Telephone Access
We are aware of the difficulties some of our patients are experiencing trying to access the surgery. The surgery receives a high volume of calls at PEAK TIMES which is every morning between 8:30 -10:30am and every afternoon (except Thursdays) between 2-4pm. If you are in a queue then please call at a quieter time if your call is not urgent. We would encourage those who are ringing for blood tests to ring after 11am each day.
There is a dedicated script line and online prescription ordering is available.
PLEASE ALLOW 48HRS FOR COLLECTION OF SCRIPTS
Appointments
The appointment system operates both for your convenience and to aid the Doctors plan their work. Appointments are for 10 minutes. Please remember to book a double appointment if multiple issues to be discussed.
Urgent Appointments
We try hard to oblige patients needing an urgent appointment if contacted early in the day. Please understand the Doctors discretion may be used to help judge the timing. Abuse of this system results in great inconvenience for other patients, staff and doctors. Please remember reception staff are trained to follow our policies and cannot control whether the surgeries are running late. They are doing a very demanding job under constant pressure and abuse of staff will not be tolerated.
Non-urgent Appointments
Try to give as much notice as possible for these. If you cannot attend please let the surgery know as soon as possible so the appointment slot can be used by another patient, who may need urgent attention. We have routine appointments and 24-hour appointments.
Repeat Prescriptions
Repeat prescriptions should be ordered 48 hours in advance of when needed.
You can now order your repeat prescriptions online. Please ask at reception for details on how to register for the online service.
You can request online/ by telephone / answering machine / post or in person using the box provided in the surgery.
Phone requests for repeat prescriptions should be made after 11 a.m. Always give your NAME, DOB and NAME of the tablet and the DOSE you are taking. Doctors require to review patients on repeat prescriptions once a year.
Home Visits
If a home visit is necessary please phone before 10.30 a.m. This helps the Doctors in planning their work. Remember the Doctor can see 5 patients in the surgery in the time it takes to do 1 home visit. Visits are decided based upon the Doctors discretion and should only be asked for when you are genuinely too unwell to attend.
Please ask to speak to the Doctor directly if it is an emergency
Telephone Advice
The Doctors can return phone calls to patients about health issues. Your phone number will be taken and the Doctor will call. Please keep this for issues that really require a doctor, as reception / nursing staff can often assist.
Confidentiality & Sample Test Results
All patients records are confidential. To respect confidentiality results etc will ONLY be given to the actual patient themselves or parents of minors. Please allow up to 7 days after blood testing. Please phone after 4.30pm when results will have been viewed and commented upon by the Doctors.
Change Of Personal Details
If you change your address / phone number, please notify reception so records are kept up to date.
New Patients
Anyone living within our practice boundary can seek registration. Please ask for one of the Doctors to phone you to discuss.
Training Practice
We are a training practice and have foundation and speciality Trainee GPs. We are a recognised medical education centre for Queens University Belfast medical students.
