Appointments

All routine appointments are available to book each day from midnight.

When you get in touch, we’ll ask what you need help with. 

We will use the information you give us to choose the most suitable doctor, nurse or health professional to help you.

However you choose to contact us, we may offer you a consultation:

• by phone
• face to face at the surgery
• face to face or telephone appointments at our Enhanced Access Hubs
• by text or email
• At the local pharmacy via the Pharmacy First Scheme

We aim to get you seen by an appropriate health care professional. Our receptionists may ask you a few questions about your condition. This is to help us get you the most appropriate care for your needs.

We aim to give you an appointment with your preferred clinician. Where this is not possible, we will offer you an appointment with an alternative clinician.

Our aim is for you have to  only have to  contact the practice once to be able to make an appointment.

If you need help with your appointment please tell us:

• if there's a specific doctor, nurse or other health professional you would prefer to respond
• if you would prefer to consult with the doctor or nurse by phone, face-to-face
• if you need an interpreter
• if you have any other access or communication needs

The majority of our appointments are booked on the same day so please call the practice early. We are aware that things come up during the day so we have a duty doctor available who is able to deal with urgent things once the rest of the routine appointments have gone.

In order to request an urgent appointment on the same day (Monday to Friday 8am until 6:30pm) please:

• phone us on 0207 286 1231, Monday to Friday from 8am to 6:30pm
• visit the surgery and speak with a receptionist, Monday to Friday from 8am to 6:30pm
• use our online request form PATCHS, Monday to Friday from 8am to 6pm
• You can check on your NHS app to see if there are any appointments left that day

When you get in touch, we’ll ask what you need help with.

We will use the information you give us to choose the most suitable doctor, nurse or health professional to help you.

Our reception staff who are all trained care coordinators will add you to a duty doctor list and the doctor will call you back.

Please be aware if you are added to the urgent duty list the doctor can only call you back once, so keep your phone close to you.

We offer telephone appointments for certain conditions, and follow ups when it is appropriate. Not all conditions can the clinicians treat over the phone. If you are not sure if we can help you on the phone please call 0207 286 1231 where are receptionist will be able to advise you.

All of our telephone appointments are available to book online via the NHS app. Or via calling reception.

Our telephone appointments are either morning (8am until 1pm) or afternoon (1pm until 6.30pm).

We can not guarantee telephone appointments at the exact time you are booked due to our doctors schedules. Please ensure you have your phone with you if you have booked an appointment for a call back.

Our doctors will only call you back twice so please make sure you answer the call.

What to expect from our GP or clinician when booking a telephone appointment

Clinicians have 30 or more calls to make in one day and they will do their very best to contact you as near to your scheduled time as they can, but there may be delays in the event of a medical emergency.
It is important that you keep your phone with you AND ON at all times to ensure you don’t miss your booked appointment.

What happens if I miss my call?

We understand that calls may be missed from time to time.

If you miss your call the clinician will attempt to you call you once more, if you miss a second call then we ask you to call back via reception.

In summary the GP or Nurse will call you twice, if you miss both calls it will be your responsibility to call back the practice to get another call back.

What we expect from you

We expect you to take the appointment as seriously as our clinicians take talking to you. Our clinicians do not consult with patients in bed, in the bath, in the shops, or on the tube. We expect the same courtesy from our patients. This is a doctors appointment. If a patient repeatedly does not answer calls or does not show respect during the phone calls by prioritising the time with the doctor, we will request all further appointments to be face to face.

If you need a home visit, you can help us by calling reception before 11am.

Telephone: 0207 286 1231

Whilst we encourage our patients to come to the surgery, where we have the proper equipment and facilities available, we do appreciate this is not always possible.

You may only request a home visit if you are housebound or are too ill to visit the practice. Your GP will only visit you at home if they think that your medical condition requires it and will also decide how urgently a visit is needed. Please bear this in mind and be prepared to provide suitable details to enable the doctor to schedule house calls

You can also be visited at home by a community nurse if you are referred by your GP. You should also be visited at home by a health visitor if you have recently had a baby.

Most of our doctors appointments are available to book via the NHS app. We have found this a popular service and they are available to be booked from midnight each day.

This saves patients from having to call the practice to book an appointment. We also have extended hours appointments at St Charles bookable for our patients over the weekends via the NHS App.

Unfortunately we do not have nurses, HCA, pharmacist, doctors, or allied health professionals available to book online. This is because people often book them by mistake.

Each morning, our admin team reviews all booked appointments. They decide if a patient should see another health care professional. If needed, they can also book a telephone appointment for when a face-to-face visit is better.

All our admin team have done practice health navigator training. They therefore work to move appointments when appropriate to the most suitable clinician or admin member. This is in line with our 'who do you see' policies.

If the appointment is moved from telephone to face to face the health navigators  will call and inform the patient this is a condition that can not be addressed via the telephone and therefore they will offer a choice of face to face appointments times when possible.

If the appointment is moved to another clinician, you might not always be informed, but we can assure you that you will be directed to the most appropriate clinician for the condition you have stated on your online booking.

It is vitally important that you detail the whole reason for your appointment in the online booking slot.

Examples would include:

• Patient books with doctor for smear test - we would move to a nurse
• Patient books with doctors for travel vaccines - we would move to a nurse
• Patient books for a cough, sore throat or fever - we would move to a physician associate or paramedic
• Patient books for medication we would move to a pharmacist
• Patient books for high blood pressure we would move to a pharmacist

We understand that not all patients can attend the practice during our opening hours. We therefore offer both evening and weekend appointments at St Charles Hospital, Violet Melchett Centre and Earls Court Health and Wellbeing Centre.

You can see a GP, nurse, pharmacist or healthcare assistant as well as the option to have blood tests done.

Learn more about out of hours appointments