Home Visits

Home visits are reserved for our housebound or terminally ill patients only. This is because ALL other patients are better assessed within the practice environment. Should you feel a home visit is required, please contact the surgery as early as possible and preferably before 10:00. This allows the visiting doctor to prioritise the visits.

Home visits are performed at the doctor’s discretion and you will ONLY be visited if the doctor agrees that it is necessary. Therefore a doctor may call you back to assess the urgency and nature of your problem; sometimes telephone advice will suffice or you may be requested to attend the surgery. The doctor may ask another member of the healthcare team to attend if they feel that is more appropriate.

We do not offer a choice of doctor for home visits, as it will be the visiting doctor that attends. Anyone requesting a home visit for a child will be asked to attend the surgery.

Lack of transport or childcare are not valid reasons for requesting a home visit.

Appointments

All consultations for doctors and nurses are by appointment only. You may request a doctor of your choice for routine appointments. All nurse and a portion of doctors’ appointments can be booked up to 1 week in advance, with the remainder becoming available at 08:00 on the day of the appointment.

We would ask that you attend your appointment on time, as patients who arrive late will only be seen at the doctor’s discretion and may be asked to make an alternative appointment. Consultation lasts approximately 10 minutes and the doctors endeavour to run to time. However, appointments can run over time, especially if a patient has a difficult problem or requires hospital admission. We appreciate your patience should you experience a delay. Please approach reception if you have been waiting more than 20 minutes after your appointment time and the receptionist will ensure you are marked in.

Emergency Consultations

In the event that all the routine appointments have been taken for the day and you have a medical problem that cannot wait until the next day we will fit you in to an emergency slot. These consultations are added to the end of the doctor’s surgery and therefore you may be kept waiting. We do not offer a choice of doctor or time for emergency consultations, as they are fitted in to already full surgeries.

If you request an emergency consultation, the receptionist will ask for the reason and a contact telephone number, to allow the doctor to assess the urgency. Please only ask for an emergency consultation if your problem cannot wait until the next day. The doctor will deal only with emergency issues during that appointment and may ask you to book a routine appointment to discuss any non-urgent matters.

Telephone Advice

If you feel your problem could be dealt with over the telephone, we do offer a number of telephone appointments with GPs each day. The GPs will also, sometimes, request a telephone appointment to discuss a result, medication request or hospital letter. At the time of booking the receptionist will give you a 1hour slot, during which the GP will endeavour to call you on the number provided. Please appreciate, as with any other appointment, the GP may be running late.

We ask that you make yourself available to answer your telephone during that timeframe, as GPs may not have time to keep trying. You may be asked to book an alternative appointment if you fail to answer during the appointment timeframe.

Cancellations

If you cannot attend an appointment for any reason please inform us as soon as possible in order for us to give the slot to someone else.

Sickness Certificates

You do not require a doctor's sickness certificate for any illness lasting seven days or less. Your employer may however require you to complete a self-certification form (SC2) which is available from your employer or on the HMRC website.

Evidence that you are sick

If you are sick for more than seven days, your employer can ask you to give them some form of medical evidence to support payment of SSP (statutory sick pay).

It is up to your employer to decide whether you are incapable of work. A medical certificate, now called a 'Statement of Fitness for Work’ (see below) from your doctor is strong evidence that you are sick and would normally be accepted, unless there is evidence to prove otherwise.

You could also provide evidence from someone who is not a medical practitioner, e.g. a dentist. Your employer will decide whether or not this evidence is acceptable. If your employer has any doubts, they may still ask for a medical certificate from your GP.

Statement of Fitness for Work - ’Fit Note'

The 'fit note' was introduced on 6 April 2010. With your employer's support, the note will help you return to work sooner by providing more information about the effects of your illness or injury.

For more information see the DirectGov website (where this information was sourced).

The doctors at Grove Health Centre work a variety of sessions per week within the practice.  Some of the doctors are also involved with other work within the NHS.  Below, you will find details of when each doctor is available in the practice: