Appointments
| If you require immediate emergency medical attention please dial 112 or 999 for the ambulance. |  |
Reception opening hours - every weekday from 8.00am to 12.30pm and 1.30pm to 6.00pm.
HOW TO SEE A DOCTOR
Patients are seen by appointment only - except in emergencies. Patients are free to choose between doctors in the practice or consult different doctors for specific problems.
When you ring for an appointment, we aim to provide one with the doctor of your choice within 48 hours - and usually within 24 hours.
Up to 40% of our appointments with doctors can also be pre-booked four to six weeks in advance. These might be particularly useful for review appointments or non-urgent problems. Subject to availability, this allows our patients to request an appointment with a particular doctor or at a particular date and time.
If you are unable to keep any appointment, please let us know so that it may be offered to another patient.
TELEPHONE ADVICE
You may ask for advice from a Doctor or Nurse over the telephone. Our doctors hold telephone surgeries each day. If you feel your problem can be dealt with on the telephone, please leave your name and number and a message with the receptionist. You will be given an approximate time of your reply and we ask you try to be available on your phone at that time. The doctor will return your call in the telephone surgery.
HOME VISITS
A home visit by the doctor, for someone who is too ill to attend the surgery in person, may be requested by telephoning the surgery before 10:00am. As facilities at the surgery for examination and treatment are so much more comprehensive, it is in your best interest to attend for an appointment rather than requesting a home visit. A doctor can also see four to six patients in the surgery in the same time required for a visit. A doctor will ring before visiting to assess the suitability of the request.
OUT OF HOURS
Out of hours (OOH) care of our patients is now the responsibility of the Buckinghamshire Primary Care Trust (PCT). Services are provided by an out-of hours emergency care service based in Aylesbury called HARMONI. If you ring the surgery out of hours, your call will be directed to Harmoni automatically. You will be asked for details such as your name, telephone number and usual doctor. You will then be asked for basic details of the problem to help assess urgency. A doctor or nurse will then ring you back to assess the problem. This may result in phone advice, a referral to hospital or an appointment to be seen at the Harmoni Primary Care Centre based at Stoke Mandeville Hospital in Aylesbury. A home visit may be offered if the patient is housebound or too unwell to travel.
RESULTS OF TESTS
Please telephone after 2:00pm for results of laboratory tests, x-rays etc. Information will not be given to another person unless we have your permission.
MEDICAL CERTIFICATES
You do not normally need a sickness certificate for the first seven days of illness. The Statutory Sick Pay Regulations state that employers are required to accept self-certification notes (filled in by you) for the first seven days of illness. All employers must comply with these regulations. A self-certificate (form SC2) is available from reception, your employer or the post office. The doctors will not usually provide a sick note for absences less than 7 days. If your employer insists on a doctors sick note and the absence is under seven days then we can provide a private certificate - a fee will be charged.
For absences over 7 days, we will provide a doctors medical certificate. The doctor is obliged by law to see the patient for whom a certificate is given. If you are under the care of a hospital doctor, you may ask them to issue your certificate for an in patient stay or at an outpatient appointment.
NON-NHS MEDICAL EXAMINATIONS
Examinations for licenses for HGV and PSV drivers, adoption and insurance medicals etc. are not covered by the NHS. Please ask at the surgery and we will be able to advise you of the professional fee for such services before you book an appointment.
DENTAL EMERGENCIES
You should see your dentist for regular check-ups - there should be an out of hours emergency service available with them once you have registered at a Dental Practice. Dental problems are the province of dentists, not doctors, and they can prescribe both antibiotics and painkillers.