APPOINTMENTS ADVICE
Doctor Appointments
General Appointments Information
To ensure each patient is dealt with efficiently, when you call to book an appointment with a GP, the receptionist will ask you if your request is in connection with a:
- Form
You do not need to see your GP for most forms. They can usually be completed by your GP outside of consulting time. - Sick Note
If you have been off work for less than 7 days, you do not usually need a certificate from the doctor. A self-certificate can be completed by you and given to your employer. If you need a repeat sick note for an ongoing problem, please request this via the prescriptions service. - Medication Review
This is a reminder date on your prescription for your GP. If your GP needs to see you for a face-to-face medication review he/she will add a note your prescription. - Repeat Prescription
Please order repeat prescriptions through the prescription service by e-mail, the website, post, in person or online.
Medicals and Postnatal Appointments
These appointments should be booked in advance, so please tell the receptionist when you phone to book one of these appointments.
Nurse Practitioner
A nurse practitioner is a nurse who is qualified to examine, diagnose and manage patients illnesses.
They are able to consult and write prescriptions or referrals for you in the same way as a GP, yet they also have all the practical skills of their nurse training.
If you need a doctor’s consultation you could see the Nurse Practitioner.
We have two superb Nurse Practitioners: Teresa Forward and Amanda Gray
Our Nurse Practitioners work closely with a GP as their mentor and guide so they continue to update their skills. They are a huge asset to our team and greatly ease the workload of the doctors.
Book on the day/Urgent Appointments
If you need to consult with your doctor urgently for something that cannot wait until the next advanced booking appointment, you may request an appointment on the same day. You may see your own doctor, or if he/she is not available you may see another doctor or Nurse Practitioner.
Practice Nurse/HCA Appointments
Appointments for the nurses and HCAs can be booked up to a month in advance. Our nurses can see you for dressings, blood tests, blood pressure checks, cervical smears and many other procedures. If you are in doubt about who you should see, please ask the receptionist.
Results
Test results can be obtained by speaking to the results department. This service is available Monday, Tuesday and Thursday 14:30-16:30.
Further Information
French Weir Health Centre is a large practice with over 16,000 patients. Our telephones are very busy first thing in the morning. For this reason, you may not always get through on your first attempt. Please be patient. Your call will be answered as soon as possible. We recognise this may be a problem, and have made every effort to minimise the inconvenience by having more receptionists available at this time to answer the phones, please be patient, as your call will be answered as soon as a receptionist becomes available.
Depending on your situation, you may find that you prefer submitting an Online Consult form to the practice rather than waiting on hold.
If you need urgent medical assistance after 6:30pm, at the weekend or on a bank holiday, you can access the out of hours GP service by dialling 111.
If there is anything that has not been covered in this information sheet that you are still unsure about, please ask the receptionist who will try to answer any questions you may have.
