Please note: Please click on the highlighted link for an update on planned changes to our appointment system.
We have developed an appointment system to adhere to the needs of all our patients, by providing appointments on the day for more urgent/acute problems, bookable in advance for routine appointments and by telephone for results and advice that does not require face to face contact. We also offer appointments that can be booked online, a small majority on these online appointments can be booked on the day or in advance.
The types of appointments we offer are described in more detail below:
- On the day appointments booked by ringing at 8.10am for the same day. These appointments are for medical problems that require a patient to be seen by a clinician (GP/ANP) more urgently than a routine appointment. Please remember that if you want to be seen by a specific clinician(GP/ANP) that this means you may have to wait longer for an appointment. The receptionist will ask for you to describe the problem that you want to be seen with on the day, this enables the reception staff to book you in with an appropriate clinician, not all patients need to be seen by the GP and can be seen by our ANP (more details below). Please note if you ring before 8.10am to book an appointment on the day you will be asked by reception to phone back at 8.10am when the appointments are released for on the day booking. The phone line is used as an emergency line only to prioritise any care that needs to be transferred over from the out of hours service before 8.10am.
- Pre-bookable appointments. These appointments which can be booked up to 4 weeks in advance with a GP/ANP and are for routine follow-ups, blood pressure checks, contraception and any other non-urgent medical problem. We book up to 8 weeks in advance with our practice nurse.
- Telephone consultations. GPs, nurse clinicians (ANPs) and in some instances the practice nurse are able to give patients their results or telephone advice where appropriate. Please give details to a receptionist who will be happy to arrange this for you.
- Home visits are reserved for patients who are permanently housebound, severely disabled or reaching the end of their life. This allows us to see as many patients as possible each day, so a GP may ring you back to confirm that a visit is required. In almost all cases children can be brought to the surgery where we have the best conditions for examination. Home visit requests should be made as early as possible in the morning, preferably before 10:00, because they are usually completed by the doctor between 12:00 and 15:00. If you feel your problem requires more urgent attention than that, please telephone 999. The cost of travel to the surgery cannot be a consideration in requests for home visits, so please ensure that you have a system whereby you can access transport by family, friends or a taxi. Please click here to read our home visiting policy in full.
- We also have some 'pre-bookable' appointments, which are made available on a rolling basis up to two weeks in advance. These are ideal for working age adults - you may be offered an appointment with the 7-Day GP Service, which provides pre-bookable evening and weekend appointments for patients across Southport and Formby, these appointments are based at The Family Surgery, 107 Liverpool Road, Birkdale, Southport.
In common with many other practices, difficulty getting through on the telephone in the mornings is a problem which comes up repeatedly.
To enable the receptionist to concentrate on answering the telephone during these busy periods and to ensure equal access, patients are not able to make appointments in person at the desk between 8.10am and 9.30am.
Booking An Appointment Online
We would encourage all patients who are able to, to download & register for the NHS App as this allows you to pre-book an appointment from the comfort of your own home... however, please note that only around a quarter of our pre-bookable appointments are available to book in this way. You can also access NHS App services from the browser on your desktop or laptop computer.
