Prescriptions
Generally, patients are given a month worth of medication. If you are ordering your medication before your month has ended, you are risking your medication being refused by the surgery until it is due.
We receive numerous prescription requests every day. Prescriptions have to be checked against your medical records to ensure that your medication request is on your repeat prescription. Requested items are selected and then given to your doctor to re-check and sign. Please allow at least 2 full working days (excluding weekends and bank holidays) between giving us your request and collecting it. For example, a request handed in on Monday afternoon will be ready for collection on Thursday morning. Medication not on your repeat list or due for review may take longer to process.
As a surgery we do not have any influence with prescription deliveries, this is a service which will need to be arranged between the patient and pharmacy.
The aim of the medication review is to check that you are prescribed the most appropriate medicines and that you get the best out of those medicines. Tests may be needed to determine whether the medicine is working (e.g. blood pressure checks). Monitoring may be necessary for the type of medication that you are on.
You may not be able to order some prescription items if:
You need a medicine review – All repeat medications have a re authorisation limit. Once you have reached this limit, your medication will have to be screened by a GP who will decide if you can carry on with this particular medication. In some instances you may need to come in to the surgery for a review before it can be authorised.
It’s too early to order your medicine
It’s an acute (short-term) or one-off prescription
It has already been requested and you have a repeat dispensing prescription
Appointments
Due to the major demand on our healthcare services, especially GP practices, it’s important that doctors are able to prioritise appointments. So when booking an appointment, you may be asked what the problem is by the receptionist, so that they can allocate your appointment accordingly.
One reason is that patient demand has increased substantially and each patient may have several queries to answer. With over 9,000 patients we have started signposting patients to use the website and the NHS App to help try to keep call volumes down.
Sundon Medical Centre offer both face to face and telephone consultations to our patients. These can be booked over the phone, in person (if the matter is non urgent) or online.
Same day appointments can only be booked over the telephone to make the system fair for all patients. However, the Reception Team can make appointments at the desk for future non urgent consultations.
Every day, GP practices receive requests for help or advice through patients calling in, walking in, and now also online via online consultations. For each patient request, the practice needs to work out:
Why they have sought help from their GP
What kind of help the patient needs
How quickly the patient needs help
Who is the best person to help this patient
Where and when the patient should be seen
The answers to these questions help the practice to sort patients based on their needs. This process is called triage.
Triaging is essential when you may be dealing with hundreds of patients a day, all with different needs, requests and health backgrounds.
Medical records are confidential. Nobody else is allowed to see them unless they: Are a relevant healthcare professional or have the patient’s written permission.
Miscellaneous
Our doctors are frequently asked to provide private or ‘To Whom it May Concern’ letters or reports for third parties.
The preparation of these letters or reports is not covered by the NHS. The doctor must complete them during their own time and as such there is a fee payable. All letters require the doctor to take time to review a patient’s medical records to ensure that the information provided is correct, then the doctor has to dictate the letter, and finally a medical secretary has to type and print it.
Private letters do not take priority over NHS work and hence may take some time to prepare. Please allow at least two weeks.
Usually, the responsibility for following up and communicating a test result lies with the clinician who has requested the test. If a test is arranged in hospital, it is the responsibility of the hospital to communicate the result of this test to you.
You can register as a temporary resident with a GP in England if you are in the area for longer than 24 hours but less than three months and our eligible for NHS treatment.