Appointments

Change to appointments system- 23rd January

Overall, the system of requesting a GP appointment is not changing and can be done via eConsult (which asks a number of important questions about your symptom to help us prioritise your care and collect information about your symptomS which your GP would be asking you anyway); or via the telephone, where you will still be asked some key information about your problem or symptom. One big advantage of this change is that if you do use the telephone, we will register your request for an appointment and allocate accordingly, without having to keep on calling us back.

Please familiarise yourself with the below information on what may be appropriate for self care or pharmacy care instead of contacting the GP. 

How to book an appointment

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Pharmacy & Self-Care

Your pharmacy can advise you on minor illness without the need of an appointment. Please speak to a pharmacist first.

Self-Care

Help and support available from many National and Local Organisations

Visit our Self Help Zone

Pharmacy Logo

Pharmacy & Self-Care

Pharmacists are qualified healthcare professionals who can offer clinical advice, over the counter medicines and their use, to effectively and safely manage a range of minor health concerns. They can also help you to decide whether you'll need to see a doctor. You don't need an appointment and you won't even be asked to make a purchase. Every pharmacy also has a private consultation area for you to talk about your symptoms in private if you prefer.

Locate your local Pharmacy

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Visit a Minor Injuries Unit

No appointment necessary

  • No appointment necessary
  • Quick access to medical help
  • Open till late and at weekends

West Berkshire Community Hospital

Reading Walk-In Health Centre

Find more Local Minor Injury services

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Life Threatening - Go to A&E

If you or someone you know has a life-threatening condition, such as loss of consciousness, chest pain, breathing difficulties etc, you should call 999

In an EMERGENCY call 999.
Emergencies are situations that cannot be managed at home and may be life threatening

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Urgent GP Appointments (same day)

I have an URGENT health concern requiring on the day attention

If you need to be seen that day please contact us as soon as possible as there are limited 'book on the day' slots available.

If you need an urgent appointment in the morning you will be offered an appointment with one of the duty doctors, however this may not be your regular GP.

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Routine GP Appointments (1 - 4 weeks)

I have a non-urgent problem and can wait 1 to 4 weeks to be seen.

Ways to book:

  1. Book via eConsult
  2. Or telephone during normal opening hours

Opening & Closing Hours

Request Proxy Access

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Request an Appointment online

Online Consultations are available via our eConsult service.

eConsult - Online Consultation

What is eConsult?

eConsult enables NHS based GP practices to offer online consultations to their patients. This allows patients to submit their symptoms or requests to their own GP electronically, and offers around the clock NHS self-help information, signposting to services, and a symptom checker.

eConsult is the most widely used digital triage tool in NHS primary care, built by NHS GPs for NHS patients, designed to enhance patient access, improve practice efficiencies and signpost patients to the right place at the right time for their care.

USE eCONSULT

Image of eConsult on mobile phone
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Cancelling Appointment

We know people forget things, cancelling GP appointments being one of them. Remember to cancel your appointment if you don't need it.

GP appointment? Don't need it? Cancel it!

We know people forget things, cancelling GP appointments being one of them. Remember to cancel your appointment if you don't need it.

 

How to Cancel an Appointment

Please let us know as soon as possible if you are unable to make your appointment.

If you are cancelling an appointment that is within the next 24 hours please contact reception on 01635 279972.

Or you can use our online services.

Please remember that there may be a shortage of appointments and when you fail to attend you have prevented someone else from being seen in your place.

Cancellations notified less than 30 minutes before the appointment time will be recorded as failure to attend (DNA).

Repeated failure to attend booked appointments is a significant waste of NHS resources.

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Home visits

GPs will conduct home visits for patients who are unwell and housebound. Please telephone reception to request a home visit before 11am.

Requesting a home visit

GPs will conduct home visits for patients who are unwell and housebound. Please telephone reception to request a home visit before 11am.

Every request will be “triaged” by the duty doctor of the day and you may receive a phone call from the doctor to discuss the matter via telephone first.

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 in the Surgery. If you are able to attend hospital appointments we politely request that you make similar efforts to attend the GP surgery.

If you are unsure whether you need to see a Doctor or Nurse please ask reception for assistance.

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