Every form received will be reviewed and `triaged’ by the triage team (which includes clinicians). The team will decide how best to proceed with your query.

All outcomes will be based on your clinical need and you will be directed to the most appropriate care. This may include self-care advice, support from a community pharmacist or an appointment with the most appropriate member of the team such as a nurse or nurse prescriber, a Paramedic Practitioner or Nurse Practitioner, an MSK Practitioner or a doctor. If your query is medical and the triage team feel an appointment is appropriate, this will be classified internally and appointments offered within appropriate timescales.

If you have an administration query, such as querying at what stage a referral is, this will be dealt with by the admin team. 

Please note that we will still accept phone calls for test results and to book appointments with our nursing team for cervical cytology, blood tests, INR, wound care, ear irrigation, ECGs, blood pressure monitoring, diabetic reviews, child immunisations, NHS health checks and vaccinations.  However, patients are also welcome to request these via the online form should they wish.

Patients will not be given an appointment at the time their form is submitted but instead, someone from the surgery will make contact once the request has been reviewed.

 All medical requests will be reviewed on the same working day wherever possible. Patients with clinically urgent problems will be dealt with on the same day. For non-urgent problems, we aim to provide an appropriate response by the end of the next working day.

Not all requests will require a face-to-face appointment. Many problems can be managed safely by phone, message, advice, or prescription, or by directing you to the most appropriate healthcare professional.

If we are unable to contact you, we may send a message or ask you to contact us. In some cases, you may need to submit a new request.

The practice will prioritise more urgent matters, as you would expect, and in a similar way to how we do now.

If you feel that your problem is urgent and cannot wait, please use NHS 111 for advice.

If you are very unwell and require immediate treatment, you should call 999 or go straight to A&E as our triage form is not suitable if you have symptoms such as:

·       chest pain

·       severe shortness of breath

·       signs of a stroke (drooping face, speech problems)

·       heavy bleeding

·       signs of sepsis

·       collapse / unconsciousness

·       seizures

·       suicidal thoughts or immediate mental health crisis

Your admin request will be dealt with as soon as possible by the administration team, but this could take up to 48 hours.