Click e consult link for one of the following:- 

Adult Health Problems

Child Health Problems

Reviews for long term conditions, medication or contraception 

Sick notes, test results or administrative help 

Responses to requests are approx. 48 hours

Booking appointments.

We do understand that it is difficult to get through on the telephones.  If your query or medical problem can be dealt with at the pharmacy, please contact them directly. 

  

Pharmacies can offer a great deal of help with minor ailments and are commissioned by the NHS to provide help and guidance wherever possible to take the pressure off of practices. 

We take a large number of calls each day, this has increased in recent months. 

Each call can take 10 to 20 minutes depending on the patients requirements. Our reception staff and admin staff are working very hard to get through these calls and have been fully trained to assist you.  

We will be having a new telephone system installed soon.  This will allow you to use the call back service.  You will remain in you position in the queue.  We will automatically call you back when a receptionist becomes available.  - look out for this service, coming soon. 

Busy times are early 8am until 9 am and 11 am to 12 am.

If you are requesting blood results please avoid these times. Please also check your online record, which will show the results once reviewed by a GP.

Please help us, be patient and avoid our busy times. We are doing our very best.

Appointments online 

Appointments for blood tests and GP consultations are available to book online.  New appointments are available to book on the NHS app each day. These appointments are for discussion of one issue with the doctor. 

Blood tests are taken by our own nurses and appointments all on the first floor. Appointments downstairs are book through Swift Queue.   

Appointments     

We operate a computerised appointment system. Emergency appointments on the day are available.  Appointments release in stages, 1, 2, 4,5 7 and 14 days.  7 and 14 day appointments are available to book online only. If there are no appointments available you will be directed to community services or an online form to be assessed in approx 48 hours.  

On the Day

Same day appointments are booked through the receptionist.  Once all the appointments have been booked the Duty Doctor will assess your symptoms and if necessary allocate an appointment for our urgent/emergency 5 minutes consultation appointments. Otherwise you will be redirected to other community services. 

Please note: Contacting the surgery before 08:00 will direct you to a 'holding queue' for the out-of-hours.   

In this respect please do not phone before 08:00 unless you are actually ringing for the out-of-hours information.

IF YOU DON'T NEED YOUR APPOINTMENT PLEASE CANCEL IT. 

Pre-bookable

Pre-bookable appointments are available for non-urgent matters and some can be booked up to 2 weeks in advance, available online. 

Online appointments

A number of online appointments are available to book with a variety of GPs.  We ask for a reason why you wish to see the GP, some procedures are undertaken by Nurses and not Doctors. 

Blood test, Blood Pressure and Flu appointments with Nurses and Health Care Assistants are available to book online.

Please make sure you have signed up to online services.

Extended Hours

Extended hours are offered by our Primary Care Network, who work alongside a number of surgeries in our area.

APPOINTMENTS WITH A HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONAL WHEN YOUR GP PRACTICE IS CLOSED 

MONDAY and Wednesday 6.30 TO 8PM at Valkyrie Surgery

SATURDAY 9 AM TO 5PM at Southend Medical Centre 

Appointments can be booked by calling the number below during the times listed or via you own GP practice during normal hours 

07938 732180

Cancellations

If you cannot attend an appointment for any reason, please inform us as soon as possible for us to offer the appointment to someone else. A text reminder will be sent to mobile phones.

Remember, NHS 111 is available 24/7 for urgent medical advice.’

This service is not available for repeat prescriptions, medical certificates, or routine requests.  

Home Visits

We encourage all patients to come to the surgery, where we are better equipped and facilities available, however, we do appreciate that some of our patients are housebound or very sick.

We are unable to visit patients out of our catchment area. 

If you feel you need a Doctor or District Nurse to visit then please try to call before 10am. The Doctor may want to phone you back, as it may be possible to deal with the problem over the phone.

We will always visit:

• The terminally Ill
• The bed bound patients.

You will be assessed and contacted before your visit. This will be by a member of our home visiting service provided by the Primary Care Network and may not be by your preferred doctor. 

 Local guidelines state that a visit is unlikely to be required in the following cases:

• Adults with common problems of cough, sore throat, "flu-like" symptoms, chronic back pain, dental problems, lost prescriptions/tablets.
• Common symptoms of childhood: fevers, coughs, colds, earache, headache, diarrhoea/vomiting and most cases of abdominal pain.

These patients are almost always well enough to travel by car.

It may well be that children are indeed not fit to travel by bus or to walk, but car transport is a sensible option and often available from friends, relatives, neighbours or taxi firms.

Please note that your Doctor has both the right and the responsibility to make a final decision on whether a home visit will be made and how urgently a visit is needed. 

Sickness Certificates

You do not require a doctor's sickness certificate for any illness lasting seven days or less. Your employer may however require you to complete a self-certification form (SC2) which is available from your employer or on the HMRC website.

Evidence that you are sick

If you are sick for more than seven days, your employer can ask you to give them some form of medical evidence to support payment of SSP (statutory sick pay).

It is up to your employer to decide whether you are incapable of work. A medical certificate, now called a 'Statement of Fitness for Work’ (see below) from your doctor is strong evidence that you are sick and would normally be accepted, unless there is evidence to prove otherwise.

You could also provide evidence from someone who is not a medical practitioner, e.g. a dentist. Your employer will decide whether or not this evidence is acceptable. If your employer has any doubts, they may still ask for a medical certificate from your GP. 

Statement of Fitness for Work - ’Fit Note'

The 'fit note' was introduced on 6 April 2010. With your employer's support, the note will help you return to work sooner by providing more information about the effects of your illness or injury.

For more information see the DirectGov website (where this information was sourced)

Telephone Consultations

The practice also offers daily doctors appointments on the telephone. It may mean that you will be told that you do not need to come and see a doctor, and will be given advice over the phone on how to treat your illness. You may be offered medication, which means the doctor will prepare a prescription for you, which will be available to collect from your nominated pharmacy. Alternatively, the doctor may decide that you will need to be seen in person. If this is the case, the doctor will book you a further appointment.

If you want to take advantage of this service, please ask for a telephone appointment from the receptionist. We must have an up-to-date telephone number for you, and in particular, the phone number or mobile number that you are calling from. If you need a call within a certain time period, the doctor will try and call during this time, however, please bear in mind that he/she will also be seeing patients in the surgery and at home during this working day.

Telephone consultations offer additional booking choice to our patients, may be more convenient for people who work, parents with young children or those who are carers to get to the surgery as well as increasing the number of medical queries that we can deal with during the working day.

The following may be suitable for telephone consultations:

- Blood test and X-ray results.

- Follow up after face to face consultation.

- Assessing your symptoms if you are not sure if you need to be seen.

- Discussion/advice concerning referral to hospital or another doctor.

We appreciate that you may not be sure what this service means for you, so if you are unsure if you are suitable for a telephone consultation, please speak to our experienced reception staff who will be able to advise you.

You will still be able to see a doctor if you wish.

Evening and Weekend Service 

Extended Hours

Extended hours are offered by our Primary Care Network, who work alongside a number of surgeries in our area.

APPOINTMENTS WITH A HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONAL WHEN YOUR GP PRACTICE IS CLOSED 

MONDAY and Wednesday 6.30 TO 8PM at Valkyrie Surgery 

SATURDAY 9 AM TO 5PM at Southend Medical Centre 

Appointments can be booked by calling the number below during the times listed or via you own GP practice during normal hours 

07938 732180

Remember, NHS 111 is available 24/7 for urgent medical advice.’

Out of hours services are generally busy so please think carefully before asking to see a doctor and only do so if you genuinely cannot wait until the surgery re-opens. 

IN A GENUINE EMERGENCY YOU SHOULD CALL 999.  CHEST PAIN AND OR SHORTNESS OF BREATH CONSTITUTES AS AN EMERGENCY.