General Information

Disabled Patients

The surgery is situated on both floors of the Health Centre which has been designed for easy access of disabled patients with a ramp outside, electric doors and a lift to the first floor. Our staff are happy to help when required.

Seeing your Doctor

When possible please see your own doctor as we believe this leads to better continuity of patient care, however we work as a team to the same standards.

Routine Appointments

We have a range of appointment times during the day from 8.45am to 1.00pm and from 1.30pm to 18.00pm. Appointments can be made at the desk or by telephone. Please try to give us as much notice as possible. If you cannot attend for your appointment please let us know as soon as possible in order to offer the cancellation to another patient.

Urgent Appointments

Patients with urgent problems will be seen on the same day in one of our two emergency surgeries which are run by the two duty doctors or in the nurse triage clincs which run in conjunction with these.

Home Visits

We try and encourage patients to come to the surgery as much as possible as it is a more effective use of time. Please telephone the surgery before 10.30am and give the receptionist some indication of the problem so the visiting doctor will have an idea how urgent the visit is. We may still phone you to see if there are other ways of dealing with your visit request. Urgent home visit requests after 1pm are always reviewed by the duty doctor.

Car Parking

There is ample car parking adjacent to the Health Centre with a Council Pay and Display. Our car park is so small that it is reserved for staff only.

Chemists

There are four chemists within walking distance of the surgery and the Co-op chemist which is situated within the Health Centre is open the same times as the srugery.

Travel Vaccinations

With the huge growth ininternational travel we offer all travel vaccines and you will need an appointment with one of our practice nurses. There is a charge for a few of the vaccines which are not available on the NHS. The receptionist will inform you when making your appointment.

Malaria Tablets

These are not available on NHS prescription and the type of tablet for each area changes regularly so ask the nurse for the current advice when your travel vaccines are being given.

Non NHS Examinations

We are happy to provide medical examinations for specific purposes i.e. pre-employment, HGV, Taxi Drivers, etc. These are available as a non NHS service and attract a fee.

Complaints Procedure

Our General Manager, Sheila Smith operates the in-house complaints procedure as is a requirement under NHS regulations. A written record will be made of your complaint, be acknowledged within 2 working days and a meeting between the complainant and herself can be arranged as soon as possible. A final written response will be sent within 14 days of the meeting.

Patient’s Responsbilities

The vast majority of our patients treat us as they would like us to treat them but unfortunately like all places open to the public we occasionally experience anti-social behaviour, and below, in line with NHS policy of zero tolerance of violence, are examples of behaviour which will not be tolerated:

• Any violent behaviour
• Verbal abuse of all staff or doctors
• Menacing or threatening behaviour towards other patients in the surgery
• Obtaining drugs of abuse by deceptive or fraudulent means

All of these will lead to police involvement.

Telephone advice and results of tests

If you need telephone advice or the result of a test speak to one of the receptionists. If possible try to do this after 1.00pm to avoid the busiest times. If you need to speak to a doctor they will ring you back when free to do so.

General Manager

Mrs Sheila Smith is responsible for the overall smooth running and organisation of the Practice. She chairs the monthly Partners meeting and is the first contact for all outside agencies the Practice deal with.

Reception and Secretarial Staff

We have three Reception Managers who are responsible for the day to day management of the reception and secretarial staff. The receptionists will be the first contact when an appointment, repeat prescription or other information is required. They may need to ask you further details to enable then to carry out your request.

Practice Nurses

We have 7 practice nurses who work alongside the doctors providing a range of clinics, including asthma and diabetes management, INR monitoring, antenatal, minor illness, well woman and general clinics. The nurses also run a triage/minor illness surgery every day in conjunction with the duty doctors. The receptionist will be pleased to assist you make an appointment at any one of these clinics.

IT Department

There has been a large increase in IT usage in the NHS over the last few years. We have a department of 7 staff who deal with all aspects of IT including patient registration, data entry and audit. A major part of their work is now recording data required under the GMS Contract.

Choose & Book

We run a system to book the first hospital out patient appointment from the surgery. It is managed by Jenny White and she and her team can arrange out-patient appointments for most specialities at a wide variety of hospitals at a time to (hopefully) suit you. This has proved very popular.

Attached staff

We have attached Health Vistors, Community Nurses, Community Midwives and Community Psychiatric Nurses who work closely with the practice staff to provide patient care but are employed by Bassetlaw Primary Care Trust.