Because our doctors are unable to deal with every enquiry coming into the surgery, the receptionists are trained to deal with many such enquiries or, if necessary, pass them to another member of staff. You may be asked to phone back when she has the information you require or the doctor may telephone you. Please ensure that we have your current telephone number and that you will be available when the doctor phones.
Can another healthcare professional help?
Do you need to see the GP?
Sometimes the GP is not the most appropriate healthcare professional to deal with your ailment. Please see the information on see a doctor or healthcare professional, which might help you decide whether a GP appointment is truly necessary or whether it might be better for you to see a pharmacist, optician, dentist, or 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
- What to do in an emergency
For immediately serious conditions such as the following, GO TO Emergency Department (A&E) IMMEDIATELY
- 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.
Your appointment at the Practice
- Appointments may be made by telephone or in person
- Please make one appointment for each member of the family who needs to be seen
- We try to keep to time but please be patient if someone before you takes longer than planned
- Appointments are normally ten minute slots and so if you have a complicated problem, or more than one problem, please ask for a double appointment
- You may see the doctor of your choice if you book your appointment in advance but all our doctors have access to your medical records and this may allow you to be seen sooner, even on the same day if you see someone else
- It is Practice policy to allow patients to choose whichever doctor they wish to attend in the Practice (however this may not always be possible during periods of annual leave or illness).
Please help us
If you are not able to attend your appointment please let us know in time so that the time can be used for someone else. If you are more than 10 minutes late for an appointment you may be asked to re-book.
Last year, there were 2219 missed appointments at the Ker Practice! 1209 of these were appointments with a GP and 1010 were appointments with a Nurse.
Please cancel an appointment you can no longer attend/no longer need with as much notice as possible so that we are able to give it to someone else that needs it. As well as phoning the practice to cancel, you can cancel via text message (if we have your mobile number on file).
Pre-bookable Appointments
Our bookable appointments are made 2 or 3 days in advance, with the extended hours appointment being bookable up to 1 week in advance. If you feel you need to be seen sooner, you can request a telephone triage call from a Doctor on the day and if the Doctor feels is is necessary for you to be seen, the Doctor will arrange an appointment for you. We hope this will reduce the number of patients not turning up for their appointments. To improve our non attendance rate – we now send a text message reminder re your appointment – this allows you to cancel your appointment by responding to the message if you are unable to attend. To allow us to use this system to it full advantage, please ensure we have an up to date mobile telephone number.
If you have a suspected infectious disease
Please inform reception if you suspect an infectious disease, as this will enable us to deal with it appropriately during your visit to protect you, other patients and staff.
Consultations 16 to 75
If a patient aged between 16 and 75 years has not had a practice consultation within a period of three years, we are happy, on request, to provide a consultation.
Giving Consent for Treatment
You have the right to accept or refuse treatment that is offered to you, and not to be given any physical examination or treatment unless you have given valid consent. If you do not have the capacity to do so, consent must be obtained from a person legally able to act on your behalf, or the treatment must be in your best interests.
Your valid consent (agreement to the course of action) is needed for the treatment that’s offered to you before any physical examinations or treatment can be given. If you haven’t given your consent, you can accept or refuse treatment that’s offered to you.
It’s important to be involved in decisions about your treatment and to be given information to help you choose the right treatment. When making treatment choices, you’ll often discuss the options with your doctor or another healthcare professional.
