General Services

General Services

General Information	Repeat Prescriptions	Practice Charter
Appointments	New patients	Data Security
Seeing a nurse	Out of Hours	Suggestions
Telephone advice	Teaching	Complaints

General Information

We are a family practice and provide general medical services to the local Hammersmith community as part of the National Health Service. We aim to offer comprehensive health care to all our patients which includes :-

General Medical Care

Asthma and Diabetes clinics

Coronary prevention

Hypertension etc

Child health development clinics

Health visitor baby clinics

Childhood vaccination clinics

Contraception

Family planning

Ante natal and post natal care

Health Promotion

Well man / well woman review

Breast checks and cervical smears

HRT and menopause clinics

Routine and Holiday

On-site surgical procedures

Minor operations

In order to register you need to be living in our practice area which covers most of W6 and W14. Come in and ask at reception if you have recently moved into the area and would like to become a patient.

Appointments with your GP

We run an appointment system. You can book to see the doctor or sister by calling at reception, or by phoning on weekdays between 8.30 am – 1.00 pm and 2.30 – 6.30 pm. We aim to offer the majority of patients a consultation by phone or in person with either a doctor or a nurse with in 48 hours. If your problem is non-urgent you may be asked to wait longer. If your problem cannot wait and you need to see the doctor the same day, please ask the receptionist who will make arrangements for your to be fitted in. We do ask you to book these urgent slots only if your problem cannot wait (if you are not sure about this then one of our nurses will be pleased to advise). Please bear in mind that a lot of urgent requests will inevitably result in delays for other patients. Appointments are 15 minutes long for morning surgeries and 10 minutes for afternoon surgeries. If you have more than one problem, or if you feel that you need extra time in the afternoon please ask for a double appointment. If you find that you cannot keep the appointment, please do not forget to cancel it. You will normally be seen by the doctor of your choice (regardless of who you are registered with), but in an emergency you may not always be able to choose.

Seeing a nurse

We have three practice nurses (two sisters and a state registered nurse) who play a very active part in delivering care to our patients, with particular regard to health promotion. They are available from 8:30 am to 11.30 am from Monday to Friday, and on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons. Please book these appointments in the usual way at reception. You may wish to discuss general health enquiries, or to see them for routine appointments with regard to :-

blood pressure monitoring
diabetes
asthma
routine and holiday vaccinations
dressings

stitch removal
contraceptive advice
cervical smears
health check

Telephone Advice

Our doctors and nurses assess and give medical advice over the telephone and this may be useful with simple queries which can save a trip to the surgery. You may ring during the working day, but we cannot always put you through during busy surgeries when the doctors are in consultation. The best time to ring for advice is between 12:00 and 13.00. If you are calling on behalf of a family member or a friend, please understand that for reasons of confidentiality we cannot give potentially sensitive information over the phone and wherever possible we would ask for the patient to contact us themselves.

The Health Visitor and district nurses can also be contacted by telephone (click the underlined link for contact numbers). You can also get advice via the NHS Direct help line.

Repeat Prescriptions

If a regular medication is required and it is not necessary to see the doctor or nurse you can get a repeat prescription form issued with your script. The left side of the form is for your usual prescription, the right side is the repeat prescription and this will list all the medications you are allowed. In order to make a request, tear of the left side of the order form, put a tick next to the medication you require and leave it at reception. Within 48 hours a prescription and a new order form will be waiting for you to collect. Please request these prescriptions using the form provided, (we ask you not to use the telephone which will jam the switchboard) and remember to give 48 hours notice. If you prefer to enclose an S.A.E. we can post the prescription to you.

The repeat prescription intervals may vary from one to six months and your doctor will arrange to review your condition at appropriate times depending on the medication you require and whether or not your condition is stable.

New Patients

We offer our new patients a preliminary check-up at their first appointment. This will include taking a history to enquire about previous or family illness and a physical examination including height, weight, body mass index, blood pressure and urine tests. Our practice nurses do this examination and after reviewing your case will usually be able to offer you appropriate lifestyle advice (diet, exercise, smoking prevention and coronary prevention measures etc). As we are required to record this information when you join the practice, we will not be able to register you unless you have been seen in person.

Out of Hours

When the surgery is shut, calls are usually screened by one of the doctors, but after 10pm they may taken by Healthcall, our message handling service. Outside of normal surgery hours, routine matters should be deferred to the following working day. If you have an urgent problem which cannot wait until the surgery next opens, a doctor will ring back to advise you.

Out of Hours Telephone: 0207 603 7563

You can also get advice via the NHS Direct help line which is a national service. The switchboard will put you through to a qualified nurse who is trained to take histories over the phone and offer advice.

The NHS Direct telephone: 0845 4647

Home Visits

Whenever possible, please do try to attend the surgery. The vast majority of medical conditions do allow you to come to the surgery even in an emergency. It is much safer to diagnose and treat in a fully equipped environment. If you cannot get to the surgery and need a visit, please let us know by 10.30am, unless an emergency arises later in the day. If you are not sure whether a home visit is necessary, one of our doctors or nurses will be pleased to advise you over the phone. We are not able to visit outside our practice area.

Teaching

We are a training practice and take medical students from Imperial College in their 1st and 4th years. The 1st year students need to learn how to take histories and we may ask if you can spare time before your consultation to let them ask some questions.

The 4th year students have 3 week attachments to the surgery. They need to learn about how patients and GPs work together and you may be asked if a student can sit in to observe or participate in the consultation with your doctor. Sometimes we may ask your permission for the student to visit you at home.

You will be given advanced warning of the situation and if you would prefer not to have the student present please let the receptionist know so that they can leave before your consultation starts.

Practice Charter

Through General Medical Services registered patients can expect to

be registered with a GP
change doctor if desired
be offered a health check by nursing staff when joining the practice
receive emergency care at any time through the practice
receive appropriate drugs and medicines
be referred for specialist or second opinion if they and their GP agrees
view and have access to their medical record, subject to the legislation

You can also expect to

be treated with courtesy and respect
receive treatment in hygienic and appropriate surroundings
have your medical details treated confidentially. Our staff will maintain your right to privacy and not discuss your illness with other staff or doctors within hearing distance of other people
be seen by a health professional within 24 hours if your problem is urgent, or as soon as possible in the event of an emergency
be seen by a doctor within 48 hours for routine conditions excluding weekends. (If you ask for a named doctor it may take longer)
have surgeries start on time
not to be kept waiting unnecessarily and to be seen within thirty minutes of any appointment you are offered at the surgery. Where this is not possible you will receive an explanation for the delay on request
when a doctor is called away on an emergency to be informed and offered an appointment to rebook or to see another doctor
to have a full explanation of your illness or any tests carried out when hospital reports and results become available by a nurse or doctor explained to you in simple terms
to have relatives and friends informed of the progress of your treatment subject to your request
to be seen at home at your doctor's discretion and if you are unable to get to the surgery
to have repeat prescriptions issued appropriately and provided to you within 48 working hours of your request (excluding weekends)
to be referred to outside health care agencies within 1 working day of the consultation if the need is urgent and within 5 working days for non urgent referrals.
To be informed of how and when to obtain results when either a doctor or a nurse has requested an investigation
to be kept up to date with our services and how to use them via our reception staff, surgery notice board, practice leaflets and this website
to have medical records required by the health board despatched within 7 working days, or if the request in urgent, within 24 hours in the event of you leaving the practice .
to have our staff identify themselves and their role within the practice on request
to have the surgery telephone answered promptly
to be provided with a system for offering out of hours contact with a duty doctor which is easy to follow, reliable and effective
to have any complaints or concerns relating to the services offered through the practice managed by a senior named member of staff and to be given an appropriate and timely response in keeping with our practice based complaints procedure. We undertake to acknowledge all complaints within 5 days and to answered within 28 days.
To have all suggestions and constructive comments considered by the practice

What we would like to ask of our patients

to treat the doctors and the practice staff with courtesy and respect
to be patient with our receptionists if appointment times are running late. Please bear in mind that if another patient is needing extra attention that it may be you who needs this on another occasion
to be considerate of the fact that he doctors have instructed the receptionists to ask certain questions so that they may deal with your request in accordance with practice policies
to book more than one appointment if more than one patient needs to be seen and if you have more than one problem or if your condition is complicated to be prepared to make further appointments
to carefully consider whether a home visit is necessary and to ask for this only if you are not able to attend the surgery
to use the out of hours services only if you have an urgent problem and to be aware that minor illnesses should wait until the next working day
to avoid calling the practice during the peak morning period for non-urgent matters
to please let us know as soon as possible if you are unable to keep an appointment so that the time may be used to see another patient
to order repeat prescriptions in advance and not to expect a prescription every time you see your doctor
to accept any invitations for screening issued by the practice or Health Authority and to help us to enable your child to be vaccinated and immunised
to let us know if you do not understand any explanations you are given. To make efforts to follow the doctor's advice and take the full course of any medicine, which may be prescribed
to inform us if you change any of your personal details or your address
to read the practice booklet so as to help you to get the best out of the service we offer

Data Security

Consultation

The doctors and nurses at this practice use a computer system to record clinical data about our patients. This may be done during the consultation. You are welcome to view your own data on screen. Do let us know if your registration details (dates of birth or post codes etc.) or any other information is incorrect so that we can keep your records accurate and up to date.

Reception

Practice staff (receptionists and administrative staff) also use the computer to:

Prepare prescriptions
Arrange appointments
Recall patient's personal data (i.e. cervical smears)

Security Protocol

Our practice is connected electronically to the NHS Net which is a secure network and allows protected access to the internet. Your clinical data is held separately and cannot be accessed from outside of the surgery. We have implemented a detailed security protocol and we will not send clinical data outside of this surgery by electronic or other means without your consent.

Data Protection and Confidentiality

All of our clinical and administrative staff are aware of the requirements of the data protection act and will make every effort to ensure that your data is entered accurately and treated in confidence and to this end all of our staff have signed a confidentiality agreement.

Suggestions

If you have any ideas or suggestions which you think might help us to provide a better service please let us know by e-mail.

Complaints

If you have a comment or concern about the service we offer, please write or speak to one of the doctors or our Practice Manager Sister Lynn Adams. There is a formal practice-based complaints procedure in operation. We would always recommend dealing with any concerns through this channel in the first instance, but you may wish to contact the Health Authority or Community Health Council for advice.