For GP appointments, we now operate a telephone triage system. Please advise us of your complaint and we will add this to the triage list. You will then be called by a clinician who will either help you over the telephone or ask you to come into the surgery.
Appointments to see a Practice Nurse can be made in advance.
Our Surgery hours are 8:00am – 6:30pm Monday to Friday.
Online Booking of Appointments
We are not currently offering any online appointments bookings as all calls are triaged as explained above.
Late Arrivals
If you are more than 10 minutes late for your appointment, the Doctor or Nurse will NOT be able to see you. Please make sure you factor in plenty of time for parking/public transport, etc.
DNAs – Did Not Attends
Each month we have a staggering amount of appointments where people did not attend. It is imperative that you attend the appointments you have been offered. This has wasted clinicians’ time and stopped other people being seen. Please bear this in mind if you call and we are already at capacity, at that time.
Chaperones
Every patient is entitled to a chaperone. We have fully trained reception staff who will be happy to chaperone you during examinations, should you wish. Please just tell the Doctor that your are requesting a chaperone.
Telephoning the Surgery
Our telephone number is 01934 628 111 and is a local rate “geographical” number. Your phone provider will pass on a charge to you dictated by the agreement you have with your provider (e.g. they may bundle it with free minutes or charge you an access fee) which we have no control over. All we can say is you will be charged the same as if you were calling another Weston-super-Mare 01934 number.
Phones are manned from 8.00am to 6.30pm. Outside of these hours you will be directed to hang up and call 111 for out of hours advice and urgent care.
Other Care Providers
In the case of a medically urgent problem arising out of surgery hours contact should be made with the NHS 111 service. Please call 111.
For any medical problem, within surgery hours, that cannot be dealt with by any of the places listed below, contact should be made with us – Attendance at A & E is not appropriate for anything other than Accidents or Emergencies.
Any pharmacy will be able to assist with medication queries and minor ailments. If you regularly attend a certain pharmacy then it would be beneficial for you to make contact with them as they will have a record of your current medication. Please click on the link below or here.
The Minor Injuries Unit based at Clevedon Community Hospital is able to deal with minor injuries/illnesses – this includes x-rays of suspected fractures. Opening Hours are 8:00am until 9:00pm, seven days a week. X-Ray open 9:00am until 1:00pm and 2:00pm until 4:30pm weekdays only. Please click here for more details.
A & E – should only be accessed in the case of Accidents (where there is a significant injury) or Emergencies (such as stroke).
We are delighted to have launched a new service called ‘askmyGP’ – a fast and easy way to contact your GP.
Wherever you are, you can request help from a clinician via your computer, tablet or smart phone. You will have the option to request email advice, telephone help or a face-to-face appointment.
Using AskmyGP
‘askmyGP’ also enables you to see when your usual GP is working so you can request help from specific individuals. We respond in working hours between 8am and 5pm Monday to Friday.
To use askmyGP, click on the logo on the right. If you have not already done so, you will need to register to use it and the system will guide you through a simple set-up process. If you require more assistance in setting up an askmyGP account, visit the help page About askmyGP.
Home visits are reserved for patients who are genuinely housebound and who do not leave the house for any reason. Including those in residential and nursing homes.
We will visit only if the patient’s clinical condition prevents them from travelling to the surgery and they are deemed to have a medical condition that necessitates an urgent medical opinion.
Age is not a criterion for a home visit, the criteria applies to both older and younger people.
Home visits will not be undertaken for social / transport reasons.
The clinician may refuse to visit the patient and offer an urgent appointment at the surgery if he/she feels that is more appropriate.
The surgery will follow these guidelines:
Please dial 999 in case of a genuine life threatening emergency. For life-threatening emergencies, requesting a visit from a GP can delay life-saving treatment.
Examples of such situations are:
Patients are therefore advised to ring the emergency services directly.
GP home visiting makes clinical sense and is the best way of giving a medical opinion in cases involving:
– The terminally ill
– The truly bed-bound patient, for whom travel to premises by car would cause deterioration to their medical condition or unacceptable discomfort.
– Those who are not usually bed-bound but have a clinical condition that prevents them from being ambulatory.
– GP will NOT usually visit for these conditions and circumstances and it is expected that the patient will attend the surgery to be seen.
– Common symptoms of childhood fevers, cold, cough, earache, headache, diarrhoea /vomiting and most cases of abdominal pain. These patients are usually well enough to travel by car. It is not harmful to take a child with a fever outside. These children may not be fit to travel by bus or walk, but car transport is available from friends, relatives or taxi firms.
– Adults with common problems, such as a cough, sore throat, influenza, back pain and abdominal pain, are also readily transportable by car to the surgery premises.
– Common problems in the elderly, such as poor mobility, joint pain and general malaise, would also best be treated by consultation at the surgery premises where the facilities are available for full examination and investigations. The exception to this would be the truly bed-bound patient.
PLEASE NOTE THE FOLLOWING:
– The practice is not responsible for arranging transport to the surgery.
– We will not visit for convenience.
– Wherever possible patients requiring a consultation with a GP will be asked to attend the surgery.
– The surgery has the correct facilities for undertaking examinations.
– In the surgery the GP undertaking the consultation has access to the full clinical record and access to support services such as Practice Nurses and therefore a consultation at the practice is better quality with regard to governance issues.
– Home visits are not an efficient or effective use of pressurised GP time.
– If you request a home visit, you may initially receive a telephone consultation from the Doctor or Emergency Care Practitioner, who will discuss your symptoms with you. You may be asked to attend the surgery as a result of this consultation if clinically appropriate. The Doctor will decide on the most suitable place and time for your condition to be assessed.
There are different ways of making an appointment to see a nurse or heathcare assistant either by phone or online.
You can now access a range of different healthcare services online. We’ve put together a list of useful ones that will help you with a number of tasks such as accessing your medical records, ordering a repeat prescription, finding out about pharmacy services as well as general information about health and wellbeing, fitness or diet. Click here to see a full list of the online healthcare providers.
GP appointments are now available in your area during the evenings and at the weekends. To book an appointment please contact your practice.
The NHS Health Check programme aims to help prevent heart disease, stroke, diabetes, kidney disease and certain types of dementia.
Everyone between the ages of 40 and 74, who has not already been diagnosed with one of these conditions or have certain risk factors, will be invited (once every five years) to have a check to assess their risk of heart disease, stroke, kidney disease and diabetes and will be given support and advice to help them reduce or manage that risk. If you are aged between 40 and 74 years old, then please arrange your FREE NHS Health Check at reception. A professional Health Care Assistant will do various tests such as weight, height, BMI, cholesterol test and then discuss your lifestyle and talk through how to get the best out of life. These take around 20 minutes and are really worthwhile.