Appointments, Visits and Emergencies

Routine Appointments

To make a routine appointment to see a doctor, a nurse practitioner or a nurse, please call 0845 4567 789 or call in at reception. The majority of our appointment are pre-bookable, and can be booked up to 2 weeks in advance, the rest are same day appointments. This system is to ensure that patients can be seen within the government recommended timescales. Please see the section on Nurse Surgeries for details of conditions the nurses can deal with.

Please let us know if you cannot make it to your appointment, so that we may give your appointment to someone else. Patients who repeatedly fail to attend their appointments will be sent a letter, and may be removed from our list.

If you are more than ten minutes late for your appointment, you will only be seen at the discretion of the doctor or nurse and you may have to wait until the end of surgery.

The last available routine appointment with a doctor or a nurse is at 5.50 pm. Early morning and evening appointments are generally for the benefit of those who work during the day.

Home Visit Requests

f a patient can come to surgery then it is strongly recommended that they do so.  The surgery has the facilities and access to appropriate equipment, which cannot be brought to patients’ homes.  Home visits should be reserved for the housebound and those too ill to come to surgery.  It is practice policy not to visit children at home as they can usually be seen sooner at the surgery than if they have to wait for a home visit. 

Lack of transport is not an acceptable reason for a visit request, as relatives, neighbours, friends and taxi firms are generally available.  A child (or adult) with a fever will not come to any harm by being brought to the surgery.

Please make home visit requests before 11.00 am if possible, as this enables the doctors to plan their working day and visiting schedule.  The nurse practitioner or doctor may ring you back to clarify the problem or give advice before deciding if a home visit is necessary.  Unfortunately, we cannot guarantee a particular doctor to visit you on any particular day.

Telephoning the Doctor

If a patient needs to speak to a doctor, it would be helpful to give the receptionist some indication as to the purpose of the call. This will enable the doctors to deal with your request more effectively. Should you wish not to divulge any information, please indicate this to the receptionist taking your call.
It is practice policy not to leave detailed messages on answering machines. Doctors do try to deal promptly with your request to call back, however, we cannot guarantee a phone call the same day or at any particular time of day. 

Emergencies When Surgery Is Closed

n an emergency, when the surgery is closed, please ring the usual number 0845 4567 789.  When you ring you will be directly connected to Derbyshire Health United who provide out of hours medical services.

Accident & Emergency

hatever the day or time, if you or someone else is experiencing severe chest pain, breathlessness, loss of blood or suspected broken bones, go to your nearest accident and emergency department or call 999.  Accident and emergency departments are open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year and can assess serious injuries and provide emergency treatment.