Appointments

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To make an appointment to see a doctor call 01284 769643 or use our 24-hour on-line appointment booking service.

A trained member of our practice team will ask for brief details so they can direct you to the most appropriate clinician, which may be a prescribing nurse, paramedic, physiotherapist, or doctor. Any information you provide will be treated confidentially.

You must have an appointment to see a doctor

We operate a non-personal list system that means patients can see any available doctor in the practice. We strive to offer appointments with a doctor within 48 working hours of the request although this may be longer if you wish to see a specific doctor.

You could save time by starting an online consultation with the GP now using our e-consult service. Someone will get back to you by the end of the next working day, and you might not even have to visit the surgery.

If you feel your problem is urgent, please advise the receptionist and we will use our triage system to assess and prioritise your case appropriately. All patients requesting an urgent same-day appointment will be called back by an appropriate clinician – this may be a paramedic, nurse or doctor. Triage is a proven and safe way for surgeries to find the most efficient way to help patients and prioritise the most pressing appointment requests, ensuring every patient requesting a same day “urgent” appointment is referred to the appropriate doctor or nurse for the appropriate level of care within an appropriate period of time.’

If you need to speak to a doctor or practice nurse, please call the surgery on 01284 769643 to book a call back. While we cannot book specific times we will endeavour to respond as soon as we can.

Practice nurses are qualified to deal with a wide range of conditions, including diabetes, asthma, COPD, and minor illnesses, as well as offering services such as cervical screening, dressings, vaccinations, smoking cessation advice and blood pressure monitoring.

To book an appointment to see a nurse please call 01284 769643. These are usually available within 24 working hours of the request.

Mount Farm Surgery communicates with patients in lots of ways. We provide a free automated text appointment reminder service for all patients that provide us with their mobile telephone number. Should you wish to take advantage of this free service and receive text message reminders please use the consent form below or advise a member of staff.

Patients who are registered at this practice can now book an appointment to see a GP or nurse on weekday evenings (after 6.30pm) or at the weekends. Appointments will either take place at this practice or at another NHS setting nearby.

The service is staffed by local Suffolk GPs and Nurse Practitioners in Bury St Edmunds, Haverhill, Ipswich, Felixstowe, Stowmarket, Leiston and Wickham Market and is an NHS service delivered by the Suffolk GP Federation. You will be given a booked appointment and will be seen by a suitable local GP or nurse who will have access to your medical records (once consent is given). Talk to our practice receptionists to find out more or book an appointment.

You do not require a doctor’s sickness certificate for any illness lasting seven days or less. Your employer may however require you to complete a self-certification form (SC2) which they should provide. Alternatively you can ask at Reception or download a copy from the HMRC website.

If you are sick for more than seven days your employer can ask you to provide them some form of medical evidence to support payment of SSP (statutory sick pay).

It is up to your employer to decide whether you are incapable of work. A medical certificate, now called a ‘Statement of Fitness for Work’ (see below) from your doctor is strong evidence you are sick and would normally be accepted.

You could also provide evidence from someone who is not a medical practitioner, such as a dentist. Your employer will decide whether this evidence is acceptable. If your employer has doubts, they may still ask for a medical certificate from your GP.

The ‘fit note’ was introduced in April 2010. With your employer’s support, the note will help you return to work sooner by providing more information about the effects of your illness or injury.

Find out more:

We can carry out home visits to patients who are unable to get to the surgery, either through the severity of their illness or because of disability/mobility. If you require a home visit, please call 01284 769643 us as early as possible, preferably before 9:30am.

In the time that it takes to make one home visit several patients could be seen in the surgery, where there are also better facilities for examining and treating patients. If you can get to the surgery, please do so. If a problem is urgent, we will do our best to fit you in as soon as possible.

We adhere to the home visit guidelines issued by the Local Medical Committee. Please note that we cannot undertake home visits for reasons of convenience or lack of transport.

Please cancel an appointment if you feel you no longer require it by calling us on 01284 769643 (during opening hours), by texting the word CANCEL to 07800 008113, or by using SystmOnline.

Did you know…?

Up to 7 weeks’ worth of appointments are wasted every year when patients fail to cancel them, which is an expensive waste of resources that could have further improved patient health services.

Our ‘did-not-attend’ policy

If a patient fails to attend an appointment on more than one occasion within 12 months an informal warning letter will be sent requesting that in future, should they no longer require an appointment, to please cancel it in good time.

If a patient subsequently fails to attend further appointments then access to online and telephone booking and choice of available appointments will be restricted. A final warning letter will be sent stating that they will be removed from the practice list should they fail to attend further appointments.

Failure to attend another appointment will result in the patient being removed from our list, and they will need to register elsewhere.

For test results please 01284 716111 between 2:00 and 4:00pm. We will only release test results to the person to whom they relate, unless that person has given prior permission for the release of this data or they are not capable of understanding the results.

It is your responsibility to check your results and to make an appointment to discuss them with your doctor if advised to do so.