Appointments

Our clinicians see patients by appointment only and these can be booked at reception, online or by telephone.  We offer patients the flexibility of being able to book up to six months in advance to allow for work, shifts and holidays. We offer the first available appointment as standard and, usually, you will be able to see a clinician the same day or the next working day.

Please remember appointments with the Doctor are for ten minutes and only one problem can be properly discussed in this allotted time. If you have multiple problems, the Doctor may ask you to make another appointment rather than delay other patients waiting to be seen.

Don't forget if you need to be seen downstairs due to mobility issues, please let the receptionist know at the time of booking so they can make sure the downstairs room is free for you.

We now offer GP appointments at the surgery between 6.30-8pm on Tuesday evenings. These can be booked by the usual means.

There are now also appointments with GPs, Advanced Nurse Practitioners, Practice Nurses, Pharmacists and Healthcare Assistants at our Tolson Partnership Hub at the University Health Centre, 12 Sand Street Huddersfield HD1 3AL. They have appointments available on Thursday evenings and Saturday mornings. Please contact your normal surgery to book one of these extended hours appointments. 

Urgent appointments

We do offer same or next day appointments as standard and upon request in cases of urgent clinical need - we do ask that patients do not abuse this service. If there are no routine appointments left, you may be asked for more details regarding the nature of your illness in order for the clinicians to monitor and triage the necessary urgency.

Canceling an Appointment

If you need to cancel an appointment, please do so as soon as possible as appointments canceled within one hour of the appointment time will go down as a missed appointment. This is because we are unlikely to be able to book another patient in that slot with such short notice and so it wastes our clinician’s valuable time. You can cancel an appointment with the receptionist in person, online or by telephone even when the surgery is closed by dialing the surgery number and pressing 2 to cancel an appointment.

Missed Appointments - DNA Policy

Our practice policy is that if a patient habitually misses appointments they will be removed from the practice list. A written warning will be sent when a patient reaches 2 missed appointments within 6 months. Further DNAs will result in removal from the list. Therefore please ensure you inform us if you are unable to make it to your appointment.

If you're unsure of where to access the NHS help you need please contact 111 our 24 hour advice line free from mobiles and landlines. Watch this amusing video illustrating some of the inappropriate things people attend A&E departments with.

Online booking is now available please click here if you have your registration details already to access this service. If you do not have your registration details please visit our reception staff with a form of official photographic identification (i.e. driver's licence/passport) and they will be happy to provide your log in details,

Access is also available through an app for iOS devices available to download here 

See below for a video from another practice on how to book an appointment using SystmOnline

Telephone Consultations

Our clinicians are available during the day to be contacted by telephone although you may be asked to call back at a later time or to leave a message for the clinician to call you back after completing their surgery session.

Home Visits

Home visits are made to those who are too ill to attend the surgery. Whenever possible these should be requested before 10.30am by telephoning 01484 500921.

We adopt a policy of encouraging attendance at the surgery unless you feel this would seriously aggravate your health condition.

When a visit is requested the receptionist will ask the nature and duration of the illness. This helps the Doctor to plan the appropriate order of the visits. He may call you for more information before visiting.

The Doctor's ability to assess and treat patients in their own home is often hindered by the lack of facilities that are normally available in the surgery. The number of patients that a Doctor can see and treat in their own homes in one day is restricted because of the traveling time involved. It makes more sense for the patient to come to the doctor.

Visiting is not normally required for common symptoms of childhood such as fevers, cold, cough, earache, headache, diarrhoea/vomiting and in most cases abdominal pain. It is perfectly safe to bring a child to the surgery with a fever. Car transport is sensible and is always available from friends, relatives, neighbours or taxi firms. The clinical need, and not transportation issues, necessitate home visits.

IT IS NOT THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE DOCTOR TO ARRANGE TRANSPORT TO THE SURGERY.

Adults with common problems of a cough, sore throat, flu, back pain, and abdominal pain should also not require home visiting. Home visits are made at the discretion of the doctor.

Smoke free environment

We are required by law not to put our staff at risk of second-hand smoke. We therefore politely ask if you can do everything possible to provide a smoke free environment when a member of our staff visits you in your home.

Pets

We would be grateful if pets such as cats and dogs could be moved out of the room when we visit.

Anyone can make a mistake, and we understand if patients miss an appointment as a result of mental health problems or failing memory. However, despite the successful introduction of our text message reminder service, far too many appointments remain missed and wasted. The jargon is DNA – ‘Did Not Attend’.

Repeated DNAs are antisocial behavior – they disadvantage other sick patients. We aren’t allowed to name, shame or fine offenders, but your Patient Participation Group fully supports a policy of warning inconsiderate patients and deregistering the very few who continue not to heed our requests. Patients who miss two appointments within 6 months are sent a warning letter and if this still continues they will be removed as a patient.

If you don’t intend to keep an appointment, please ring to cancel in good time, at least an hour before your appointment time in order that someone else can take your place. Even when the surgery is closed you can leave a message to cancel an appointment on 01484 500921 option 2.

It’s your responsibility to arrive in good time for an appointment – Reception may have a queue. If you check in late for an appointment, you have missed it! Time isn’t elastic, and accommodating a late arrival means that other patients will have their appointments hurried or delayed. If you arrive after your appointment was due to have started, you may have to book a new appointment or wait until the end of the surgery to be seen. The Doctor or Nurse will weigh up whether to inconvenience other patients by seeing you sooner. If they decide to respect your fellow patients booked appointments, you will be given the choice of booking another routine appointment, or contacting the NHS 111 service for further medical advice. 

Patients who are habitually late for their appointments will receive a warning letter, after which they may be removed if they continue to show a lack of respect for the appointments arrangement and their fellow patients.

Whilst sometimes surgeries can run late due to a patient needing more time with more complex or emergency need, the receptionist will endeavor to keep you informed of this delay and rearrange your appointment for you if that is more convenient. We ask that you respect this arrangement that at some point you or a family member may benefit from.

We have a ‘One Problem Per Consultation’ Policy

We kindly ask that all patients try and stick to our ‘One Problem PerConsultation’ policy.  The main reason for this request is for clinical safety.

We know that getting an appointment with the doctor is sometimes difficult and that some patients ‘save’ their problems and present them to the doctor at the same time, with or without a list. We also know that the Clinician may run late.  All of this increases the tendency for patients to present multiple problems to their doctor/ANP at one consultation.

Each appointment is only 10 minutes long.  Ten minutes really is not a lot of time, even for just one problem, e.g., 1 minute to get to doctor’s room and sit down, 3 minutes to tell a history, 3-4 minutes to perform targeted examination, 2 minutes to explain, advise and treat.  There is no time left of the ten minutes to write up notes, fill out forms, dictate referrals or speak to other team members for advice.

Presenting the Clinician with multiple problems means that there is a real increased risk that mistakes will be made and things to be missed as the Clinician may be inclined to rush, particularly if other patients are waiting.

One of Primary Care’s main purposes is to detect serious disease early.  Presenting multiple problems to the clinician, not all of which may be serious, increases the difficulty of this task – it is like finding the ‘needle in a haystack’.

Doctors cannot see huge numbers of patients with multiple problems and continue to practise safely and effectively.  A stressed doctor will struggle to be a good and safe doctor.

We do consider that GP appointments are a limited resource and we would kindly ask that such a service be used with care and consideration.

Therefore please do not be offended if the doctor asks you to rebook for your other problems. We are working in your best interests in order to keep you safe.

We would always encourage patients to book double appointments if there are multiple problems that need discussing.