How to make an appointment

Patient Partner

Patient Partner is our new automated way of booking, cancelling or checking your own appointments with us.  You telephone the surgery as normal on 0844 375 6867and choose the option from the menu to use the automated booking service. 

Patient Partner will give you useful options to ensure you get an appointment to suit your needs.  One of the main benefits is that you are able to telephone the surgery at any time – even when it is closed.   You will need to have a touch-tone telephone, your date of birth and a contact telephone number that we have on our system in order for Patient Partner to identify you. 

These automated appointments are only for doctors’ 48 hour and routine appointments (up to 4 weeks in advance) and also for the phlebotomist. 

You will still need to speak to a receptionist during normal surgery hours if you need an urgent doctor’s appointment, a nurse’s appointment or an appointment in any of our specialist clinics.

What if I can't get an appointment

The surgery is particularly busy on Mondays and Tuesdays especially during the winter months. If your appointment is not urgent, you can use our automated system during the evening or at the weekend.

If you would prefer to speak to a receptionist, try ringing after 11.00am. Please let us know as soon as possible if you cannot attend your appointment as we can then make it available for another patient. You can use our automated system for this if you prefer.

 You can book to have a telephone consultation with a doctor if you wish. He or she will ring you at an agreed time on the telephone number you have given.

Routine appointments

If you need to book a routine follow-up appointment with a particular GP you can make an appointment up to 4 weeks in advance. You can use our automated system to do this if you wish, or ring after 10.30am to avoid busy times.

Many routine appointments are for patients who have a long-term or chronic condition that needs monitoring on a regular basis. We will let you know when your next appointment is due with the practice nurse or doctor usually by adding a note to your prescription. It is important to continue your regular check-ups, even if you are feeling well. Routine appointments are available during normal surgery hours with the practice nurse and/or doctor.

Home Visits

If possible please try to telephone reception before 10am if you require a home visit.

A doctor may phone you back as it may be that your problem can be dealt with by telephone advice.

Children with a temperature and rashes are best seen at the surgery, but please ring first.

Home visits are only available for patients who are housebound because of illness or disability.

Please remember that several patients can be seen in the practice in the time that it takes to make one home visit. There are also better facilities for examining and treating patients at the surgery.

Test Results

On average please allow 2 to 5 working days for your test results to come back from the hospital unless your doctor has advised otherwise.

Please note that x-ray results take a little longer,anything up to 14 days.

Smears take 6 weeks and NHS Barnet will write to you with the result. For your test results please telephone the surgery after 10.30 am on 0844 375 6867.

Sometimes, we cannot always give full results over the phone. If the result is complicated, or if the doctor wants to see you about the result, we will offer you an appointment.

We will only give results to the person who has had the test.

PRIVATE FEE CHARGES 2010-2011

Certificates / Letters

Pre-employment medicals, medicals for third parties, HGV, PSV,

                   Taxi Driver examination …….…………£100.00

Fitness to travel Examination and Report,

                    holiday medical …...................….. £100.00

Elderly Driver Fitness Certificate, Racing Driver etc

Fitness Certificate, Diabetic Driver’s Insurance,

Sports medical ………..................……………… £100.00

Student concession for any of the above exams (under 21 or

                   in full-time education) ……….…….. £  60.00

Fitness for Education Examination and Report … £100.00

Private Consultation ……...……………………MIN £  80.00

Private Consultation (Home Visit) ……...………… £120.00

Vaccinations (Non-NHS)

*to discuss with Practice Manager

Getting the most out of your GP appointment

Most GP appointments last 10 minutes - so by the time you've walked in, said hello, explained why you're there and been examined, there's not a lot of time left for small talk.

Be prepared

Make a note of any questions, problems or symptoms you want to discuss before you see your GP.  When you are there, note down any points you might forget.  P atients who don’t get what they want have usually not thought about what they wanted, before the appointment.

If you are anxious about seeing your doctor, you can bring someone with you. If you need an interpreter, let the surgery know in advance so they can sort this out for you. Wear loose clothing if it's likely you'll need to be examined. You can ask the practice to provide a chaperone if you feel uncomfortable being examined on your own.

During the appointment

Try to only talk about one problem at a consultation. Telling your GP why you have come and giving the key facts fast will help make the most of your 10 minutes. I f you have a problem that you find difficult to discuss, don't wait until the end of the appointment.  No matter how embarrassing you think your problem is, your GP will have heard it many times before.

S tick to the facts.  Don’t manipulate them to fit what you think is wrong with you.  If you have several problems, concentrate on the main problem .  Be prepared to make another appointment to sort out additional problems individually.

If you're prescribed a drug, make sure you know why it's been given to you and how long to take it for. If you forget to do this, your pharmacist is an expert in medication and a very useful source of advice.

What about children?

Make a separate appointment for each member of the family.  Always accompany under 16 year-olds, but remember that if a teenager strongly wishes to be treated without their parent's involvement, that confidentiality will be respected.

End of the appointment

Make sure that at the end of a consultation all your questions have been answered and you understand:

• what might be wrong
• if you need any further tests
• what treatment is best for you
• what happens next   

Further information

The Patients Association has produced a booklet designed to help patients get the most out of consultations with their doctor entitled You and Your Doctor . The NHS Choices website also includes a guide for patients to help them with their consultations, entitled ' Questions to Ask '.