Appointments

Configure Appointment Details

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.

Routine Appointment

There are two different types of routine appointment:

  • In advance (also known as ‘pre-bookable’) – these can be booked: up to six weeks in advance using GP Online Services and over the phone or in person (both by speaking to a Receptionist), and up to a fortnight in advance using our phone system’s automated appointment management system.
  • On-the-day – these can be booked: from 8.30am on the day of the appointment using GP Online Services, over the phone using our phone system’s automated appointment management system, and over the phone or in person (both by speaking to a Receptionist). Please note: to ensure that people who need one of our appointments (which are limited) most urgently can get one, we suggest these be used for problems that have occurred that day or since the surgery closed the previous working day that require clinical intervention on the day of the appointment, and not just because the next available in advance appointment is not as soon as you would like; however, we do recognise that some patients may think that their problem, whilst not necessarily needing to be addressed that day, needs to be discussed before the next available in advance appointment, hence booking one of these appointments.

To request a routine appointment in the next 7 days:

  • Use GP Online Services (GPOS)
    there are a number of GPOS providers to choose from, popular ones amongst our patients are the NHS App and Patient Access. More information about GPOS is available on the Online Services page of this website.
  • Over the phone
    call 02476 315432 and press option 1. You can then choose to either speak to a Receptionist (option 1) or use our automated appointment management system (option 9) which allows you to book, check, change and cancel GP appointments using your phone’s keypad. More information about our phone system is available on the Phone System page of this website.
  • In person
    appointments can be made at our Reception desk, although we respectfully request this is only used as a last resort.

Urgent Appointment

To request an urgent appointment for today or tomorrow (Monday to Friday):

  • Over the phone
    call 02476 315432 at 8:30am and press option 1. More information about our phone system is available on the Phone System page of this website.
  • In person
    appointments can be made at our Reception desk, although we respectfully request this is only used as a last resort.

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.

“I asked for an urgent appointment but was given a routine on-the-day appointment instead.” Urgent appointments and routine on-the-day appointments are both for problems that have occurred that day or since the surgery closed the previous working day that require clinical intervention on the day of the appointment; urgent appointments are a failsafe for when all of our routine appointments for the day have been booked, yet a patient still needs to be seen urgently (see the definition of an urgent appointment below), therefore if there are still routine on-the-day appointments available when you request an urgent appointment, you will be given one of those instead.

“What’s an ‘urgent‘ appointment?” For a problem that you might have attended A&E for, if you couldn’t get an on-the-day appointment.

“But some patients have a lower ‘urgency threshold’ than me!” If the clinician you are booked an urgent appointment with, deems that your problem will wait for either an on-the-day appointment the next working day, or a in advance appointment, they may ask you to re-book for one of those appointments.

“I need to be seen in-person, why do I have to get to the surgery asap?” Given you have expressed a need to be seen urgently, we expect it would not take a significant amount of time (i.e. multiple hours) for you to get to surgery – if it would and there is no reasonable excuse, we may take the position that there isn’t an urgent need to be seen.

“Why is there no specific time for my phone appointment?” Given you have expressed a need to be spoken to urgently, we expect you will be available at any time to take a call, therefore an appointment time is not required. If the clinician is unable to reach you after multiple tries, we may take the position that there isn’t an urgent need to be spoken to.

Your appointment

There are three different types of appointments:

Phone appointments

These are not a replacement for face-to-face appointments but, for some patients, provide a convenient way to receive care. If you have been asked to book a phone appointment, please rest assured that if the clinician does not think this will provide the best possible outcome, you will have been offered a face-to-face appointment; if making an appointment yourself, you can also choose a face-to-face appointment if that is your preference. Phone appointments take place every weekday during both morning and afternoon surgery times. When booking a phone appointment, our GPs have asked the Reception staff to ask the reason for your appointment, to ensure a phone appointment is the most suitable. If not, the Receptionist will offer you a face-to-face appointment instead. If you have booked a phone appointment, please keep your phone on you, at all times – our clinicians will try to contact you a few times, but if they are unable to reach you, you may be asked to re-book your appointment.

Face-to-face appointments

These take place every weekday during both morning and afternoon surgery, at a set time.

Home visits

these can only be booked either over the phone by speaking to a Receptionist or in-person by the patient’s representative; home visits are only able to be booked on-the-day they are needed (unless you have an ongoing problem, that cannot be dealt with over the phone – whilst we will try to accommodate individual circumstances, we may be unable to visit on a specific day, not least because we would expect that patients requesting a home visit are housebound, therefore would be home all the time).

Extended Access Service

We know that not all patients are available during the daytime on weekdays. If an appointment in the evening or at the weekend would be more convenient for you, the Extended Access Service may be able to help. This service allows you to have an appointment during one of those times, although they do take place either over the phone or at one of a number of locations, none of which are Bedworth Health Centre. More information on this service is available on the Extended Access Service page of this website.

Cancelling or changing an appointment

You can cancel appointments:

Home visits

If you are housebound and need an appointment, we will do a home visit. We will phone you first to understand what you need.

To request a home visit, it’s helpful if you phone the practice as soon after 8am as possible.

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, by video call or by text or email
  • if you need an interpreter
  • if you have any other access or communication needs

Other Appointments information

Appointments are allocated 10 minutes of time per appointment but clinicians will give you as long as you need.

We operate a ‘one appointment, one problem’ system – Reception staff will happily book you a double appointment if you have more than one problem to discuss.

For on-going problems, we recommend you see the same GP or member of the Nursing team to ensure continuity of care.

As mentioned, phone appointments take place in the morning or afternoon – you can choose your preference when making your appointment. There is no set time for the appointment, it will simply take place between the start and end time of the clinicians morning or afternoon surgery (e.g. if you book a morning phone appointment, and the clinician you are booked with’s morning surgery runs between 8.30am and 11.30am, your call should take place during those times (on some occasions, the clinician may be running late so your call may take place outside of the expected times – we apologise in advance for this but ask that you be a ‘patient patient‘ given that our clinicians give all patients (including you), as long as they need)).

For those patients waiting for an appointment they have booked ‘Urgently’, we request that you be prepared to wait as you will be part of a group of patients who have also stated they need to be seen urgently; if your urgent appointment is a face-to-face appointment, there is no set time for your appointment, we respectfully request that you sit and wait – you will have been asked to get to the surgery as soon as possible because your problem is urgent, therefore we will try and see you as soon as we possibly can.

As our on-the-day appointments are for problems that will not wait until the next available pre-bookable appointment, and not on-going problems, you will be offered an appointment with the GP in least demand. Whilst you can request a specific GP we respectfully request that you only do this if you have had an exacerbation of an existing condition, that a specific GP has been dealing with, that requires urgent intervention that day.

We respectfully request that patients with a new, non-urgent problem, book a pre-bookable appointment with their preferred GP rather than the ‘first available’. If you have no preferred GP, please disclose this to the Receptionist when making your appointment so you can be booked with the GP in least demand. Whilst we appreciate that this approach may mean you have to wait a little longer for your appointment, it helps those patients who need to see a specific GP (i.e. for an ongoing problem), to see that GP as soon as possible.

Cases of repeated un-attendance of appointments, without informing the surgery, will be dealt with on a case-by-case basis.

If you need help when we are closed

If you need medical help now, use NHS 111 online or Call 111.

NHS 111 online is for people aged 5 and over. Call 111 if you need help for a child under 5.

Call 999 in a medical or mental health emergency. This is when someone is seriously ill or injured and their life is at risk.