Appointments

We aim to provide our patients with appointments with their doctor with the minimum of delay.

We ask that you contact the Surgery on 01202 464500 and provide us with a telephone number where you can be contacted at a particular time. When your doctor is next at the Surgery he or she will telephone you and discuss the matter. It may be appropriate for advice to be given or for you to see another professional or have a test first in order to make the entire procedure more effective. Find out more about our appointment system on the Stour Access System page.

If an appointment is needed, this will be agreed by the doctor within a very short time and we aim to see you within 48 hours. Obviously there are times when your doctor may be away from the Surgery or on holiday. If the matter is not urgent, you are asked to wait for him or her to contact you as above.

If the matter cannot wait, you may be contacted by another doctor or locum doctor, or be advised to come to the Open Surgery, which is held each weekday.

Open Surgery

If you are unable to wait for an appointment we have an Open Surgery between 8.30am and 11.00am and 4.00pm and 6.00pm Monday to Friday, when you may see a medical practitioner.

Stour Access System: a new way to manage GP appointments

What is the Stour Access System?

Put simply, patients get the most senior clinician available – their GP – to carry out their triage and make a decision about who the patient needs to see next. This is done over the phone. If an appointment is needed, the GP sorts that out there and then. Or the doctor may be able to provide care by phone, with no need for face-to-face contact. If a nurse appointment is needed, or a hospital appointment for tests, the GP also arranges this on the phone.

This approach is called the Stour Access System and is being promoted through the NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement as an example of good practice.

Find out more here.