In order to ensure that our resources are used safely and effectively all requests to be seen by a GP are taken as a message by the reception team. The reception team will ask for information about the reason for the appointment that day and may signpost patients to another service such as nurse practitioner, optician, dentist or community pharmacist.
If you have an acute illness your call may be transferred to our acute hub (Urgent Care Centre) which is an extension of the surgery. You may be called by a clinician from the hub and if you need to be seen, you may be offered an appointment at the hub – which is located at Barry Hospital. Information will be given to you when triaged. Once your request to be seen has been passed to the hub, your appointment request slot at the practice will be offered to another patient who may have chronic problems – helping us to ensure patients are seen by the most appropriate clinician.
In addition/ alternatively, our reception team may advise patients of specific protocols/ procedures that the practice has for specific problems or queries.
We will deal with requests made on the day up to 10am. There may be occasions where the cut off time is brought forward depending on the number of on the day requests and number of clinicians. This is to ensure that we continue to work safely. Requests made after 10am will usually be advised to call the next working day. The requests to be seen are viewed by the GPs through the course of the working day, prioritising medical problems over administrative queries. Patients are either allocated an appointment for a face to face review, receive a telephone call to discuss the problem in more detail or are directed to the most appropriate person to deal with the query or problem.
As far as possible, we prefer to see patients at the surgery where we have better facilities and equipment to assist during consultations. However, where a patient is end of life or does not leave their home (housebound), the Doctor may visit. If you require a house call, please telephone the surgery before 10.00am. If there is a medical emergency the receptionist will forward the request to the duty doctor. Visits will usually be carried out after morning surgery.
In some cases it may be appropriate for patients to send a photograph to aid GP triage. If you do not have access to the internet/ are unable to take a photograph, please let the team know and we can add this to your message. We would request patients to not send photographs of intimate areas. It is advisable to send the photograph as soon as possible in order for us to help you efficiently. Like all GP appointments, photograph requests are dealt with on the day and failure to submit a photograph within reasonable time could result in you forfeiting your consultation and needing to ring back the following day. For help on how to take a photograph, please see the following guide: Patient Guide to Taking Photos on Smartphone
Urgent medical problems will be dealt with on the day including children under 16 years.
We also offer telephone consultations for patients who do not need to see the GP. These appointments can be pre-booked and are particularly useful for discussing test results where there is no medical urgency. We will usually inform patients to book these appointments and they can be booked through the NHS Wales App or via the reception team.
Appointments are available Monday to Friday with the Practice Nursing Team. These are all book-able in advance. A number of appointment types are available to book through our website and include:
• B12 Injections
• INR tests
• Depo Contraception Injection
• Stitch removal and Dressing Checks
We do not operate a “walk in surgery” at any time and patients “walking-in” will not be seen.
We pre-book Medication Reviews and follow-up to test result appointments.
If you are unable to keep your appointment we request that you cancel via the NHS Wales App or alternatively contact the surgery, so that it may be given to another patient.
On the 20th March 2019, the Minister for Health and Social Services announced the Access to In Hours GP Services Standards. The attached posters summarise these standards:
Access Poster English Jan 2020
