Appointments and Prescriptions

Booking an Appointment

Same-Day Appointments

The practice has two doctors on duty for urgent or same day appointments. Please telephone the surgery giving brief details of your problem to a receptionist who will put you on the duty doctors’ telephone list and a doctor will call you back and discuss your problem in detail so that the most appropriate service can be offered.

Routine Appointments

Routine appointments may be booked up to 4 weeks in advance

Special Clinic Appointments

These may all be booked in advance.

You may make an appointment by telephoning the surgery directly or in person. Online booking through our clinical system provider SystmOne is currently unavailable owing to the current pandemic.

Chaperone

A chaperone is a third party who is present during a medical appointment to protect the patient and healthcare professional. Chaperones can be offered for a variety of reasons, including:

The patient is required to undress
The examination involves dimmed lighting
The examination involves the patient’s breasts, genitalia, or bottom
The patient feels vulnerable or distressed
The patient wants to make an informed choice about their examination

A chaperone can:

Protect the patient’s privacy and dignity
Prevent misunderstandings between the patient and the healthcare professional
Provide emotional support and reassurance to the patient
Assist with the examination or procedure
Help the patient feel comfortable and supported
Protect the healthcare professional from allegations of improper behavior

Patients can request a chaperone when booking their appointment, or the NHS Practitioner Health Service may be able to provide one at the time of the appointment. The chaperone will stand where they can see the examination, but their exact positioning will depend on the nature of the examination. A copy of the practice chaperone policy can be viewed here

Click here to book an appointment

Please contact the surgery to register for SystmOne online services and you will be provided with a username and password.

Blood Test Appointments

Phlebotomy (blood testing) clinics run every day. Before booking a blood test you will need to have a referral from a VMC GP. Reception will check that a GP has recommended a blood test before they will give you an appointment.

Home Visits

Please try and phone the surgery before 10am with a home visit request and a doctor will call you back to discuss your symptoms before visiting. It is always preferable to try and come down to the surgery if possible as there are better facilities and equipment and you will usually been seen more quickly.

When we are closed …

If you need medical services when the surgery is closed, you should call the surgery telephone number and your call will automatically be transferred to the local 111 service who will arrange for you to be contacted by a doctor. The service will give you telephone advice, arrange a prescription at a local pharmacy, arrange for you to be visited by a doctor or arrange for you to be seen at a nearby location. The service also lets us know about your illness the following day.

You may also contact 111 for advice on how to access local NHS Healthcare.

Contact 111

For advice on how to access local NHS Healthcare

You can now call 111 when you need medical help fast but it is not an emergency. NHS 111 is available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Calls are free from landlines and mobile phones.

FOR IMMEDIATE, LIFE-THREATENING EMERGENCIES, CONTINUE TO CALL 999

GP Out Of Hours

All extended opening hours for patients belonging to practices in the area are now handled by the Primary Group Network Hub based in the South Westminster Centre in Vincent Square. When we are closed, ring the surgery and your call will automatically be transferred.

Local Pharmacies

A list of Pharmacies can be found here

Repeat Prescriptions

If you are on regular medication when you join the surgery, you will need to see or speak to a doctor for your first prescription. After that your repeat prescriptions may be requested in writing or online. There is a box at reception for repeat prescriptions. Try not to leave your request until the last minute. Please allow two working days in order for us to process your prescription and add a note of explanation if you are asking for repeat medication more than two weeks in advance or require more if you are going away. We are unable to accept telephone requests for repeat prescriptions for safety reasons.

We can arrange for a local pharmacy to deliver your medication to you if you are housebound.

We have a small independent pharmacy on site as well, for your convenience.

Repeat medications can also be requested online via the following weblink. You will need to ask reception for a username and password in order to access this serviced.

Request Repeat Medications

Test Results

We will always contact you if there is cause for concern about a test result. We may write to you, ask you to make an appointment or telephone you with advice as to what action you need to take. Please note that we do not routinely inform patients if their results are normal. Some tests such as finger-prick blood tests and urine dipstix/pregnancy tests will give instant results. Most tests however can take up to 5 days for the result to come back and some special tests take longer.

Cervical Smear Tests

A cervical smear test is a quick, reliable and easy screening test which can detect abnormal cells very early on. These cells may turn into cancer of the neck of the womb if not treated in their early stages. Regular smear tests can prevent women from getting cancer and it is therefore very important to have one done.

All women who are aged between 25 and 49 years should have a cervical smear test performed every three years. For those women aged 50 to 64 years, it is recommended to have a test every five years. If you have had a hysterectomy ( unless it was for cancer) or have never been sexually active you will not need to have a smear test.

We now test all cervical smears for Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) which has been found to be one of the causes of cervical cancer. If you do not wish to have your smear tested for this please inform the nurse.

Your Health

The NHS Choices website offers an in-depth description of many common health issues. Please click on the link below for more information

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/Pages/hub.aspx

Teaching and Training

The practice has been accredited to teach medical students, junior doctors and doctors who want to specialise in general practice. Occasionally patients may be asked if they would mind a medical student sitting in on their consultation for teaching purposes. We are very grateful for your participation and help with this, but do let us know if you would rather see the doctor alone.