Our phone lines open at 8am, to request a same day telephone triage call with a clinician Monday to Friday. Due to the high demand at 8am you may hear the message that our call queue is full, this does not necessarily mean we are full appointment wise. The call queue is set to only hold 30 patients at a time to reduce long wait times, please do keep persevering at 8am and re-dialling to join the call queue, once in the call queue please be patient and continue to hold, one of our trained patient coordinators will be with you as quickly and as efficiently as possible. When you do get through you may be signposted to an alternative service which is more appropriate based on your symptoms such as; the nurse practitioner, physiotherapist, mental health practitioner, or your local pharmacy.
When we are full to capacity, we appreciate this is frustrating however you may be asked to attend the walk-in centre, the walk in centre are important in providing easy access care to primary care, they are there as an overflow when GP Practices are full to capacity, they will deal with urgent problems usually minor illnesses, things like minor infections or minor cuts and sprains, they can deal with many of the common problems people go to A&E for. Alternatively, you may be asked to contact 111 for further advice. If your issue is not urgent you will be offered a pre-bookable appointment at the Surgery which are in advance and may not be in the same week.
How can pharmacies help?
Pharmacists can give you advice on a range of conditions and suggest medicines that can help.
They may also be able to offer treatment and some prescription medicine for some conditions, without you needing to see a GP (this is called Pharmacy First). Conditions they can treat as part of Pharmacy First are:
- earache (aged 1 to 17 years)
- impetigo (aged 1 year and over)
- infected insect bites (aged 1 year and over)
- shingles (aged 18 years and over)
- sinusitis (aged 12 years and over)
- sore throat (aged 5 years and over)
- urinary tract infections or UTIs (women aged 16 to 64 years)
If you go to a pharmacy with one of these conditions, the pharmacist will offer you advice, treatment or refer you to a GP or other healthcare professional if needed.
They will then update your GP health record.
If you are not within these age ranges, a pharmacist can still offer advice, but you may need to see a GP for treatment.
