GETTING HELP WITH: Appointments
For emergencies out of hours
Click HereWe are currently offering a choice of face-to-face and telephone appointments with a GP.
We are offering evening GP appointments up until 8.15 pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays as well as practice nurse appointments from as early as 7.30 am on Wednesday mornings.
We are in partnership with The Cramlington Hub where you can access GP and nurse appointments outside of normal working hours. See here for information on how to book and opening times.
Don’t forget you can book appointments, order medication, access your records and get access to your NHS COVID pass all online and via the NHS app. Request access to your online record here.
Routine appointments
Routine appointments can be pre-booked with the doctor of your choice up to seven days in advance. These are for non-urgent matters and for patients who prefer to have continuity by seeing the doctor who has been looking after an ongoing problem.
We also offer extended hours appointments for patients who cannot attend during our normal surgery times. These appointments may be booked in advance and are available on Tuesday and Thursday evenings at Ponteland Medical Group.
We also have access to extended access hours at The Cramlington Hub (based at The Village Surgery, Cramlington) From 5.30 pm to 8.00 pm Monday to Friday and 8.00 am to 4.00 pm on Saturday. Our reception team can offer you an appointment before these times or you can book directly by calling: 01670 337737 from 5.00 pm
Calling for an appointment
When you call us for an appointment you will be given a series of options:
- Option 1 – Prescription queries/orders
- Option 2– Book an appointment (urgent and routine)
If you need an urgent appointment your details will be taken by a member of our reception team. You will then be offered the choice of a telephone or face-to-face appointment. - You can still see your named GP for non-urgent appointments. You should also use this option for all other queries such as blood test results etc.
Book-on-day and urgent services
Patients requesting an appointment on the same day, or requiring advice, may speak to a doctor who will assess their condition over the telephone.
- Patients requesting an urgent appointment will be assigned to the triage doctor for a call back. The receptionist will take some details requested by doctor.
- The triage doctor will normally telephone the patient within two hours, unless the problem is urgent, and will negotiate the appropriate next step.
If, after speaking with the patient, the doctor thinks you need to come into the surgery, they will make an appointment for you.
REASONABLE ADJUSTMENTS
Set out in the Equality Act 2010 all health and care services have a legal duty to ensure that they adapt and support people with disabilities to be able to access services in a way that they are accessible for everyone else. This includes people with a physical disability, sensory disability, learning disability or a long term condition such as dementia.
By identifying the need and providing reasonable adjustments in a timely and effective manner it can lead to improved outcomes and experiences for patients and health and care staff.
For more information on reasonable adjustments, click here.
Online appointments
A quick way to make or cancel appointments is via our NHS App. (Please note not all appointments are available via this method). You can also use this App to order repeat prescriptions, view your medical records and test results, as well as giving you access to your NHS COVID pass.
In order to use this service and other online services you will need to register so that you can be given login details. If you are not yet registered for this service please ask at reception or use Anima via our web page.
You may be asked to bring Photographic ID into the surgery. If you do not have this please discuss with the surgery who will advise.
Named GP
All patients have a named GP who is responsible for their overall care at the practice. If you do not know who your named GP is or if you have a preference as to which GP you have, please contact the surgery and the practice will try to accommodate your request.
Medical Students – Consent and confidentiality
Medical students may be present at our practice in order for them to gain valuable clinical experience. Please make the receptionist aware if you do not wish them to be present during your appointment and/or to view your medical record.
This will not affect your care in any way and your right to confidentiality in every aspect of your care is understood and respected.
Care and support planning
We provide a Year of Care annual recall system to support people who have long term conditions. This aims to give you the opportunity to get more out of your annual review appointments by reorganising the way things happen and giving you more information before you see your nurse or doctor. It should help you to talk about:
- What is important to you
- What you can do to look after your health and stay well
- What support you may need
Who is it for?
Anyone with a long term condition like diabetes for example
Why change things?
It will help both you and the doctor or nurse make the best use of the time you have in your care and support planning appointment. All the important tests and results needed at your appointment will be available to you before the appointment as well as an opportunity to think through what questions you want to ask and identify your key concerns which you want to talk about.
What does this mean for me?
This means that your care and support planning review will usually take place over two separate appointments and you will have time to think about what you want to get out of these visits.
What happens at the first appointment?
At the first appointment you will be asked to attend the surgery to have any checks or tests (e.g. blood tests, breathing tests) done with a healthcare assistant. The healthcare assistant will book your next appointment which will be with a doctor or nurse.
What happens next?
Your test results from this appointment will be sent to you with an explanation of what they mean. There will also be a space on the letter for you to make notes along with the details for your next appointment and who you will be seeing. This will give you a chance to think about what you would like to talk about at your care and support planning appointment. It`s helpful if you bring this letter with you.
What happens at the care and support planning appointment?
At your care and support planning appointment you will be able to ask questions and talk about what’s important to you and your doctor or nurse will raise any issues they are concerned about. Once you both agree on one or two main things to work on, you will get the chance to work out a plan and identify any support you need to help you look after your health.
