Two years ago we introduced a duty doctor system, which has improved the availability of on-the-day appointments for urgent conditions. We do however recognise that this has been at the expense of routine and follow up appointments, and can make it more difficult to have continuity of care with the same GP. We plan to try to address this by moving to a more triage based system for morning surgeries, which all GPs in that day will take part in, and will retain the duty doctor model for the afternoons.
If you ring for a same day appointment or urgent query you may be advised that a triage GP will ring you back to discuss the matter with you. Some issues may be able to be sorted out over the phone, but if they need to see you there will be designated appointments later on in the day when you can be seen. In many ways this is similar to our current duty doctor system, but we hope to smooth out demand, and to be able to get back to you sooner, than the current model allows. There are bound to be some teething issues, so please do bear with us as we introduce this system from the start of September. We would welcome feedback on your experience of the changes.
We also offer routine telephone appointments for non-urgent matters. If you would prefer this to a face to face appointment please ask the receptionist when you ring. These are often available sooner than a routine face to face appointment would be.