Why Telephone Appointments?

We have been instructed by NHS England to no longer accept face to face appointment booking.

Therefore all appointment requests need to be via the telephone. This is to continue to minimise the spread of Coronavirus and protect both our patients and staff. If you do come the surgery to book an appointment you will be politely asked to leave and contact us via telephone or email at ncccg.contact-gfmc@nhs.net  If you have a skin condition, mole, rash or other medical problem which needs to be seen, we are able to look at photos sent to us over email.

Patients will be offered either a telephone or triage appointment, patients will only be offered a face to face appointment if the GP feels it is necessary.

What to do if I have a Practice Nurse appointment including blood test.

If you have a nurse appointment, please contact the surgery before arriving if you suspect you may have Coronavirus Symptoms. The reception staff will arrange for the nurse to contact you via the telephone to discuss an alternative plan.

What to do if you can’t reach us via the telephone

The practice appreciates that it has always been difficult to contact us via telephone and now we no longer offer online appointments this will impact both us and yourselves. The practice is looking into alternative ways to contact us and we will update you as soon as alternative is available.

If you need to collect paperwork

Where possible all paperwork will either be emailed to you or sent in the post. All prescriptions will be sent electronically via your nominated pharmacy, all patients without a nominated pharmacy will be asked to provide one or the nearest demographic pharmacy to where you live will be chosen.

Why can't I get an Appointment? ...to find out click below:

Why can't I get an appointment? 

GP Appointments

Please consider whether Pharmacy First can help you with your problem before you call the surgery. For more information click on 

• Stay Well with Pharmacy First

Appointments can be booked by telephoning reception.

These are booked as 10 minute consultations and you can be seen by any GP, but we would encourage you to see the same GP whenever possible.

One Problem = One Appointment

Your GP/ANP appointment is 10 minutes. We want to make this 10 minutes as effective as possible so please only discuss one issue at each appointment.  If you have more than one problem, you must let the GP/ANP know so that you both can plan how to address these over the course of one or more appointments.  For more information, see the leaflet Getting the Best from your GP Appointment

Booking Appointments

You can book appointments by:

• Telephoning Reception between 8am and 6.15pm
• Book an appointment on-line - click HERE for more information

Please make sure you cancel your appointment if you no longer need it.

Cancelling Appointments

You can now cancel your appointment four ways:

1. Text the single word "CANCEL" in reply to your appointment reminder text.     
   • Do not add any other text.
2. Cancel online.
3. Telephone Reception.

Nurse Appointments

Our nurses offer a wide range of healthcare services, for the following; Contraception, Weight/Diet, Dressings, Diabetes, Asthma, Ear Syringing, Removal of Stitches, Blood Pressure Checks, Cervical Smears, Smoking Advice, Urine Tests, Immunisations and much more.

In addition to this we run a minor illness clinic. This is a clinic for straight forward problems of short duration that can be dealt with by a nurse. This is not for on-going health problems so if you need to be seen quickly they will take care of you, and sort out any prescriptions you may need

Our senior nurse is qualified to prescribe when required, and she can help with ailments such as Sore Throat, Coughs, Cold, Chest Infection, Urinary Tract Infection, Fever, Abdominal pain, Diarrhoea, Skin disorders, Minor Injuries, Earache and Bites/stings.

Health Care Assistants

Our healthcare assistant and phlebotomist perform valuable healthcare services such as: Blood/Urine Tests, ECGs, Blood Pressure Checks, Weight Management, Toe Nail Cutting Service, New Patient Checks, Patient ABCs (Annual Birthday Checks) and NHS Health Checks.

Urgent Appointments

In the event of sudden onset of your illness, it may be possible to book an urgent appointment at the surgery. You will be asked the nature of your condition and the doctor may also wish to speak to you directly. You may not be able to see a doctor of your choice and could also be advised to call 999 if the doctor feels it is life threatening i.e. chest pains.

In a life-threatening emergency such as sudden severe chest pain, loss of consciousness or severe bleeding - dial 999 before ringing the surgery.

Telephone Consultation

Sometimes it may be possible to resolve problems over the telephone without visiting the surgery. If you think this may be helpful, please ring the surgery, preferably before 11:30 and we will arrange for a doctor to return your call.

Triage  

Monday Tuesday and Thursday Mornings

Telephone  Between 8.00 and 9.30 am to access the Triage Clinic

During the above times patients will be able to access the triage service and will receive a call back from our Advanced Nurse Practitioner or the GP who will assess symptoms and arrange for the appropriate follow up actions, which could include a same day appointment at the surgery.

For periods outside of the times above the triage lines will be closed. Reception are unable to book patients into the triage service outside of these times, however there will be clear advise for patients and access to the appropriate care paths outside of these times.

This operational change is essential to ensure we continue to deliver high quality care to our patients.

If you have any questions around the above changes please do not hesitate to contact the surgery.

Wednesday Drop In Clinic

 We are no longer running the drop in clinic on Wednesday mornings.

There will be timed appointments for clinically acute on the day problems that can be booked on the day and will be signposted to the appropriate clinician by our trained reception team.

Thank you

1st January 2020

Evening & Weekend Appointments bookable through your GP practice

Patients registered at this practice can now access additional routine appointments at our new city centre NHS service, GP+ Nottingham City.  

Appointments are available to see GPs, Practice Nurses, Clinical Pharmacists and Physiotherapists in a fully equipped accessible location on Upper Parliament Street in Nottingham City Centre.

Opening hours are:

16:00 – 20:00  Monday – Friday
09:00 – 13:00  Saturday & Sunday

This is not a walk-in service. Appointments are required and are bookable through GFMC reception.

Find out more at www.ncgpa.org.uk/gpplus

Early Morning Appointments

As part of our on-going efforts to improve patient access to appointments we offer the following additional service:

•    Pre-bookable early morning appointments between 7am and 8am at our sister site, Derby Road Health Centre, 336 Derby Road, NG7 2DW. These include, GP and healthcare assistant appointments which are bookable at reception or by telephoning us in the usual way.

Home Visits

If you are too ill to come to the surgery or are house bound please telephone before 11:00 (except in an emergency) so that the doctors can plan their visits. The doctor may ring you back to discuss your symptoms before visiting. Home visits are only available for patients who are housebound because of illness or disability.

Home visits usually take place between 12:00 and15:00.

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

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).

Appointment Text Reminders

Each year, thousands of patients miss their appointments simply because they forget when it is. Text reminders have been proven to substantially reduce the number of missed appointments and is a FREE service which started in February 2009. It is hoped that this will help to reduce the number of missed appointments and therefore improve appointment availability for patients.

How do I get these 'Mobile Text Message Reminders'?

• Talk to any of our reception staff who will gladly enable you for this service whilst you wait.
• Complete the form below and we will take care of everything for you. (Please allow up to 3 working days)

If completing the form below please ensure you complete all the questions marked *

We recommend you double check the Mobile telephone number entered to avoid text messages potentially being sent to the wrong recipient.

Legal Notice:

By completing this form you agree to give us consent to contact you by 'text message' only on the number provided.

The details provided will be kept confidential and only available to NHS healthcare staff as part of your care record.

Text message reminders are usually FREE to receive, however if you are outside the UK at the time you may be charged depending on your service provider and the tariff you are on. Please note, we are not responsible for any charges you may incur for receiving text messages whilst you are outside the UK resulting from appointments which have not been cancelled.

This service is provided directly by the NHS not GFMC thus we cannot guarantee its availability 100%. 

If you wish to register for this messaging service please fill out the consent form.

Cancelling Appointments via Text

You can cancel your appointment following the instructions below:

1. Text the single word "CANCEL" in reply to your appointment reminder text.      Do not add any other text.