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 | Our daily Open Access surgeries - some refinements | 23/8/2010 | | | | | | As a result of monitoring feedback over the first few months, we've made some refinements to our open access service. The open access service was introduced in response to patient feedback which indicated that having to telephone in the morning to get a "same day" appointment was difficult and irksome for many patients, and presented real difficulties in patients getting through on the telephone.
The Open Access service runs from Monday to Friday at both sites, between 10.30 and 11.45 am. To avoid confusion in the waiting room, patients presenting to either Surgery from 9.30 am can be added to the open access list, noting that the open access session itself does not start until 10.30 am. When adding your name to the list, the Receptionist will be able to give you an estimated time when you are likely to be seen, depending on how many patients are waiting : this is only an estimate however, as clinical priorities may cause things to change during the course of the morning.
You may choose to leave and return nearer to the estimated time.
If you opt to see a particular doctor, you could have a longer wait, but we appreciate some patients are willing to do this in order to see the doctor of their choice.
Equally, if there is an imbalance of patients waiting to be seen across the two Surgeries, the Receptionist will offer patients the opportunity to move to the other Surgery in order to be seen more quickly.
Helpful tips about our appointment system :
- As well as our daily open acces service, we offer prebookable appointments (bookable up to 6 weeks in advance) every morning and afternoon
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- There is still a duty doctor available every day for urgent medical issues : please phone the emergency doctor number 07000 862041 if you feel your need is urgent
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- We continue to offer Extended Hours appointments at Churchill Surgery for the convenience of patients who can't get to the Surgery during normal opening hours. These run from 6.30 am on a Tuesday morning and up until 8.00 pm on a Tuesday evening. These Extended Hours appointments are available for prebooking in advance.
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