Appointments

Booking an Appointment

All patients registered with Oulton Medical Centre can attend an appointment at any 3 of our surgeries. We have premises Oulton Medical Centre, Marsh Street Surgery (In Rothwell) and Swillington Health Practice.

The practice operates a total triage system which ensures that all patients contacting the surgery to request medical help, whether via PATCHS, by phone or in person, are added to a triage list.  Each patient request is then reviewed by a doctor and their medical needs assessed and prioritised.  Patients are contacted with a response the same day and, if necessary, allocated an appointment according to their clinical need; the urgency and most suitable appointment having been advised by the triaging GP. 

The NHS, and General Practice in particular, has evolved over recent years; our surgery is now part of a Primary Care network (PCN) comprising a diverse compliment of skilled clinicians.  We work collaboratively across the PCN at a variety of locations including Oulton Medical Centre, Marsh Street Surgery, Swillington Health Practice and other hub locations such as New Cross; this allows more flexibility of appointment times including weekend appointments for those who require them.

 

Our phone lines can be busy so you can also submit a PATCHS (on-line electronic form request) if your query isn’t urgent. See below for more information.

Home Visit Policy

Requests for home visits should be made before 11:00am.

Request for late visits will be triaged by the doctor and will only be accommodated in exceptional circumstances.

Home visits are at the discretion of the GP who will determine if the visit is clinically necessary. Visits are reserved for patients who are genuinely housebound, including those in nursing and residential homes, and terminally ill patients.

Home visit justification

A healthcare professional from the organisation may conduct a home visit if they believe the patient’s condition:

  1. Prevents them from travelling to the organisation, or
  2. The condition may deteriorate as a result of travelling to the organisation

Home visits will not be authorised because of:

  1. A lack of transport
  2. The patient’s financial situation
  3. Childcare issues
  4. Poor weather conditions
  5. Any other situation deemed inappropriate by the clinician

This organisation will also consider whether alternative ways of assessing the patient are appropriate such as either a video call or a telephone call or, if in a care home, the use of a virtual ward.

Following confirmation that a home visit is required, the delegating GP will ensure that the attending clinician has the necessary skills, knowledge, competence and training to deliver the home visit. Furthermore, appropriate supervision and support will also be provided by the organisation and/or delegating GP.

PATCHS

PATCHS is an online service which allows you to contact us weekdays 7am – 12noon. Messages are checked every working day by our team and we endeavour to respond by the end of the working day. If you have a non-urgent issue, this is a great alternative to calling the practice. 

Ways to use PATCHS:

  • Tell us about your health concerns by filling out a guided form. If you require an appointment we will contact you as soon as possible with an appointment slot
  • Get NHS advice on minor ailments that can be treated from home
  • Send us an administrative request – Such as fit notes, hospital letters, test result queries etc.

To get started, simply click here to be taken to our PATCHS homepage. From there, click on the option which best suits your needs and follow the guided form/questions. You do not need to create an account or worry about remembering passwords. In addition, any information you do submit is sent directly and securely to us. 

Contact your doctors to get advice for your problem now – PATCHS will be available from 7am till 12pm Monday to Friday

Missed Appointments

We ask that patients always try to cancel pre-booked appointments if they know they cannot attend. Each month, an average of 35 hours is wasted through patients failing to attend the surgery. All missed appointments are monitored and actioned where appropriate. This is an issue that we take very seriously and, sadly, repeat offences may result in the practice sending a letter asking you to move to another GP surgery. See below for the many ways that you can cancel your appointment.

  • Reply to your appointment reminder text with the word Cancel. We will do the rest.
  • Fill out our appointment cancellation form, it only takes a few seconds. Click on the image below.  
  • Call any of our surgeries and speak to a receptionist. 
  • Send us an email on our secure email address – [email protected] Don’t forget to tell us your name, date of birth, appointment date and time. 

Please help us help you by cancelling your appointments in advance where possible. Thank you.