The Receptionist is the first member of the practice team you meet. She is here to help you use our services. We have nine members of staff who work on Reception - please help them to help you use the system efficiently. If they ask you questions, please remember they are carrying out Doctors’ instructions. If more than one person needs to be seen, please make separate appointments.

Please telephone 01252 749590 to make an appointment.

Your call will be dealt with more efficiently and will keep our switchboard free for emergency calls

If your usual Doctor is not available and the problem is urgent you will be seen by another Doctor. Patients attending the emergency surgery at 5.00 pm will have to wait to be seen. Naturally, requests for urgent medical attention will always be dealt with promptly.

The practice undertakes continuing education and training of health care professionals working at the practice.

Medical Students from St George’s Hospital Medical School also work with us from time to time to gain experience - a notice is always displayed to advise patients when students are present.

If you are aged 16 - 74yrs and have not had a general health check in the last 3 years, or if you are aged 75yrs or over and have not had a general health check in the last 12 months then you are entitled to make an appointment with your doctor purely for such a health check.

There is ample room and access for disabled patients in wheelchairs to all parts of the Centre.

Hours of opening and surgery times

The Centre is open 8.30 am - 6.30 pm Monday to Friday.

The surgery does not close at lunchtime or for half-days.
We have receptionists available all day to book, cancel or reschedule appointments.
We aim to offer a range of surgery appointments with our GPs and Nurse Practitioners. We offer appointments in the morning, over lunchtime, in the afternoon and in the early evening.
We have routine appointments available with GPs and Nurse Practitioners after 5:00pm.
All of our routine appointments are bookable in advance.
A Nurse or GP is available throughout the day to speak to patients about urgent medical problems, and at set times for non-urgent medical advice.
All of our GPs are happy to be contacted by telephone, via the secretaries. The GPs will always ring patients back if the enquiry cannot be dealt with by the secretary. The secretaries can also be contacted by email or fax for routine (non-urgent) enquiries.
If you are finding it very difficult to make an appointment to see your GP then please do contact him/her.

Each month, an average of 100 patients do not attend their appointment; if you are unable to attend, please telephone and let us know so that your appointment can be offered to another patient.
You can email us to cancel an appointment.

What if I need the Doctor to come to my home ?

Patients should attend the Surgery whenever possible; however, if you need a home visit, please telephone as early as possible, preferably before 10.00 am.

Please give full details of the problem to the Sister so that she can assess the urgency of the call.

It is very disruptive for the Doctor’s busy schedule if requests for non-urgent home visits are received after 10.00 am.

Please remember that not having transport is not a reason for requesting a home visit.

PLEASE HELP YOUR DOCTOR TO HELP YOU.

How do I get a repeat prescription ?

Repeat prescription requests brought or emailed to the surgery should be ready for collection after 48hrs (two working days).

We offer an E-Mail Repeat Prescription Service.

If you would like to fax your repeat prescription to us, please use our
01252 890084 fax number.

Please note that requests for repeat prescriptions cannot be taken over the telephone.

How do I find out the result of a Test ?

We ask that the patient personally ring in for a result unless special arrangements have been agreed with the patient’s usual doctor.

Please ring in between 9.00 am and 5.00 pm, Monday to Friday, when the secretary will be available to take your call.

Please see the details page for the Secretaries’ telephone numbers.

The secretaries are happy to receive e-mail messages and enquiries, but please note that they will NOT reply via e-mail.

Please note that that e–mail can never be 100% secure. In the unlikely event of e–mail being intercepted before it reaches the surgery, it could be possible for someone to deduce medical diagnoses from the information sent.

If you would like to contact the secretaries in this way then please use the following address :

Please include the following information in your message :

EITHER	Your unique Patient Number
	(you will find this in the top right hand corner of your repeat prescription counterfoil)
OR	Your full name and date of birth

AND	A telephone/mobile number that you can be contacted on

AND	Your message or question for the secretary

Please do not use this e-mail address to request an appointment, home visit, medical advice or to request a repeat prescription.

If you have specific questions regarding your health, then please discuss this with your doctor in person.

For urgent enquiries, please telephone the secretaries directly.

If you have any suggestions/comments about The Oaklands Practice, our Web Site, the E-mail Repeat Prescription Service or our E-mail Appointment Cancellation Service then please e-mail us separately.