Appointments

Seeing a Doctor or Nurse Practitioner

Since our move to Alderwood Medical Practice we have reviewed our appointment system a number of times.

The practice offers patients the opportunity to book appointments in three different ways:

The majority of our appointments are ‘book on the day’. We ask patients to contact us on the day they wish to be seen. This means that we begin our working day with all but a few appointments available.

A small number are available for patients to pre-book. This allows for patients who have been advised to return for a review with a certain GP or Nurse Practitioner to pre-book an appointment at the appropriate time.

Alternatively, appointments are available via our on-line booking service, and we would encourage patients, wherever possible, to register for on-line booking.

We are aware that our appointment system will not suit everyone, but we have found that the ‘book on the day’ system has reduced the number of appointments that are wasted by people who have booked in advance and then failed to attend.

Seeing a Nurse or Healthcare Assistant

All nursing appointments are pre-bookable and are allocated according to the requirements of each individual patient.

When requesting an appointment to see the practice nurse you will be asked the reason you are booking to see her. This allows the receptionist to offer you an appointment at the most appropriate time.

We realise that you may not want to discuss your appointment with the receptionist, but we can assure you that all information is completely confidential. Knowing in advance what each patient is attending for allows the practice nurse to manage her time more effectively and reduce waiting times for other patients.

Telephone Consultations

If you would like to speak to a doctor or Nurse Practitioner, we can arrange for this at the end of morning surgery. Please give the receptionist as much information as possible including an appropriate contact number; this will then be passed to the doctor.

Please note that the doctors have a limited amount of time between finishing morning surgery and leaving for home visits, it is important therefore that you are available on the number you have given.

Cancellations

If you cannot attend an appointment for any reason, please inform us as soon as possible for us to give that slot to someone else.

Home Visits

We would always encourage patients to attend the practice wherever possible. We are aware that there are occasions when this is not possible and understand that patients who are housebound or too ill to leave their home may make such a request.

We would ask that patients or carers contact the practice to request a visit before 11am.

Visit requests are dealt with in the first instance by the Nurse Practitioners. They will contact the patient or carer to discuss the visit request in more detail. It is important therefore that we are given the best contact number for them to call back on.

The Nurse Practitioner will only arrange a visit if they think the medical condition requires it. They will then allocate the visit to the most appropriate member of the Practice Team. This may not always be the Doctor.

Cannock Practices Network Surgery

Alderwood Medical Practice is one of 12 local GP Practices participating in the Cannock Practices Network Surgery which is based in the GP Suite on Level 2 of Cannock Hospital. Many patients will be familiar with the GP Suite if they have attended the Out of Hours Service which is also based there.

The Network Practice is staffed by Doctors, Nurses and Reception staff from the twelve Practices and is open from 3:30pm until 8pm during the week and from 9am until 1pm on Saturday and Sunday mornings.

Our Receptionists are able to access the Network appointments from 1:30pm each week day. At this time we can offer appointments for the GP covering the Network on that particular evening. There are occasions when a Nurse Practitioner is also available at the Network; we can often access the Nurse Practitioner appointments earlier in the day.

In addition to the ‘on the day’ appointments the Network offers some pre-bookable appointments for Saturday and Sunday mornings. These appointments can also be offered by the NHS 111 Call Centre at the weekends.

Our Reception staff will always be happy to advise on the availability of appointments at the Network.