Appointments
The practice now offers a range of appointments; these include face to face, telephone and minor illness appointments. Appointments may be made by telephoning on 01505 863223, or by calling at the surgery.
Telephone appointments can be made by calling reception as usual, the Doctor will call back approximately within 1 hour of the allotted appointment time.
Routine appointments with the doctor of your choice may be made up to two weeks in advance, which will enable us to offer you an appointment at a time more suitable to your requirements. Each appointment is for one person only. If you cannot keep an appointment, please inform us as soon as possible so that we can offer the appointment to another patient.
Urgent appointments are available on a daily basis. If you telephone the surgery for an urgent appointment, you may be put through to the duty doctor, or they may telephone you back to assess priority.
If you have a serious problem such as severe chest pain or severe bleeding, you should call an ambulance (Tel. 999) before calling the surgery.
I f you cannot keep an appointment, please inform us as soon as possible so that we can offer the appointment to another patient.
Missed Appointments
During the month a number of appointments are lost due to patients not attending nor contacting the surgery to cancel. This leads to:
1) Longer waiting times for appointments
2) Frustration for both patients and staff and is a waste of resources.
How the Appointment system works.
Background
Over the last few years we have invested a lot of time and effort into fine tuning our appointment system so that patients have timely access to the care they need. In 2007 we joined the Primary Care Collaborative project and spent 2 years revising the way we work. Our appointment booking times have been audited and are now amongst the lowest in Scotland.
One of the core dilemmas of General Practice is meeting the competing demands for two types of appointments; patients who need to be seen quickly - “on the day appointments” and those whose medical problem is not urgent but want to be able to book an appointment for a particular day or a particular doctor -“bookable in advance appointments”. Some practices cope with the “on the day demand” by not allowing patients to book appointments in advance. Here at Bishopton we offer patients the flexibility to book an appointment up to 3 weeks in advance, whilst also keeping a variable number of on-the-day appointments to meet the needs of patients whose problem needs to be seen more urgently. We have a dedicated member of staff who keeps a careful eye on our appointment system and we work creatively to try and minimise waiting times.
Reception Triage – why are the receptionists
asking me questions?
Not all problems require GP input and there are a wide range of skilled practitioners that make up your primary health care team.
Pharmacists now provide a minor ailment service and are also the first port of call for those who wish to give up smoking.
Nurses Our nurses have undergone extensive further training and are experienced in treating a wide range of ailments, including respiratory tract infections, diarrhoea and vomiting illnesses, skin infection and ear problems. When appropriate they can prescribe medication such as antibiotics, analgesics and the oral contraceptive pill. Working closely with the doctors, they can adjust blood pressure treatment and asthma medication.
Health Care Assistant is also able to provide services such as taking blood, ear syringing, monitoring blood pressure etc.
Phlebotomist is able to take bloods.
In order to make our appointment system work most effectively, our receptionists are instructed to ask you for some basic information to ensure you get the appointment you need. Please do not feel that you must divulge any sensitive information. This approach is purely there to allow reception staff to direct you accordingly. For example if you have symptoms suggestive of a urinary tract infection, a few questions may facilitate an earlier prescription if appropriate.
Telephone Appointment Slots
For some patients, a telephone appointment may be a convenient alternative to a face to face consultation. Perhaps it is in relation to a medication enquiry or following some investigations. We now offer telephone appointment slots, where we will phone you back at an allocated time. Please allow up to 30minutes leeway. Obviously if you need to be examined a telephone appointment is unsuitable.
How to make best use of the appointment system
If you require to make an appointment or have a more urgent problem that needs to be seen that day, please phone the surgery as early as possible, from 8:30 onwards. The appointments are allocated on a first come first serve basis. It will not be possible to guarantee you get a particular doctor or particular time.
If you need to see a particular doctor or wish to be seen on a particular day, then it is recommended that you phone the surgery two weeks in advance to maximise the chances of getting an appointment that suits you. Please bear in mind that some doctors work part time and may not be available on the days you have requested.
House Call
Please phone the surgery as early as possible from 8.30 onwards and if possible before 10.00am.
Late house calls and requests
Patients who phone in the afternoon looking for an urgent appointment or house call will be assessed according to medical need. Where feasible the doctor will see you, but this may not always be possible.
Help us help you
Here at Bishopton Medical Practice, we aim to provide patient centred high quality care. In line with National Practice, we have 10 minute appointment times. If you have a problem that you think might require a longer time, please ask the receptionist to book a double appointment. Sometimes patients bring a list of problems to their GP and whilst from the patient’s point of view this is convenient, this may result in an important problem not getting the full time it requires. If you do have a list of problems then letting the GP know early on in the consultation, helps prioritise the problems that are important to you and may result in a further separate consultation.