Appointments

All surgeries are by appointment and each appointment is for one person only. Appointments can be made through the receptionists. When an appointment has been made, the receptionist will repeat the appointment details to you, or write an appointment card.

When making an appointment to see the doctor, you have the right to ask to see the doctor of your choice. Please be aware that this will be the next available appointment with that doctor and may not be as soon as you require the appointment. We have a limited number of routine available appointments each morning and these appointments can be booked the same morning but may not be with the doctor of your choice.

We aim to see any patient who is happy to be seen by any doctor within 48 hours. However, this may not be at the surgery of your choice. We would recommend contacting the practice as early as possible if you want one of these appointments.

If you prefer to wait for a doctor of your choice or with a time of your preference we aim to to provide a suitable appointment within 7 working days.

A longer appointment time may be requested at the time of booking but the receptionist will always confirm these requests with the doctor as it is at the doctors' discretion and on the doctors' instruction that these appointments are made. We have a range of pre-bookable appointments available up to 2 weeks in advance for those patients who prefer to book at particular times or who wish to see a particular doctor. We regularly monitor our appointment availability and believe we offer sufficient appointments to comfortably meet our usual demand. However there may be occasions when the doctor or appointment time of your choice has already been booked and we would ask you to be flexible in your requests to the practice.

Appointments with the Practice Nurse

Although you may ask to see the practice nurse of your choice, the reason for the appointment may determine which nurse you need to see. The receptionist, following Practice Protocol, will book your appointment with the appropriate nurse.

MISSED APPOINTMENTS

Parklands Medical Practice is a busy practice and appointments are very much in demand. If you make an appointment and are then unable to attend, a reasonable notice of cancellation should be given whenever possible. Appointments which are not kept should be made available for use by other patients. The amount of the doctors' and nurses' time wasted through missed appointments is monitored and is also displayed in surgery.

Home Visits

Home visits are for bed bound or completely immobile patients.

All requests for home visits must be in by 10.00am at the latest.

If you are in doubt as to whether a visit is needed, the receptionist will ask the doctor to speak to you. We would like to politely remind patients that transport problems alone are not a reason for requesting home visits.

Test Results

Please call between 11am and 3.30pm to enquire about your test results as our reception staff will have more time to deal with your request between these times.

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.

When you take your test you will be told how long it will be before the results are returned to the practice.

It is your responsibility to check your results and to make an appointment to discuss them with your doctor if your are advised to do so.

Medical Emergencies

If you are taken ill after 10.00am and feel that you need to be seen urgently the same day please contact the receptionist. Your message will be passed to the doctor on call who will contact you and arrange for you to be seen as an emergency if necessary.