Appointments

Appointments start at 8:30am and run throughout the afternoons, Monday to Friday.

To request an appointment, please contact us via eConsult between 8am to 1pm or by telephone between 8:30am to 11am

For non-urgent matters, or if you are unable to use the telephone, you can visit our reception desk and speak to one of our receptionists after 11am.

Our reception staff are not authorised to book face to face appointments with GPs or Advanced Nurse Practitioners. After you have requested an appointment you will be contacted, by telephone or text message, by one of our clinicians If a face to face appointment is needed, the clinician will arrange that with you directly.

At The Quay Surgery:

you can be assessed within 24 hours by the most appropriate Primary Care Team member
you can express a preference of which doctor you wish to see, however, we cannot always offer an appointment on the same day both at a time of your choice and/or with a particular doctor. If that is the case, an explanation will be offered and you may be asked to accept a slot with another GP
a small number of appointments can be pre-booked in advance
when you ring you may be asked for some brief details about the problem so your appointments can be directed to the most appropriate person
we have an Advanced Nurse Practitioner who runs minor ailment clinics daily
appointments are bookable from 8.30am
our aim is “to do today’s work today” and prevent waiting lists building up
if all pre-bookable appointments have been taken, you will be invited to ring up on the morning that you wish to be seen
we no longer designate appointments as being either “routine” or “urgent”, rather they are described as either “pre-bookable” or “book on the day”. However, we would hope to receive your call as early in the day as possible, rather than at the last minute
most of the nurse appointments are bookable in advance.

Patients with simple self-limiting health problems like coughs and backache can visit the chemist for advice. Remember NHS 111, a 24-hour medical advice helpline is available on 111.

If all the morning slots are taken when you ring, the triage nurse can ring you back later to discuss and advise on the problem.

Urgent cases are always seen the same day by a member of the team at the surgery.

Please note:

From 8.30am the phone lines can become very busy. Please keep enquiries for other matters until after 9.30am when the lines are less busy.

How to book an appointment at The Quay Surgery

Non urgent appointments

Patients to complete the eConsult form (found on website) on weekdays between 8am-1pm, where a clinician will respond within 72hours. If you miss the cut off time, please submit the next available day.

Advanced appointments

Please book using an eConsult (found on website) or pre-book a routine telephone triage at reception or over the phone on 01244 814272

Urgent appointments

Phone 01244 814272 from 8.30am to 11am to access on the day triage – anything later in the day will be passed on to the on-call GP for emergency triage.

Chaperones

If you would like a chaperone present during your consultation, then please advise the receptionist when booking your appointment or when checking in.

Missed Appointments

Due to the number of patients failing to attend for their appointment this may mean that you may not be able to see the doctor on the day that you wish to.

In an attempt to try and resolve this the practice has developed the following policy.

If you fail to attend appointments without informing us we will write to you asking if there are any specific problems preventing you from letting us know.

If you repeatedly fail to attend for appointments you may be removed from the practice list and have to find an alternative GP practice.