Appointments

How to Make an Appointment

Appointments may be booked in several ways:

Online

Patients can request an appointment using eConsult

By Phone

Patients can book an appointment by calling reception:
 0208 575 0083.

In Person

Patients can request an appointment call back when at the practice:
 

Appointment Types

We offer a range of different appointments at the surgery – Face 2 Face, Telephone and Video:

Routine appointments and Clinics

Pre-bookable for up to 4 weeks ahead. Please review our Surgery Clinics to see if the practice offers your appointment type, and duration of appointment needed.

Same day emergency appointments

For urgent matters only – these are initially booked as telephone consultations. The GPs review this and either before or during the call will advise if you should attend. You may be asked to submit photo to assist this decision – Reception will advise how to do this.

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Ealing GP Access Centres

These GP Access Centres provide additional clinical times, during a period when there are considerable pressures on your GP practice. This service enables patients to receive timely access to primary care services in in their locality, but not necessarily at their usual GP practice.

These Access Centres enable GP practices to direct patients to a local practice that is open during evenings and weekends, in order to achieve 08:00 – 20:00 access to primary care.

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Emergencies

What is an Emergency?

Whatever the time of day, if you or someone else experiences the symptoms below and you feel it is serious and could be life threatening, so cannot wait, go to the nearest Accident and Emergency (A&E) Department or call 999.

Symptoms include

• Chest pain
• Severe abdominal pain
• Vomiting blood
• Black stools
• Breathlessness
• Non-blanching rashes (the glass test)
• Possible anaphylactic shock (swelling of mouth and throat)

Emergencies will be dealt with as a priority.

A&E

The nearest A&E department is at Ealing Hospital, however you can also use the NHS Choices search tool, to find the nearest A&E to you.

Paediatrics A&E

Please be aware that the Ealing Hospital A&E cannot treat children. The below hospitals have Paediatrics A&E:

• Hillingdon Hospital, Pield Heath Rd, Uxbridge UB8 3NN
• West Middlesex University Hospital, Twickenham Rd, Isleworth TW7 6AF
• St Mary’s Hospital, Praed St, London W2 1NY
• Northwick Park Hospital, Watford Rd, Harrow HA1 3UJ
• Chelsea and Westminster, 369 Fulham Road, London, SW10 9NH

NHS 111 Urgent Care Services

Call 111 if you need medical help fast, but it’s not life-threatening. For example, if you;

• Think you need to go to hospital
• Don’t know who to call for medical help
• Don’t have a GP to call
• Need medical advice or reassurance about what to do next

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Cancelling Your Appointment

We do understand that sometimes you may forget your appointment, or that other important life incidents happen and that you sometimes no longer need the appointment. We do ask that if you cannot attend your appointment, please cancel it or notify the practice why you did not attend at your earliest convenience.

We have a small number of patients who book appointments they subsequently don’t keep. While we understand that we can all forget, have an emergency etc. we take a very serious view of this & if you repeatedly miss appointments we will remove you from our list, this is because we can’t help you if you don’t attend & neither can we help another patient who might have benefited from the wasted appointment. The easiest way to cancel & to make appointments is online.

You can telephone us on 0208 575 0083, cancel via Systm Online, or come in and speak to Reception.

Please let us know well in advance if you cannot make your appointment so that it may be allocated to another patient.

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Home Visits

It is clinically better for you to be seen at the surgery where we have better facilities, diagnostic aids and lighting to assess you. We work closely with Ealing Community Transport to bring patients to the surgery where possible.

Home visits are ONLY for housebound patients and for those too ill to attend the surgery. Home visits are not for those who do not have transport.

If you need a home visit please contact the surgery as early as possible in the morning, before 10:00, and give details to the receptionist. The doctor will phone you back to discuss further and decide how to proceed.

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Making the Best of Your Appointment

• Prepare your thoughts and problems in advance by writing down your problem e.g: When your symptoms started, how they have changed.
• Do a urine sample if you have pain passing urine or lower abdominal pain.
• Do not try to add another person in on your consultation. Let reception know you need another appointment for this individual or prioritise who needs the appointment more.
• Be honest with the doctor. It is important to tell the doctor the main reason you are there at the start of the consultation. If you are embarrassed, don’t be, the doctor is there to help and won’t be shocked.
• If you have more than one problem please let reception know and they will try and get you a longer appointment if possible. Otherwise, let your doctor know at the beginning of your consultation. They may be able to deal with more than one problem if they are related. However, your doctor may make you another appointment for your other problems, especially if they are new or complex problems.
• If you have any special needs please inform reception in advance so we can prepare the appointment for you first time (e.g. need an interpreter, visual impairment, hearing impairment, prefer male/female doctor etc..)
• If you know you have difficulty understanding or explaining things, bring someone you trust with you or if you require an advocate, see the NHS choices advocacy services for further guidance.
• Dress accordingly for possible examination. Loose clothing is best and remove any layers in advance.
• Please let reception know if you would like a chaperone.

A consultation is about sharing in decisions about your care and goals. To make a good consultation you should let your doctor know about your goals, hopes, fears and expectations. This is why doctors ask you for YOUR thoughts. At the end of a consultation you should know:

• What is your main problem.
• What do you need to do about it.
• What to do if it does not get any better.

Useful Links

NHS Choices – Get the most from a doctor’s appointment