Appointment Information

Non-urgent advice: Please Note

The reception team will ask a few questions to signpost you to the right clinician or service, please don’t be offended when asked.

Use online services to book an appointment

Appointment System

We have appointments on the day and a few weeks in advance.

Reception staff will ask brief details on why you are needing an appointment with the GP in order to direct you to the most appropriate service. Reception staff have been instructed to do this by the Partner.

Reception

Our reception staff have been trained to signpost you to the most appropriate person for your care, so remember the more information you give the receptionist the easier it will be to help you.

The reception team will also be able to assist you with any queries which are related to:

Prescriptions
Blood tests, urine tests, x-ray results
Private medicals
Sick notes

If you need advice on contraception, coils, contraceptive implants etc please mention this to the receptionist as they will be able to guide you to the appropriate GP’s.

Home Visits

Home visits are meant for people who are house bound or too ill to travel to the surgery. Whenever possible try and come to the surgery where facilities allow for a more thorough and professional assessment of your illness.

To allow the doctors to plan their day If possible please try to telephone reception before 11am.

Please provide as much information to the receptionist as possible to enable the Doctor to telephone you to assess the urgency of your request and deal with it appropriately.

Please remember that several patients can be seen in the practice in the time that it takes to make one home visit.

Choose the Right NHS Service

Pharmacist

If you do not pay for your prescriptions you can be treated at your local pharmacy FREE for common minor ailments such as:

Coughs and colds
Allergies
Viruses
Tonsillitis
Flu
Diarrhoea and vomiting
Headaches
Thrush
Nappy rash
Colic and many more

Simply ask your pharmacy to prescribe to you under the minor ailments scheme.

Cancel an Appointment

If you have booked an appointment with a Doctor, Nurse or other member of staff, it is really important to let us know if you need to cancel it. One missed appointment costs the NHS around £152.

Methods for cancelling your appointment are:

Online if you are registered for online services Patient Access , NHS App or My GP
By return text when you get a reminder. Please type CANCEL
By Telephone: Please call us on 01772 286890 and tell the receptionist.

Why is it important to tell us you want to cancel your appointment?

Many patients fail to cancel their appointment each month. This wastes a lot of valuable Doctor and Nursing time and also means everyone waits longer to be seen.

By telling us in good time that you cannot keep an appointment, we can offer your appointment to someone else. This helps us to reduce waiting times and means everyone can be seen sooner.

What happens when you miss your appointment?

If you do not attend (DNA) several of your appointments and do not contact us to cancel them you will receive a letter from the practice, if after receipt of this letter you continue to fail to attend, we may have to consider removing you from the practice list and ask you to register with another practice.

Sandy Lane does not want to lose patients this way. The easiest way to stop this happening is to simply let us know if you cannot attend.

Training Practice

Sandy Lane Surgery has a long history of commitment to training; we believe the training of future Doctors is crucial to ensure the continued quality of General Practice.

We are a training practice for young GP’s and each year fully qualified doctors with wide hospital experience join us; they may join us for either a 4 month, 6 month or 12 month placement. We welcome the fresh ideas and enthusiasm they bring to our team.

At the beginning of their time here an appointment with a training doctor may take longer than normal appointments; we appreciate your patience during these longer appointments.

Occasionally consultations may be video recorded – this is for educational purposes and will only be done with your permission; we will always ask for your written consent to record your consultation.

If you would prefer not to have your consultation video recorded, please inform either the receptionist or the Doctor. Please be reassured that this will not reflect on your care in any way.

Physical examinations are not recorded and the camera will be switched off by request.

In addition medical students and nursing students may be present at the practice to gain experience, patients will always be asked if they are happy for the student to be present during their consultation; you can always decline to have a student present, please tell the doctor or nurse if this is the case.

GP Appraisal

All doctors in the practice take part in the national and annual appraisal scheme.

The doctors at the practice who train the students are also examined independently to ensure that they have sufficient knowledge of practice and education, appropriate teaching skills, educational management and an attitude supportive of learning.

The practice is also inspected to ensure that it meets the students needs and the appropriate standards for training.