Appointments

eConsult

From the 2nd of June 2025, we are moving to the new Duty Doctor Triage Appointment System.

It is designed to allow prioritisation of urgent medical queries while allowing routine appointments to be scheduled ahead.  

For all requests for same-day medical advice, the Duty Doctor will triage the request to determine the most appropriate course of action, whether that involves a face-to-face appointment, a phone call, a prescription, an email response to a query, a referral to Pharmacy First, or another community service.

You will be able to request a book-ahead appointment if your medical problem does not require a same-day appointment.  

We encourage all requests, same-day and book-ahead, to be sent to us using eConsult online.  

For those who have difficulty using eConsult online, please phone us, and we will help you by filling in a simplified eConsult for the doctor’s attention. 

How a triage system works

1. Patient request: Patients submit their request for same-day medical advice, preferably through an eConsult. We are still accepting phone calls or in-person requests if eConsult is not possible. Reception will ask questions to fill in a simplified eConsult for the doctor’s attention.  

2. Triage assessment: The Duty Doctor reviews each request and will send a response to the patient using either email or a telephone call.  

3. Some of the possible outcomes of the triage: 

• An urgent same-day appointment – telephone or face-to-face  
• Email medical advice  
• A book-ahead appointment 
• A prescription 
• A referral to a different healthcare professional, such as a Pharmacy First, Clinical Pharmacist, or Physiotherapist 

Benefits of the new system 

• Improved efficiency: patients will be given the most appropriate type of appointment or response for their medical need 
• Improved patient access; same-day and book-ahead appointments will be made possible 
• Enhanced patient experience: following receipt of a request for same-day medical advice, patients will receive clear communication within the same day about the response to their request 
• More flexible care in terms of the type of appointment and which professional will attend to their medical query  
• A fair system: all patients will have the same access to medical advice  

To help us help you

• Please remember to make a separate appointment for each person
• Please inform reception immediately if you are not able to keep your appointment
• Where possible, try to see the same doctor during one course of treatment
• We shall always try to give you an appointment with the doctor of your choice, but if this is not possible, you will be offered an appointment with another doctor

How to make an appointment

Appointments may be booked in several ways:

Contact us with eConsult

You can contact a doctor, nurse or other healthcare professional online, using a website called eConsult.

By phone

Patients can book an appointment by calling reception on 0208 902 3887.

Same day appointments

For all requests for same-day medical advice, the Duty Doctor will triage the request to determine the most appropriate course of action, whether that involves a face-to-face appointment, a phone call, a prescription, an email response to a query, a referral to Pharmacy First, or another community service.

GP hub appointments

If your GP is fully booked, there are several GP Hubs that also provide care for our patients.

All are open in the evenings on weekdays and on weekends. Please ask reception to refer you to the hub to avoid waiting in A&E/UCC or a walk-in centre.

Missed appointments and DNA’s

Do you feel frustrated when you cannot get an appointment?

Every year wasted appointments cost the NHS £162 million. This can cause serious delays in treatment for other patients. On average, approximately 150 patients each month Did Not Attend (DNA) their appointment. This means the patient did not turn up for the appointment and did not contact the surgery in advance to cancel or change the appointment. This currently results in approximately 40 hours of wasted clinical time each month.

Please call ahead if you think you might be late or no longer want your appointment.

Text message reminders

You can now register to receive information by text message on your phone regarding appointments and health care.

If you wish to register for this messaging service, please fill out the consent form.

Cancelling or changing an appointment

To cancel your appointment:

• use your NHS account (through the NHS website or NHS App)
• phone us on 0208 902 3887 during opening times
• reply CANCEL to your appointment reminder text message, which you will receive 3 and 1 working day before the appointment date.

If you need help when we are closed

If you need medical help now, use NHS 111 online or call 111.

NHS 111 online is for people aged 5 and over. Call 111 if you need help for a child under 5.

Call 999 in a medical or mental health emergency. This is when someone is seriously ill or injured and their life is at risk.

If you need help with your appointment

Please tell us:

• if there’s a specific doctor, nurse or other health professional you would prefer to respond
• if you would prefer to consult with the doctor or nurse by phone or face-to-face
• if you need an interpreter
• if you have any other access or communication needs

Home Visits

Home Visits are for those patients who are housebound or undergoing end-of-life care and therefore cannot get to the practice. In the time taken for the doctor to do one home visit, they could see 5 to 6 patients at the surgery. For this reason, it is in the doctor’s and the patient’s best interests that, whenever possible, an effort is made to get down to the surgery. This does sometimes mean patients have to wait a while, but efforts are made to see people as soon as they arrive if their condition so dictates.

Request for a home visit should be made before 10am, and the receptionist will need to be given a brief outline of the problem. Please ensure you give the receptionist your name, address and phone number. It is very important to inform the receptionist if you are not staying at your home.

The GP may phone you first to discuss your home visit request, and from the information provided, the doctor will then decide what action to take next.

Related information

Sick notes

Test results

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