Appointments

ABBEY MEAD SURGERY Practice ethos A forward-thinking, professional Practice – providing good quality, traditional, family medicine. APPOINTMENTS

Providing enough appointments to suit everyone’s needs is a constant challenge!
We need to have “BOOK ON THE DAY” appointments for people who have an acute or
urgent problem and “BOOK IN ADVANCE” appointments (up to 4 weeks) for ongoing
conditions.
Getting the balance right between the two is difficult, because demand for
appointments varies hugely from day to day.
We are trialling a new system to see if we can improve things for our Patients.
Deciding what is urgent and what is routine is also difficult, but we have several
Teams of people who can help you, in addition to Doctor telephone consultations.
All Staff are bound by our confidentiality clause – so please give them a clue to
what you want and they can find the quickest or most appropriate person to help
you – if you tel them!

We have 6 in the Nursing Team, 2 of whom run our SIGNPOSTING service every morning – if you need clinical advice on minor illnesses –
urine infections, childhood illnesses, coughs and colds and so on, they can advise and
arrange treatment if needed.
Our HEALTHCARE ASSISTANT is able to take blood, perform diagnostic tests –
ECG, spirometry, hearing tests, blood pressure monitoring etc.
Our NURSES, as well as dressings and vaccinations, run our chronic disease clinics –
for asthma, diabetes etc and cervical smears, travel and so on.
In order to provide an efficient service, it is real y important to use the correct
person for the correct task.
Our Reception Staff are fully trained by our Doctors and can guide you to the person best placed to help you. They are able to
pass on messages to the Doctor on your behalf and arrange for forms to be
completed. They deal with all incoming post and arrange hospital transport, all
warfarin monitoring and baby immunisation administration, deal with all results and
phone the hospital pathology lab on a regular basis, as well as making appointments!
We also have DEDICATED STAFF DEALING WITH REPEAT PRESCRIPTIONS –
any medication queries, please ask for them and they will either know the answer, or
find out for you!. There is always a Receptionist on duty when we are open.
cover every day to 4.30pm. They can help with any referral question, are expert on Choose and Book issues, can act as a link between you and the hospital and you and the Doctor – they can ask questions, pass on information (they are great detectives when an issue needs to be looked into) and get back to you with the answers. They are there to help you, and are able to be more flexible around both your own and the Doctors timetables to find or pass on information. For those who are able to use our Dispensary – they should be your first point of contact for all prescribing needs. Please help them by avoiding busy times to phone (especially early mornings) – there is usually only one person in Dispensary and they cannot answer the phone and deal with someone at the counter at the same time. Practice Manager, who is responsible for the non-clinical organisation and running of the Practice. It is her job to ensure we provide the service outlined by our “employer” the Primary Care Trust and the Department of Health, whilst staying true to our own Practice ethos and our own Patient needs. If you have any comments – good or bad, regarding the Practice, she is keen to know them! APPOINTMENT TIMETABLES
We have Staff available all day, to take messages, ask questions on your behalf and
direct you to the person best placed to help you.
We have a Prescriptions Clerk and Dispenser every day, to help with medication
queries.
We have the Signposting Nurse every morning – for minor illness advice and
treatment.
You can ask for a telephone consultation from your Doctor.
We have a variety of appointments with each Doctor – morning, afternoon, late on
a Monday to 7.30pm and early on a Wednesday and Thursday from 7.30am. We
also hold one Saturday morning per month from 8.00 – 10.00am. All these are
able to be booked in advance and not for emergency appointments.
If you need to be seen on a day – for a clinical need – you can see the Duty Doctor of
the day.
You can book a routine appointment with your Doctor – timetables go up to a month
in advance.
If your own Doctor is unavailable on any day, there is always another Doctor here to
help you.

Source: http://www.abbeymeadsurgery.co.uk/practices/abbeymead/Abbeymead-Fabb-Patient-Group.pdf