Adelaide Medical Centre - How to make an appointment to see your doctor or nurse at the surgery

NHS Choices. You may be able to self help prior to making an appointment. Click here to go to the NHS Choices website to see the A-Z of conditions and treatments.

Adelaide Medical Centre - How to make an appointment to see your doctor or nurse at the surgery

APPOINTMENTS

Clinics are staggered during the working day and appointments are offered between 08:00 and 18:30. If you are registered for online services many appointments with GPs and nurses are available to book online. Otherwise, please telephone Reception to book an appointment: 01264 351144.

If you need to see a doctor in an emergency outside of our core hours 08:00 to 18:30 Monday to Friday you should call 111.

All consultations are by appointment. When telephoning, please indicate the degree of urgency of your request. Appointments are normally offered for 10 minutes. A 10 minute appointment will typically give time for one clinical issue to be discussed. If you wish to discuss multiple items you should request a longer appointment. We ask this to give you the GP time required and to help provide you with a safer, less rushed consultation.

Our reception team have been asked by the GPs to determine the reason that you wish to see the GP or nurse. This is to help us give you the most appropriate appointment or to direct you to an alternative service such as Minor Injuries or your local pharmacist. For patients requesting to be seen same day, this information helps the GPs prioritise patients on clinical need and in some cases may be critical in saving your life. For nurse appointments, because we have a team of nurses with different skills and rooms with different equipment it is important that we match your need to the appropriate staff and equipment.

Children under 16 years of age should be accompanied by a responsible adult.

Enquiries regarding registration can be made by telephone or in person to Reception. Staff will advise on the procedure to be followed.

Telephone Triage

All emergencies are triaged by the Duty Dr. Your name will be placed onto the list and you will be called back to assess your condition. If deemed necessary you may be required to come into the surgery for further evaluation of your symptoms. Please note that sick notes and on-going care will not be discussed during a triage call to patients.

Appointments for the Emergency Surgery are bookable only on the day of the surgery.

Urgent problems will always be seen on the same day, but not necessarily by your own doctor. Please do not abuse this facility.

Home Visits

If possible please try to telephone reception before 10:30am if you require a home visit.

A doctor or nurse may phone you back as it may be that your problem can be dealt with by telephone advice, or that it would be more appropriate to send a nurse, or indeed arrange hospital attendance.

House visits are only available for patients who are housebound because of illness or disability.

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.

Been Off Work?

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)

WHEN THE SURGERY IS CLOSED

Provision of services outside surgery hours is the responsibility of NHS Hampshire.

THE OUT OF HOURS SERVICE TELEPHONE NUMBER IS - 111

When calling, you will be asked to provide your personal details and some basic information about your problem. Please ensure that you have full details of any medication you are taking when you call.

The Out of Hours Service is not designed for the request/ collection of repeat prescriptions.

OUT OF HOURS CHECKLIST

Is the problem life threatening or a medical emergency?
This includes loss of consciousness, severe chest pain, heavy blood loss, severe head injuries and severe difficulty in breathing. If so call 999 for an ambulance.

Is the problem urgent?
If the problem is urgent and you feel you may need to see a healthcare professional call the Out of Hours Service on: 111. You will speak to a healthcare professional who will assess whether you need to:

Treat yourself at home
Go to a Primary Care Centre
Have a home visit from a healthcare professional

Do you need help and advice?
If you are not sure how urgent the problem is and feel you need expert help and advice call NHS 111. Trained staff will be able to advise you on how to treat yourself at home or refer you to the appropriate service.

Test Results

Your doctor may arrange blood tests, X-Rays etc . . You will be asked to contact the surgery for the results some time later.

Results are obtainable Mon - Fri between 10 -12am and 2.30 - 5pm.

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.

NHS Choices. You may be able to self help prior to making an appointment. Click here to go to the NHS Choices website to see the A-Z of conditions and treatments.