NHS App
Download the NHS App, or open the NHS website in a web browser, to set up and log in to your NHS account. Owned and run by the NHS, your NHS account is a simple and secure way to access a range of NHS services online, including appointments, prescriptions and health record.
Booking by Telephone
You can book an appointment with anyone by telephoning your usual surgery:
- Red House Surgery – 01923 855606
- Park Street Surgery – 01727 876076
- Gateways Surgery – 01923 857146
Please note that at busy times we receive a huge volume of calls and may not be able to answer your call straight away. If you have trouble getting through, try to book your appointment online, if this is possible.
Your Appointment at the Practice
- You can book an appointment with anyone at the surgery reception
- We run an appointment system at the Practice. GP appointments are usually 10 minutes long and you can book these up to one month in advance
- Please make one appointment for each member of the family who needs to see a clinician
- We try to keep to time but please be patient if someone before you takes longer than planned
- If you have more than one issue or need more than 10 minutes, you should request a double appointment (20 minutes). If you don’t, the GP may ask you to choose the most important problem to deal with in the time available
- Nurse and other health professional appointments may be longer. This depends on the nature of the appointment. You cannot book these online.
Opening Times
The Red House Surgery is open at the following times:
- Monday to Friday 8:00am to 6:30pm
- Closed Saturday and Sunday
The telephone lines and reception desk are open on weekdays from 8:30am to 1:30pm and 2:00pm to 6:00pm.
Please note: We are closed for lunch between 1:30pm to 2:00pm
If your appointment is outside of these times, you will need to use the intercom at the main entrance.
Please note that the car park at the Red House is private. Limited disabled parking is available. All other parking bays are for doctors and staff only. Please do not park in the car park. Our Clinician’s may need to leave in an emergency or an ambulance may need the space.
Park Street Surgery is open at the following times:
- Monday to Thursday 8:30am to 4:30pm
- Friday 8:30am to 6:00pm
- Closed Saturday and Sunday
The telephone lines and reception desk are open on weekdays during the hours shown above apart from 1:30pm to 2:00pm daily when we are closed for lunch.
Please note: We are closed for lunch between 1:30pm to 2.00pm
Gateways Surgery is open at the following times:
- Monday to Friday 8:30am – 6:00pm
- Closed Saturday and Sunday
The telephone lines and reception desk are open on weekdays from 8:30am to 1:00pm and 1:30pm to 6:00pm.
Please note: We are closed for lunch between 1:00pm to 1:30pm
Can another Healthcare Professional help?
The admin staff will ask you for a reason for the call to help direct your problem.
When booking an appointment with a GP, please see your “Usual GP”, who looks after your care at the practice. If your GP is not available you will see another clinician depending on your medical query.
Do you need to see the GP?
Sometimes another Healthcare Professional can deal with your needs. Please read see a Doctor or Healthcare Professional. This helps you pick the best clinician to see for your needs. other Healthcare Professional. You can even self-refer for some services without seeing your GP.
For real life-threatening emergencies such as those below – RING 999
- Chest pain (suspected heart attack)
- Suspected stroke
- Suspected meningitis
- Anaphylactic shock (severe allergy)
- Heavy bleeding or deep lacerations
- Fluctuating levels of consciousness or completely unconscious
- Difficulty breathing or stopped breathing with a change in colour
- New seizure, fit or uncontrollable shaking
For serious conditions such as those below – Go to the Hospital (Accident and Emergency)
- A fever and lethargic (drowsy) child
- A feverish and floppy (unresponsive) infant
- Difficulty breathing
- Sudden, severe abdominal pain
- Accidental or intentional overdose of medication
- Trauma (including falls) and possible broken bones or road traffic accident
Urgent Appointments
If your medical problem is urgent, we will review it on the same day. We will book you with an appropriate clinician, this will not always be with the GP.
If you have an urgent problem, please telephone your usual surgery. Urgent appointments are not available online. You should only ask for an urgent appointment if it cannot wait for a routine appointment.
SMS Text Message Reminder Service
If we have your mobile number, you will get a text message the day before to remind you about your appointment. If you wish to opt out of this service please let us know.
Please help us
Cancelling an Appointment
If you cannot make an appointment, please let us know as soon as possible, with at least 24 hours notice. We can then offer the appointment slot to another patient. You cannot book Nurse and HCA appointments online, please book them by telephone or in person.
Missed appointments cost the NHS a lot of money each year and affect the level of service we can provide.
If you miss appointments often or do not cancel them, we may ask you to register with another practice.
You can cancel an appointment:
- By telephoning the surgery.
- If you receive a text message reminder, reply to cancel.
- Online via the NHS App
Missed Appointments and DNA’s
Do you feel frustrated when you cannot get an appointment?
Every year wasted appointments cost NHS £162 million. This can cause serious delays in treatment for other patients. On average approximately 150 patients each month Did Not Attend (DNA) their appointment. This is when a patient does not turn up for the appointment and did not let us know beforehand. This currently results in approximately 40 hours of wasted clinical time each month.
Additional information
Accessibility & Privacy
Surgery Accessibility
Park Street and Gateways Surgeries are accessible to wheelchairs. There is ample parking available outside.
The Red House Surgery has limited disabled parking. The rest of the parking bays are for staff only. There is parking available opposite the surgery and in the large car park at the rear of the shops.
The Red House Surgery building is accessible to wheelchairs.
Chaperone Facility
You are welcome to bring a chaperone with you to your appointment. If you do not have anyone to bring with you, we can arrange for a member of staff to act as a chaperone for you. Please ask at reception upon your arrival. (Please refer to our Chaperone Policy for further information).
Privacy at the Surgery
Your consultation at the surgery will take place in a private consultation room. Your consultation will not interrupted except in exceptional circumstances.
As we are a training practice, on occasions our GPs may have a GP Registrar with them. GP Registrars are fully-qualified doctors who are training to become General Practitioners. As part of this training they spend some time shadowing a GP during their consultations.
You will advised beforehand if the GP you are seeing is being accompanied by a Registrar. You will get the choice on whether you would be happy for them to be present. If you do not want the Registrar present, they will leave for the duration of your consultation.
If you have a confidential matter and would like to discuss this in private, please ask at the desk. We will find a suitable area for this as soon as we can.
Can I bring someone to accompany me to the Appointment?
We are generally very happy for patients to bring with them a carer, relative or even a friend. This can be helpful with our assessment as they can tell us any observations they have made about you. This will lead us quicker to make an accurate diagnosis and help you more.
Also, having someone with you means they can remind you to ask questions that you forget. After the appointment they can help in reminding you what discussion took place.
Sometimes we may have to ask for them to leave but this would be unusual.
If you need an interpreter, please let us know ahead of your appointment and we will arrange this.
Chaperone Policy
We will always respect your privacy, dignity, religious and cultural beliefs. Particularly when intimate examinations are advisable. We need your express agreement for these tests. A Chaperone will be available to attend the examination if you so wish.
You can request a chaperone when you make the appointment or when you arrive at the surgery. Please let the receptionist know or the Clinician any time during the consultation.
Giving Consent for Treatment
You have the right to accept or refuse any offer of treatment. You have to give valid consent for any physical examination or treatment. Consent must be give from a person who has the legal right to act on your behalf if you do not have capacity. This must be in your best interests.
It’s important to be a part of the decisions about your treatment and to have information on this to help you choose. Your doctor or healthcare professional will go over your treatment options with you.
If you have a suspected infectious disease
Please inform reception if you suspect an infectious disease. This will enable us to protect you, other patients and staff during your visit.
Interpreter
If you need an interpreter with you see the Doctor please let us know ahead of time and we can arrange this.
Private Medical Examinations
Private medical examinations for special purposes will need longer than a routine appointment. These are chargeable as they are not part of NHS Services. Please check the fee amount when you arrange any such examination.