Appointments

Who do I see?

Routine appointments

Information

All patients can contact the surgery by completing an Online Consultation request Monday to Friday, 8am to 6.30pm.

You do not need a username or password.

Click here to submit an Online Consultation

Important: Important

To help us manage appointments safely and fairly, we kindly ask that patients respect our healthcare staff and follow our ‘one problem per consultation’ approach.

This allows clinicians to give each concern the time and attention it needs, helps us run to schedule, and ensures other patients are not kept waiting.

If you have more than one issue to discuss, the clinician may advise you to book an additional appointment so that each concern can be properly assessed. This is at the clinician’s discretion and is based on clinical safety.

Thank you for your understanding and cooperation.

Who You May See?

To make sure you receive the most appropriate care, your request will first be triaged by a GP. Based on the information you provide, the GP may direct you to the most suitable member of our healthcare team. This could include a nurse practitioner, pharmacist, physiotherapist, mental health practitioner, social prescriber, or another specialist within the practice.

Each clinician is highly trained in their area, and seeing the right professional helps ensure you receive the best care as quickly and safely as possible.

Please visit out 'Who to see? page

Total Triage

You might have heard the term Total Triage – but what does it actually mean?

Simply put, it’s our way of making sure everyone gets the right care, at the right time, from the right person. Instead of automatically booking you in with a GP, we first review your request to decide the best next step for your needs.

When you contact us, here’s what happens:

We look at your symptoms or query
A clinician or trained team member assesses what’s most appropriate
You’ll then be directed to the best option – this could be:
✅ A same-day GP appointment
✅ A routine appointment
✅ A phone or video consultation
✅ Advice from a pharmacist or another healthcare professional
✅ Self-care guidance

Total Triage helps us prioritise urgent cases, reduce waiting times, and make sure you get the most suitable care quickly and safely.

If you are unable to complete an online consultation form, our reception team are available to help you by asking some questions to help the Clinical Assessment team be aware of important information.

You may be called by a GP on the same day to discuss your symptoms
You may be called by the reception team to book a face to face appointment this may be on the same day if you have an urgent need, within a few days or a routine appointment based on your clinical needs.
You may get a response via text message advising you of the next steps
You may be sent an invitation link via text message to book an appointment

Please ensure we have your correct contact details and try to keep your phone line free if you are booked for a telephone consultation. If your appointment is a telephone consultation there will be least two attempts to contact you.

Chaperones

It is often necessary for the doctor or nurse to examine a patient during a consultation. If you are uncomfortable with this you can request the presence of a chaperone (observer).

The practice has several female members of staff who have been trained to act as chaperones. We are currently unable to offer a male chaperone.

Please click here to view our Chaperone Policy

Initial MSK Physiotherapy Appointments

Patients may be referred for an initial telephone consultation with a First Contact Physiotherapist for uncomplicated physiotherapy issues. First Contact Physiotherapist are advanced practitioners working within primary care with extensive expertise in the clinical assessment, diagnosis and management of musculoskeletal (MSK) conditions. They can refer you on to other services, or back to your GP for further investigations if required.

Minor Eye Conditions

The NHS operates a service for Minor Eye Conditions. Please telephone one of the opticians below to make an appointment first. If you are suitable for this service, you will be assessed by a clinician at an optical practice:

Martin Reynolds Opticians 24 North St Bishops Stortford CM23 2LW tel. 01279 757767
Specsavers 10-12 Broad Walk, Harlow CM20 1HT 01279410888.

Please click here for Minor Eye Conditions Service website

Dental Issues

Patients should see their Dentist for problems with teeth or gums. If you are not registered with a Dentist and have a dental emergency you can contact 111 for advice.

Pharmacy Care

Pharmacists can offer advice on a range of illnesses, such as coughs, colds, sore throats, ear infections and aches and pains.

They can also give advice about medicines. This includes how to use your medicine, worries about side effects or any other questions you have.

Pharmacists can suggest treatments that do not need a prescription for a range of conditions.

Most pharmacies can also offer prescription medicine for some conditions, without you needing to see a GP or make an appointment. This is called Pharmacy First.

Conditions they can offer prescription medicine for are:

impetigo (aged 1 year and over)
infected insect bites (aged 1 year and over)
earache (aged 1 to 17 years)
sore throat (aged 5 years and over)
sinusitis (aged 12 years and over)
urinary tract infections (UTIs) (women aged 16 to 64 years)
shingles (aged 18 years and over)

If you are not within these age ranges, a pharmacist can still offer advice and support decisions about self care treatment with over the counter medicines, but you may need to see a GP for treatment.

If you go to a pharmacy with one of these conditions, the pharmacist will offer you advice, treatment or refer you to a GP or other health professional if needed. They will also update your GP health record, but your information will not be shared with anyone else.

Most pharmacies can provide prescription medicine for these conditions but contact them before visiting to check.

Click here to find a pharmacy

Cancelling your Appointment

You can cancel an appointment by accessing the NHS App, or SystmOnline.

Patients can telephone the practice to cancel appointments or submit an online consult

Click here to submit an Online Consult

Extended Access

Doctor, nurse and physiotherapy appointments are available in this area evenings between 6.30-8pm and weekends from 9am-1pm. You may be offered a face to face or telephone appointment. This is an ‘extended access’ service for local patients. This is a shared service and you may be seen by a Clinician from another practice or at one of the other surgeries.

Home Visits

Housebound patients requiring a routine or non-urgent home visit will be visited by one of the practice GPs. These visits can take several weeks to organise, longer if you require a specific GP.

For home visits requests, please contact our reception team.

If you have an urgent need for a home visit telephone the surgery. The receptionist will take your details and notify the duty doctor. The doctor will call you as soon as possible and discuss your problem with you or your carer. Urgent home visits in Hertfordshire are carried out by the Acute In-Hours Visiting Service, provided by Herts Urgent Care. It is a HUC GP that will visit you and the surgery will receive a written report by the next working day.

www.hucweb.co.uk/services/acute-in-hours-visiting-service

Urgent appointments

Information

Requesting an urgent appointment:

All appointment requests are managed through our full clinical triage system. This means that every request needs to be assessed by our dedicated Clinical Assessment Team to ensure you are directed to the right clinician, at the right time, for your specific needs.

If your symptoms are urgent or have worsened since you last contacted us, please call 01279 657636 to speak with our reception team. Our reception team will:

Ask a few questions about the reason for your call
Request some basic details
Explain the next steps required

Our reception team does not make clinical decisions. Their role is to gather the information needed so that our clinicians can safely and effectively triage your request.

You may be still asked to submit your query via our online consultation service.

This helps ensure the Clinical Assessment Team has all necessary details to prioritise your care and provide the most suitable support as quickly as possible.

All clinical requests are reviewed on the same day by our Clinical Assessment Team.
A clinician will decide the most appropriate type of appointment or action based on your symptoms and needs.
This may be a same‑day urgent consultation, routine appointment, referral, advice, or another form of support.

Urgent, same‑day consultations are reserved for problems that genuinely cannot wait.