The surgery offers a computerised appointment system; appointments can be made in person or on the phone (01538 704200)

You can also make appointments online if you are registered with patient access or the NHS app. Please speak to a member of reception to obtain the necessary documentation to register for this service.

Patients should always contact the practice if they are unable to keep an appointment.

If you are late for an appointment, you may be asked to re-book.

Information about "Extended Access"

Under the Extended Hours Primary Care Services programme, there is a requirement for patients to be able to access  additional appointments after 6.30pm each week day and an effective weekend service based on the local needs of the area. All practices must be able to direct patients to the service and offer a choice of evening or weekend appointments on an equal footing to core hours appointments.

We are pleased to announce that appointments are now available between 4pm and 8pm weekdays and clinics on a Saturday and Sunday at the following Hubs. These will be run by a team of GP Federation Locum GPs who will have access to your medical records following your consent to share.

Please ask our Receptionists about this service as these appointments can only be booked via this Practice.

Leek Moorlands Hospital
Haywood Hospital, Burslem
Bradwell Hospital, Chesterton
Longton Cottage Hospital
Hanley Primary Care Access Hub

You can learn more here: https://www.northstaffsccg.nhs.uk/your-services/extended-primary-care-services 

We are introducing an initiative to help people to find the most appropriate source of help when they call our practice or pop in to make an appointment. This means that our specially trained reception staff may ask questions about why appointments are required. You are not obliged to answer the questions they ask, however by doing so we can make sure that those people who really need to see a GP can see them as soon as possible.

Virtually everyone who calls to make an appointment asks to see a GP, but very often help will be available more quickly from other highly skilled medical professionals such as nurses or pharmacists, or from other services, including the voluntary sector, they can support people with a wide range of social, emotional, or practical needs. Our trained reception staff will be able to offer you the most appropriate help using the range of information they have access to. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to speak to one of our reception staff.

Patients are requested, where possible, to telephone before 11am if a home visit is required that day.

We would request that, apart from the genuinely housebound, all other patients attend the surgery rather than request a home visit because of the extra time home visiting takes. On average four to five patients can be seen in surgery in the time it takes to do a single house call. In addition, the care that can be offered due to the lack of adequate lighting, examination facilities and equipment means that you may not receive as good a service as the doctor may be able to offer if you came to the surgery.

Please note that the doctor may telephone you rather than visit you if this is medically appropriate. Ultimately it is the doctors right to decide whether or not a visit is appropriate for a particular set of circumstances.

The practice conforms to the “North Staffordshire Visiting Guidelines”

It is important that you inform the reception staff if you are unable to attend your appointment, this will allow that appointment to be offered to another patient.

There are a few ways to cancel appointments:
- Call reception on 01538 704200.
- Cancel in person by visiting the Practice.
- Use online services like Patient Access or the NHS app.
- Reply to the appointment text reminder.

Did Not Attend

Please be aware that a "Did Not Attend" (DNA) can occur when a patient misses an appointment without notifying the surgery or cancels with very little notice. This can prevent another patient from taking the slot. If this happens, the reception team will contact the patient by SMS or letter and make a note in their medical record. The practice will consider any factors that may have caused the DNA, but if it happens repeatedly, the patient and/or their carer may be contacted. If the patient continues to miss appointments without notification, they may be removed from the practice list.

Please attend your appointment on time, if you are late you may not be seen. If you are not seen you will not be able to rearrange your appointment until the next working day-except in the event of an medical emergency that requires immediate attention.

This practice is committed to providing a safe and comfortable environment and strives to achieve good practice at all times

All patients are entitled to have a chaperone present during any consultation, examination or procedure.  Clinicians at this practice will advise patients a chaperone is necessary during any intimate examination; this is to safeguard both the clinician and you, the patient.

Where a chaperone is not available, the clinician will ask you to make an appointment and request the presence of a chaperone at the time of booking.

We only use clinical staff as chaperones as they have had the appropriate training and have knowledge of the examination or procedure you may be undergoing.

Family and friends are not permitted to act as chaperones as they do not have the knowledge required nor have they had the necessary training.

Should you wish to see the full chaperone policy please ask at Reception.

If you have any questions, please speak to the reception staff who will direct you to an appropriate member of the team.

Interpreter

If you require an interpreter to attend with you when you see your Doctor please notify the receptionist and she will arrange this for you.

We have an email and text service which allows you to receive confirmation and reminders about your appointments.

If you are not set up for this service, please speak to reception

Please remember to update your contact details with us when you change address, telephone numbers and email address.