Appointments

 

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Before booking an appointment please check who is best placed to deal with your condition:

 

Many conditions can be dealt with without the need to see your GP. You can try a local pharmacy for advice about a range of conditions and we also have lots of self help information available by clicking here.

Please try this advice before contacting the Practice.

book appointment with GP

 

Book Your Appointment

Contact the surgery in the following ways:

Please call during Reception opening times

 

Cancelling your Appointment

If you are unable to keep your appointment, please give us as much notice as possible so that your appointment can be offered to someone else.

If you are cancelling please telephone us on 01892 722 007 (Howell) or 01892 723 988 (Horsmonden) as soon as possible, and at least 30 minutes before your appointment time. This will enable us to offer your appointment to someone else.

Alternatively you can cancel your appointment online using Patient Access or The NHS App if you are signed up to the service.

For more information on how to cancel an appointment please see our Cancel Your Appointment page.

 

Please don’t be offended if you are asked what the problem is when you ring to book an appointment.
This is called Care Navigation and it’s about helping you get to the service you need!

Find out more about Care Navigation

 

Routine Appointments

  • Appointments are by phone or face to face. Speak to our receptionists who will help you with you the most appropriate appointment.
  • Appointments with the nurses are either by phone or in person depending on the nature of the appointment.
  • Please note that all appointment times are subject to change at short notice.
  • Appointments are for one person only; a separate appointment must be made for each individual.
  • If you cannot keep an appointment please let us know so that we can offer it to someone else.

Way to book a routine appointment:

 

In Advance Appointment Surgeries

Appointments can be made by online or by phone and can be for a telephone call or face to face appointment. We allow 10 minutes per booked consultation. If you require a longer consultation please contact reception. 

 

Urgent On The Day Appointments

We hold daily “urgent bookable on the day” clinics. The doctors may telephone you or, if you prefer or it is deemed more appropriate, an in person appointment will be made for you.
Due to the nature of these on the day clinics all appointment and call times are approximate as emergencies will take precedence and therefore you should be available until 1pm. 

You must call us between 8am and 9.30am to book your appointment. All appointments are for 5 minutes only and for urgent symptoms which cannot reasonably wait for a booked appointment.
In the event of a significant delay we will try to contact you and give you an updated time. Please make sure that we have your latest contact information, including your mobile phone number.

 

Home Visits

Whilst we encourage our patients to come to the surgery, where we have the proper equipment and facilities available, we do appreciate this is not always possible. In this respect, if you do need a home visit, you can help us by calling reception on 01892 722 007 (Howell) or 01892 723 988 (Horsmonden) before 9.30am.

For more information please visit our Home Visits page

 

Telephone Advice

If you have booked a telephone appointment please make sure are available to take the call as the doctor will only try once or twice to contact you.  

 

Text Messaging Service

If we have your mobile telephone number we will send text message reminders to you about upcoming appointments and other information relevant to you and the practice. If you wish to opt out of this service please speak to reception.

 

How to help the GP and get the most from your appointments

  • Make sure you turn up at the right surgery! Check the reminder text for the location of your appointment.
  • Think about what you are going to say. The GP will want to know things like how long you have had symptoms, what have you tried already and what makes it better or worse.
  • Be quick where possible please. The GP has 10 minutes to fully assess you, make a plan and write their notes with any forms required. 
  • Book appointments for medical issues only. You should contact the hospital directly if it is to do with your hospital appointments or care. 
  • If there is time we will try to sort multiple issues but do the most important ones first. You may need to come back another day if we go past 15 minutes. 
  • Please wear a mask if you have a cough, fever or sore throat. It is not compulsory but it is to prevent the spread of infection to staff and fellow patients. 

We hope you have a successful appointment. Thank you for helping the NHS be more efficient.

 

Further Information