APPOINTMENTS

Appointments

If you have a medical or administrative query you can contact the practice using our Online Consultations system. You can find the link to register or submit a query at the top left hand side of this page where it says 'contact the doctor'.

Please register in full, following the prompts to create an account. This will allow you to easily use the system next time and will allow a two-way messaging service between you and the doctor. The practice does not need to be open for you to submit your request. Your query will be sent to a doctor who will take the appropriate action, which could be a follow up telephone call, a video consultation or they may ask you to come to the surgery for a face to face appointment. The doctor may be able to help with your query online by replying to your message.

Please click here to see the patients guide to video consultations

For patients who do not have access to the internet our reception team will be happy to log the query on your behalf by taking details from you over the telephone. They will ensure the doctor knows you do not have internet access. Call our reception team on 01458 250464 if you are not able to log the query yourself. Telephone lines are open from 8am to 6.30pm Monday to Friday. Please note we may record telephone calls for training and monitoring purposes.

If you need to book an appointment with a nurse or a healthcare assistant you can do this by calling reception on 01458 250464.

If you require a chaperone please include this information on your submission or inform the receptionist at the time of calling, alternatively inform the receptionist on arrival for your appointment.

All queries are reviewed by a doctor and urgent problems are promptly addressed by our urgent care team. You can expect a response on the same day for urgent matters. Replies for routine queries are usually within 48 hours, however this could take longer if you want to consult with a particular doctor. Please note that although queries can be submitted at any time, they are only dealt with during our opening hours. Queries received after 3pm may not be dealt with until the following day. 

Why have we changed the appointment system?

The reason we now ask for all GP queries to come in via our online consultation system is that this allows efficient and streamlined processing of all patient queries. Online consultations assist our practice team in working efficiently together, maximising the skills of the team and making the most of all available resources.  By receiving as much information as possible the doctor can quickly direct your query to the right clinician the first time. For example if you need a blood test before seeing the doctor this can be arranged without using a GP appointment first, or you could be referred directly to a physiotherapist if appropriate instead of seeing the doctor first, which will free up more appointments for those who need to see the doctor. If you do need a face to face appointment for an examination the doctor will already know how long they will need for your appointment and can allocate the appropriate amount of time.

The system has many benefits to patients including:

• Clinically urgent requests are dealt with as a priority on the same working day
• Many queries can be dealt with online, by phone or video so you won’t need to come to the surgery. This frees up car parking and consulting rooms for patients who do need to be seen
• No need to wait for a routine appointment for simple queries
• Frees up consulting rooms enabling the Surgery to provide other clinics such as physiotherapy and counselling - increasing the services available locally
• Time to think about what you want to say and to read what the doctor has written back to you, providing a reference for you to refer back to
• Complete confidentiality between you and the Clinician as there is no need to speak to another member of staff
• You can send your request 24hrs a day 7 days a week, fitting in with your lifestyle or working pattern
• Quicker than waiting for a ‘Routine’ Face to Face Appointment. Often your query is dealt with on the same day.
• If the doctor thinks you should be seen they will ask you to come to the Surgery

Home visits

Home visits are for patients who are too ill or infirm to leave their home. If you need the doctor to visit you at home please complete an online consultation or telephone the Surgery on 01458 250464 before 10:30am and give the receptionist as much information as you can to help the doctor assess the urgency required. 

Evening and weekend appointments

See more information about evening and weekend appointments for patients of Langport Surgery.
When submitting a query using online consultations you can add details about your availability.

Out of hours

If you need medical help and your GP practice is closed, you can call the NHS 111 number. You can call 111 any time of the day. The call is free, from landlines and mobiles. When you call 111, an adviser will ask you questions to find out what's wrong and give you advice or direct you to the appropriate service.

If you don't speak English you can request an interpreter.

For health needs that are not urgent, you should call your GP.

If a health professional has given you a number to call for a particular condition, you should continue to use that number.

You should call 999 in an emergency.

The NHS 111 number is currently only available in certain areas of England.

Where the service is not available you can call NHS Direct on 0845 4647

If you would like general health information or advice at any time you can phone NHS Direct by dialling 111.

If you need medical assistance after 6.30pm weekdays or at weekends or bank Holidays, you should telephone the OUT OF HOURS SERVICE on 111.