These appointments are not to review ongoing problems.

Patients will suffer if the system is abused.

Please always remember to cancel an appointment if it is no longer required so that it can be offered to someone else.

When you contact the surgery to arrange an on the day appointment, you can request either to speak to a doctor or another healthcare professional (if deemed appropriate) or to have a face to face appointment.  

If it is for a new urgent problem and an appointment is needed on the day and all the appointments are booked you will be booked in for a telephone consultation with the Duty Doctor (note this is only for any new, emergency conditions not ongoing problems).

We do have pre-bookable telephone appointments for Doctors, Registrars, Nurse Practitioners, Practice Nurses and the Clinical Pharmacist for those of you who want to plan ahead, these are added weekly and are for up to 4 weeks ahead.

The routine management of checking contraception, asthma, high blood pressure and diabetes will be streamlined. These appointments will be held with our Nurse Practitioners, Practice Nurses or Healthcare Assistants.  Some of these appointments are also available via telephone consultation.

Dr Ghosh, Dr Nissanthan, Dr Guhasuthan, Dr Granger's, Dr Jain and Dr Barabucci's rooms are upstairs. If you have a face to face appointment, and are unable to manage the stairs, please let us know at the time of booking or arriving for your appointment and we can arrange for the Doctor to see you downstairs.

What do you need help with?

Please note when you make an appointment you will be asked by a member of the Reception Team for a brief reason for making the appointment.  The reception team are trained to ask certain questions and are bound by the same confidentiality rules as Doctors. The reception team will use the information you give us to choose the most suitable doctor, nurse or healthcare professional to help you. Our GP surgery is extremely busy and it is important to know what you need help with so that we can respond more quickly and effectively when it is urgent.  This has been requested by the Doctors so that they can ensure all patients receive the appropriate level care and direct patients to see the most appropriate clinician.  

However you chose to contact us, we may offer you a consultation:

• By Phone
• Face to Face at the surgery, at our Saturday Hub or at an NHS Service Nearby
• Over a video call
• Or Online via PATCHS

Appointments by phone, video call or online can be more flexible and often mean the doctor, nurser or another healthcare professional can help you sooner.

We may also:

• Offer an alternative
• Refer you to another service

When Requesting Care, Please tell us:

• If there is a specific doctor, nurse or other health professional you would prefer to respond and we shall try our best to meet this request providing it is suitable
• If you would prefer to consult with the doctor or nurse by phone, face-to-face, by video call or online
• If you need an interpreter
• If you have any other access or communication needs

We will always do our best to support you.

Please see the information below showing which type of appointment is available for each clinician at the practice.

The nurses are normally present at all surgery times.  Appointments must be booked in advance.   They may be able to deal with your problems and save you waiting to see a doctor.             

For example the following can be dealt with by the nurses:

• Cervical Smears
• BP Checks & Weighing 
• Holiday Vaccinations **
• Stitch Removal
• Dressings & Bandages
• Health Education Advice 
• Routine injections e.g. B12, Gold, Shingles etc
• Contraceptive Advice/Checks
• Asthma Reviews 
• COPD Reviews
• Diabetic Checks 
• NHS Health Checks
• Weight Management
• Child Immunisations
• Phlebotomy (blood tests)
• Family Planning Clinics
• Skin Clinics

To make an appointment for the practice nurse and HCA, please telephone the surgery, request an appointment via PATCHS or book an appointment online.  The nurses are also available to give advice over the telephone.

** Please note if you need advice and possible vaccinations for travel you will need to complete a travel risk assessment form at least 12 weeks before travel.  If your departure date is less than 12 weeks we are unable to complete the assessment and you will need to attend a Private Travel Clinic.  Details are available from reception.

Appointments can be made for blood tests at the surgery.  Please telephone the surgery to book an appointment or book online for Phlebotomy.  OUr main Phlebotomist is located at our branch surgery at the Livewell Hub, Manor Street.

If no appointment is available or you would prefer you can attend a Community Phlebotomy test (previously at St Michael's but now also located at the Livewell Hub, Manor Street)

Please telephone reception for an appointment at the surgery or for the Community Phlebotomy team:-

To book a blood test, visit https://www.swiftqueue.co.uk/midessex.php or for routine blood test booking please ring 01245 516963. Appointment booking line is open Monday-Friday 9am to 1pm and 2pm to 4pm.

Please allow two working days before contacting the surgery for your results.

A GP can see approximately four patients in the surgery in the time he can see one patient on a home visit. In most cases visits are not medically necessary, and patients do not come to harm by being brought to the surgery. If you think a visit is necessary it is worthwhile discussing this with your doctor on the telephone.

GP/Paramedic/Nurse Practitioner Visit Recommended

Home Visiting makes clinical sense and is the best way of giving a medical opinion in cases involving:

• the terminally ill
• the truly bed-bound patient for whom travel to the surgery by car would cause deterioration in their medical condition or unacceptable discomfort.

GP/Paramedic/Nurse Practitioner Visit may be useful

After initial assessment over the telephone a seriously ill patient may be helped by a clinician's attendance to prepare them to travel to hospital - that is, where other commitments do not prevent him/her from arriving before an ambulance.

Examples of such situations are:

• myocardial infarction (heart attack)
• severe shortness of breath
• severe haemorrhage (bleeding).

It is understood that if a GP is about to embark on a booked surgery of twenty-five patients and is told that one of his/her patients is suffering from symptoms suggesting a heart attack, the sensible approach may well be to call an emergency paramedical ambulance rather than attending.

Home visit is not usual

In most of these cases, to visit would not be an appropriate use a clinician's time.

• Common symptoms, such as childhood fevers, cold, cough, earache, headache, diarrhoea/vomiting and most cases of abdominal pain. These patients are usually well enough to travel by car. It is not necessarily harmful to take a child with a fever outside. These children may not be fit to travel by bus or to walk, but car transport is available from friends, relatives or taxis. It is not a doctors job to arrange such transport. 
• Adults with common problems, such as cough, sore throat, influenza, back pain and abdominal pain are also easily transportable by car to a doctors premises. 
• Common problems in the elderly, such as, poor mobility, joint pain and general malaise, would best be treated by a consultation at a doctors premises. The exception to this would be the truly bed-bound patient. If in doubt ask to speak to the doctor.

If you need a home visit please ring before 10.00am. You should have received a copy of the NEHA booklet 'Before you Phone the Doctor', which is very instructive.

Please attend your appointment on time, if you are late you may not be seen. If you are not seen you will not be able to rearrange your appointment until the next working day-except in the event of an medical emergency that requires immediate attention.

If you require an interpreter to attend with you when you see your Doctor please notify the receptionist when booking the appointment as they have to be pre-booked and this will be arranged for you.

It is important that you inform the reception staff if you are unable to attend your appointment, this will allow the appointment to be offered to another patient.

You can email reception on mseicb-me.reception.mchambers@nhs.net to cancel a pre-booked appointment.  If it is an on the day appointment you need to cancel please telephone reception so that we may offer the appointment to the next caller.

If you fail to notify the Practice that you are unable to attend, you will be sent a letter informing you that you have defaulted from your appointment. Persistent defaulters maybe removed from the list.

We have a texting service which allows you to receive confirmation and reminders about your appointments.

To have this service you will need to register by completing a consent form.

Please remember to update your contact details with us when you change address, telephone numbers and email address.