Appointments

Where possible you are advised to seek a morning appointment, this is to ensure that any investigations can be sent to the hospital by midday.

We also offer a comprehensive list of nursing services that are undertaken during our morning clinics, such as dressings, contraception/pill checks, immunisations, treatment of cuts and other minor injuries.

Access the appointment system online

Booking an Appointment

When you register with our surgery you are assigned an accountable GP. When booking an appointment you will be offered the next available slot with your named GP, if this doctor is not available you will be offered an appointment with one of the other GP’s, locums or registrars.

An appointment with the doctor is scheduled for 10 minutes and is for 1 problem for 1 person. If you have more than one problem please speak to our receptionists to request a double appointment or return at a later date for a second appointment. Please make a separate appointment if anyone else in the family wishes to be seen.

If you have a serious or acute problem that cannot wait and you feel that you need to be seen urgently by a doctor we offer a GP telephone triage (telephone assessment). Our receptionists will take a brief summary of your problem and pass this information to the duty doctor. The duty doctor will either ask the receptionist to book you an appointment or will telephone you directly. 

For guidance on making the most of your doctor’s appointment please visit NHS Website or click on the following link: Questions to Ask the Doctor

It is possible to book some appointments online using Patient Access or the NHS app. As it is necessary to register for this secure service you need to visit our reception at the surgery with photographic forms of identity, for further information please select Patient Online Access under the further information tab on the right hand side of this page. Please be aware that:

  • Some types of appointments will still need to be made via our receptionists, for example nursing appointments, baby checks, minor operations, coil fittings
  • If you have a problem which is medically urgent please contact the surgery by phone in the usual way

Please Note: This online system is only available for those patients who use Swan Lane as their main surgery, we are hoping that our system supplier will soon be able to offer this service to our patients using our branch surgery at Newton Flotman.

Non-urgent Telephone Advice

If you have any queries regarding your health and would like to speak to a doctor you can request a telephone call appointment.

Please make sure that the telephone number that you give our receptionist is the one that you will be available on.

Please inform the Receptionist if you feel your call is urgent as this will be dealt with by the duty doctor as an on the day concern.

Home Visits

A home visit takes between 4 and 5 appointments out of the doctor’s day.

This is a special service for the housebound and seriously ill. Whenever possible a request for the doctor to visit should be made before 10:00am so that the doctors may plan their visits for the day.

We are unable to guarantee a specific Doctor will visit as this depends upon availability and other factors. The decision to make a home visit will be at the Doctor’s discretion.

We are unable to undertake visits on the basis of lack of patient transport. Volunteer transport can be obtained from:

Transport Plus on 0344 800 8020 Transport bookings can be made 9am-5pm, Monday to Friday (except public holidays). For more information click HERE.

Reception Team

Our receptionists are your first point of contact either on the phone or at the surgery and are trained to help and guide you. They are there to help with your enquiry so please do not be offended if any of our receptionists ask what your problem is, they are just trying to determine the best course of action for you. Anything you discuss with our receptionists or any other members of our staff is treated in strict confidence.

When you arrive for your appointment

Please notify one of our Reception Team of your arrival at the surgery, or use the check in screen in the waiting room at Long Stratton to speed up the process. If you have waited more than 20 minutes please enquire about the reason for the delay.

Delayed Appointment Times

The doctors strive to run their surgeries on time and we appreciate that it can be very frustrating when our appointment times are running behind and you may have a long wait to see the doctor. Appointments can take longer than the allocated 10 minutes as patients can present with complicated acute problems and the doctor may have to make a referral, organise treatment or arrange a hospital admission. Problems can also arise if patients with potentially serious conditions, for example chest pains, arrive without an appointment but they need to be seen straight away, or an urgent visit is called for during surgery time. Your understanding of why the surgeries can sometimes run late is appreciated, one day it could be you or a member of your family who needs a longer appointment time or an urgent visit.

Pregnancy Appointments

There is now an online form that you will need to complete to register your pregnancy before we can offer you an appointment with the midwife. Your first appointment with the midwife can take up to one and a half hours.

Referral Form

For more information on your pregnancy please see the NHS official section under Family Health