Appointments

Telephone Triage Service - Our appointment system is changing on 17th October 2011

If you need an appointment urgently, on the same day, the receptionist will ask for your name, telephone number and a brief description of the problem. Please be assured that all our staff adhere to strict terms of confidentiality.

Your name will be placed on a triage list and one of our on the day triage team will endeavour to contact you within a couple of hours. We therefore ask that you remain available for this time -if your condition deteriorates you should telephone the surgery again. The patient and the clinician can then decide together the most appropriate course of action needed.

This is a significant change and we appreciate that there will be a “settling in period”. Please bear with us as we are confident that once the system is up and running you will notice an improvement in the way appointments are handled.

Thank you for your patience.

Early morning and Evening Appointments The practice offer some early morning and evening appointments. Emergencies will continue to be dealt with by the Out of Hours services during these times. You will need to use the intercom to gain access to the building when you attend for one of these appointments. Prescription collection and other reception services are not available at these times.

Extended hour surgeries from 1st July 2011:-

Monday 7.15 – 8.00 and 18.30 - 19.30

Tuesday 7.15 – 8.00

Thursday 18.30 - 19.30

Appointments not attended by patients January 2012

Doctors - 93 (15 hours 30minutes)

Nurses/other clinics- 180 (45 hours)

If you cannot attend your appointment please inform us so that it can be given to somebody who needs it. If you are running late for an appointment please inform us, we cannot guarantee that you will still be seen, but small adjustments to clinics can sometimes be made.

If you require a home visit please telephone the surgery before 10am to allow the doctors to plan their visits. All requests for visits will now be assessed by the GP on the day for their degree of urgency. It is essential to give the receptionist brief details of the reason for the visit. Anything you tell the receptionist will be treated in confidence.

Emergency calls Need medical help outside normal surgery telephone NHS Direct 0845 46 47 or BARDOC 0161 763 4242.

All requests for urgent appointments will be assessed by a GP in the morning and a suitable appointment arranged. Our aim is to provide a suitable appointment for patients within 48 hours with a GP or 24 hours with a health care professional.

Online Appointments. If this is the first time you have used this system then please read these instructions carefully. If you know about this system and have used it before, then please continue to make your booking in the usual way.

We respect and protect your confidentiality. This system does not store any information about you, it merely forwards by email to the practice the appointment that you have selected and the details that you enter.

IMPORTANT Please read our Privacy Notice regarding handling of the details, in particular your email address, that you submit via this website.

If you have read the Privacy Notice and want to receive an email confirmation of the details of your appointment booking, please enter your email address, otherwise you should leave that section blank.

This system is only for use by patients who are already registered at our practice. It is suitable for making standard appointments with your doctor. It cannot book nurse appointments, joint appointments with doctor and nurse, extra long appointments, and so on. If you need something like that then you should telephone the practice in the usual way. You can make only one appointment at a time, but if you need to make appointments for two or more family members then you can return to this page. Note however that since we only offer a selection of appointments online you are unlikely to be able to book here two adjacent appointments. For family visits it may be best to make a telephone booking with the receptionist.

To book an appointment select one line from the appointments listed, and enter your

1. Full First name and full Last name (properly capitalised e.g. John Smith)

2. Full date of birth including century e.g. 3/4/1973

3. Full phone number with dialling code

4. Your real and valid email address if you have read the Privacy Notice and you wish to receive an email confirmation.

Please make sure to enter valid details so that we can verify your booking and send an email confirmation if required.

www.GPUK.net
© 2001-2011 Simon Child

Tottington Medical Practice
16 Market Street, Tottington, Bury, Lancashire, BL8 4AD
Tel 01204 88 5106