Appointments

Booking Your Appointment

You can request an appointment by using the NHS App on your phone or by clicking the green ‘Contact us online‘ banner above and following the link. Medical request forms will open from 7:00 AM to 3:00 PM Monday to Friday. They are closed on weekends and bank holiday’s. Please do NOT request an appointment outside these hours using the admin query form. You can also contact us during reception open hours by calling us on 01493 717796.

If you are unable to keep your appointment please notify the surgery as soon as possible using the link above so it can be offered to someone else.

There is usually only time to deal with one problem during a routine appointment, so if you feel you need more time please inform the receptionist when you make your appointment. We also stress that one appointment is for one person.

We will always endeavour to book an appointment with the doctor of your choice, at a time that suits you best. This is obviously not always possible, especially at times of high demand, usually around the holiday periods, after weekends or bank holidays. We are constantly reviewing the appointment system to offer a range of availability.

Children under 16 years old should ideally be accompanied by an adult. If more than one member of your family wants to see the doctor, please make a separate appointment for each of them.


Cancelling Your Appointment

If you have booked an appointment it is really important to let us know as soon as possible if you need to cancel it.

Methods for cancelling your appointment are:

Please let us know as soon as you can if you are unable to attend your appointment.

Why is it important to tell us you want to cancel your appointment?

Every month valuable consulting time is wasted due to patients failing to cancel their appointment. By telling us in good time that you cannot keep an appointment, we can offer your appointment to someone else. This helps us to reduce waiting times and means everyone can be seen sooner.


Telephone Advice

Telephone Advice may include queries about a prescription, a test result, a hospital appointment, a referral, a form that needs to be completed or advice about a minor ailment.

If you only need advice from the doctor or nurse, you can book a telephone consultation. You will be called back to discuss your problem. Please make sure you give the correct phone number that you can be reached on.

Advice is also available from the NHS by telephoning their medical advice line on 111 or from the NHS website.


Urgent Problems During Surgery Hours

If you have an urgent problem during surgery hours call the health centre on 01493 717796 for Acle Surgery or Reedham Surgery.

The receptionist will need to take some details about the problem and arrangements will be made for you to be seen by the doctor as soon as possible.


Triage Doctor

We operate a triage system for patients who need treating on the same day. Patients who request a same day appointment will be asked by the receptionist to give a brief summary of their symptoms and up to date contact details.

This allows the triage doctor to prioritise calls so that, for example, someone reporting severe pain or a sick child will be called first, before someone querying medication.

All our receptionists have signed confidentiality agreements and they are fully aware the information you tell them is personal, you do not have to tell them your symptoms, but you should be aware this will make it more difficult for the doctor to prioritise your call.

If a face to face consultation is necessary the doctor will make an appointment for you later in the day or week. If you need to be called back at a certain time because of work constraints then we will do our utmost to meet this.


Transport

Hospital transport may be available for patients under the NHS unable to use public transport or find another means to attend. The number to call is 0845 8500774 (Mon- Fri 08:00 ‑ 18:30, Saturday 08:00 ‑ 12:00).


NHS App

Get the NHS App today!