Mount Farm Surgery - How to make an appointment to see your doctor or nurse at the surgery

On The Day AppointmentsTriage

In March 2012 intoduced a triage service for patients requesting

an “on the day urgent” appointment - this will ensure that ALL patients who have a problem that needs assessment on the day will be dealt with the same day

• Patients requesting urgent on the day appointments over the
telephone will be called back within 1 hour by a clinician

• The clinician will assess whether your problem can be dealt
with over the telephone which might save you an unnecessary
trip to the surgery

• If the clinician feels you need to be seen you will be asked to
come to the surgery

We are pleased to report that after running this system for 6 months
we are getting positive feedback from patients that it is easier
to get an on the day appointment

Surgery consultations

We strive to offer appointments with a doctor within 48 working hours of the request although we cannot always offer an appointment within this timescale with a specific doctor.

Our standard for nurse appointments is to offer a nurse appointment within 24 working hours of the request.

docbaby Appointments can be made by telephoning 01284 769643. Patients can use our automated appointment system at any time to book or cancel appointments. You will be given the option to use the automated system when you call as well as the option to speak to a receptionist between the hours of 8:00am - 6:30pm Monday to Friday if you prefer. If you feel your problem is urgent please advise the receptionist and we will make every effort to see you the same day. If you are unable to keep an appointment please let us know - in October 157 appointments were wasted as patients failed to cancel them - these appointments could have been offered to other patients if they had been cancelled.

We run a non-personal list system which means patients can see any available doctor in the practice.

We provide extended hours of opening after 6:30pm on Thursdays until 7:00pm and Saturday mornings from 8:00am to 11:00am for patients who are unable to make our usual opening hours. This is for booked appointments ONLY. There is no facility to book appointments or collect prescriptions in person at the surgery after 6:30pm

Booking Appointments on the Internet

Some appointments can now be made via the internet. Before using this facility you will need to register for this service and obtain a user ID and password.

Patients can access or register for this service by clicking the link below:

Click here to register/ book/cancel your appointment online

Speaking to the doctor or nurse by telephone

If you need to speak to a doctor or one of the practice nurses please call the surgery to book a call back when they are able to. Specific times are not possible due to the nature of the work.

Home Visits

homevisits If you can possibly get to the surgery then please do so. If a problem is urgent we will do our best to fit you in as soon as possible. Home visits are intended for those patients who are too ill to come to surgery.

The guidelines issued by the Local Medical Committee indicate that the two principal categories of patient requiring a home visit are those who are bed bound by the severity of their illness and those whose illness has progressed to a stage where it is unreasonable to expect them to attend surgery.

We cannot undertake home visits for reasons of convenience or lack of transport (Please ask a friend to bring you).

IF YOU REQUIRE A HOME VISIT PLEASE TELEPHONE BEFORE 11AM.

Please remember that several patients can be seen in the practice in the time that it takes to make one home visit. There are also better facilities for examining and treating patients at the Health Centre.

Test Results

Please call 01284 716111 between 2.00 and 5.00pm to enquire about your test results as our reception staff will have more time to deal with your request between these times.

Note that the practice has a strict policy regarding confidentiality and data protection and 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.

When you take your test you will be told how long it will be before the results are returned to the practice.

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

Noticeboard

Lost Appointments:

In April 80 GP and 58 nurse appointments were lost because patients booked them then did not keep the appointments. This is equivalent to 6 clinical days. This is an appalling waste of appointments that other patients could have used. The Partners respectfully request that any patient intending not to keep a booked appointment cancels it in time to let us offer it to another patient. Please help us to meet the high demand for appointments by not letting them be wasted in this way. Thank you.

A&E West Suffolk Hospital

Our local A&E is currently being overwhelmed by patients with minor problems. Please help us to maintain A&E for those who really need it - patients with life threatening emergencies.

If you have a minor problem telephone the surgery during our normal hours, or the out of hours service when we are closed (111) Your problem will be assessed, and dealt with appropriately.

Thank you.

Further Information

Patient Reference Group