CORONAVIRUS UPDATE

Appointments

Routine Doctor appointments are currently suspended until further notice due to the current COVID-19 outbreak.

All surgeries are by appointments. If more than one member of your family wishes to be seen please make separate appointments for each of them, this will help keep the appointments running on time.

Children under 16 need to be accompanied by an adult.

  Please note that each appointment is allocated 10 minutes and is for only one medical issue at a time. 

How To See A Doctor

Appointments can be made by

- In person

- e Consultation

- Telephone

- Online

- GP Apps

We offer a same day appointment service to ensure that patients are seen when they really need to be. Please phone at 08:00 on the same day you wish to see the doctor to book an appointment. The earlier you call the more choice you will have in terms of appointment time.

We also offer a small number of pre-bookable appointments  if needed, but these will not be available on a Monday.

   E-Consultation and Telephone Consultations  

We also offer patients e-consultations and telephone consultations with the doctor.

CLINICALLY URGENT REQUESTS WILL RECEIVE A RESPONSE BY THE END OF THE SAME DAY OR NEXT WORKING DAY. ROUTINE AND NON-URGENT REQUESTS INCLUDING PRESCRIPTIONS QUERIES AND ADMINISTRATIVE REQUESTS MAY BE RESPONDED TO WITHIN 2-3 WORKING DAYS.

How To See A Nurse

 Appointments with practice nurses are made by ringing the surgery or by the request of the GP. Please let the receptionist know the reason for the appointment so that the appropriate nurse is booked.

Cancellations

If you cannot attend an appointment for any reason please inform us as soon as possible in order for us to give the slot to someone else.

Appointment Reminders

We now have the facility to send out appointment reminders via a text service. At the time of a patient registering with the practice their mobile number will be automatically included to receive this service. If you would like to opt out of receiving text reminders, please make reception aware.

Lateness Policy

If you are more than 10 minutes late for your appointment, you may be asked to wait until the end of the surgery before you are seen. If you arrive more than 15 minutes late, you will be asked to re-book your appointment.

DNA Policy

Due to an increase in the number of patients failing to attend for their appointment it has become necessary to introduce a Did Not Attend (DNA) Policy.

Unfortunately if a patient repeatedly fails to attend appointments they may be removed from this practice list and will have to find an alternative doctor.

Therefore if you cannot attend your appointment for any reason please be considerate and let us know as soon as possible so that we can offer the appointment to someone else so that they may get to see the doctor of their choice on the day that they wish to.

Please make use of our FREE texting appointment reminder service - Ask at reception!

Home Visits

Whilst we encourage our patients to come to the surgery, where we have the proper equipment and facilities available, we do appreciate this is not always possible. In this respect, if you do need a home visit, you can help us by calling reception before 10:00.

You may only request a home visit if you are housebound or are too ill to visit the practice. Your GP will only visit you at home if they think that your medical condition requires it and will also decide how urgently a visit is needed. Please bear this in mind and be prepared to provide suitable details to enable the doctor to schedule house calls

You can also be visited at home by a community nurse if you are referred by your GP. You should also be visited at home by a health visitor if you have recently had a baby or if you are newly registered with a GP and have a child under five years.

Sickness Certificates

Request for Medical certificates require 48 hours notice and may require an appointment with the GP before being issued.

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 is available from your employer or on the HMRC website .

Evidence that you are sick

If you are sick for more than seven days, your employer can ask you to give 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 that you are sick and would normally be accepted, unless there is evidence to prove otherwise.

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

Statement of Fitness for Work - ’Fit Note'

The 'fit note' was introduced on 6 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.

For more information see the DirectGov website (where this information was sourced)

Greenwich Health Hub

This is an additional GP services for Greenwich residents and who  are registered with a Greenwich GP. This is an appointment system NOT walk-in.

• ​Eltham Community Hospital, (30 Passey Pl, London SE9 5DQ)                                          Monday - Friday (4pm-8pm)
• Thamesmead Health Centre, (4-5 Thames Reach, Thamesmead, London SE28 0NY)   Monday - Friday (4pm-8pm)

New service from 01/04/2020

Now you can use e-consultation to see one of our clinician or any administrative help. All requests will be triaged by our Clinician. 

Please note if you have a child under 6 months you can not use this service. Please call the Surgery who can directly book you an urgent appointment if necessary. 

If you require an appointment you will be contacted to arrange this

Benefits to Patients:

• 24/7 Service
• No more queuing/waiting
• Quicker clinical response
• Patients who require on the day appointment will get one           

How does it work

Details are on the home page of the website 

Select:

• Help for my condition
• General advice
• Administrative help

Complete a simple set of approved questions (takes approx. 5-10 mins) and then simply submit your request to the Surgery

We will then contact you later the same day (for requests we receive before 3pm) or by the end of the next working day (for requests we receive after 3pm)

IF YOU HAVE ANY DISABILITY OR BARRIERS WHICH PREVENTS YOU FROM USING E-CONSULTATIONS THEN PLEASE CONTACT RECEPTION