Appointment Protocol

On requesting appointments our Care Navigation Team will need to ask the following to be able to provide the best care:

• Patient Name
• DOB and/or Address
• Reason for the Call / Symptoms
• Favoured Contact Number

This may be via the telephone or via an EConsult on our website or the NHS App.

Appointment availability may vary depending on clinical resource. 

1. Same day face to face appointment requests. A patient requesting a same day appointment will be asked why they need to be seen as an urgent and acute presentation. Depending on patients’ symptoms they may be signposted to the relevant services e.g. pharmacy, physio etc. If we are unable to signpost patients to a relevant service, we will ask the patient to complete an eConsult this is the quickest way of getting your request triaged. You do not need a login or any passwords to use this service. Patients need to go onto Gillingham Medical Practice website, click contact us, scroll down to Contact us via eConsult and begin completing the eConsult questionnaire. The eConsult will come through to the practice and the Duty GP will triage the eConsult and make a clinical decision. You will either receive a text message or we will telephone you advising you of the outcome. If the GP decides the problem is not an urgent acute problem, it will be allocated a routine appointment. If the GP decides your problem requires an urgent, same day response you will be allocated an urgent acute appointment. If you are given a same day appointment and for some reason cannot attend, you may have to re-submit another eConsult the following day. Please stay by your preferred telephone line if you are requesting an urgent acute appointment. If a patient does not have access to the internet, then one of our team members will be able to help via the telephone.
2. Pre-bookable telephone/face to face appointments. Our phone lines are open from 8.30am to 6.30pm Monday to Friday excluding bank holidays. Please ring the surgery during these times to book a pre-bookable face to face/phone call appointment.
3. Extended Access appointments. Mondays at The Barn Surgery 7.00am to 8.00am, Wednesdays at Peacemarsh Surgery 7.00am to 8.00am and Thursdays at The Barn Surgery 6.30pm to 7.30pm. Please note that our phone lines are closed during these times. Therefore, if you need to cancel an appointment you need to ring between 8.30am to 6.30pm.
4. If you are late for your appointment for any reason you will be asked to rebook your appointment, and your original appointment will be marked as did not attend.
5. eConsult is available online via our website between 08:00 to 18:30 Monday to Friday (excluding bank holidays).
6. Pharmacies are also available to help during their working hours. Pharmacists can help with a variety of symptoms including but not limited to: sickness/diarrhoea, bites/stings, ear ache, medication queries. Find a pharmacy near you
7. 111 / 111 Online can help 24/7 to provide medical advice and assistance. You may then be referred to your usual GP. If you are referred to the GP and we are fully booked you may be referred on to a walk-in centre. Walk in centres are available at Frome, Yeovil and Salisbury and are generally open until 8pm. Care Navigation staff can give you more information on individual opening times.
8. 999 / A&E is available 24/7 for medical emergencies.