The best way to obtain the most appropriate care for your needs is with our Online Triage System “Accurx” (available weekdays 8:00 am – 6:30 pm). Fill in this simple online form, which will be reviewed by our team within one working day for both clinical and administration enquiries.
If you are seriously unwell, call 111 or 999.
Submit a new request
Can another Healthcare Professional help?
Do you need to see the GP?
Sometimes the GP is not the most appropriate Healthcare Professional to deal with your ailment. Please see the information on see a Doctor or Healthcare Professional, which might help you decide whether a GP appointment is truly necessary or whether it might be better for you to see a Pharmacist, Optician, Dentist or other Healthcare Professional. You can even self-refer for some services without seeing your GP.
For real life-threatening emergencies such as those below – RING 999
- Chest pain (suspected heart attack)
- Suspected stroke
- Suspected meningitis
- Anaphylactic shock (severe allergy)
- Heavy bleeding or deep lacerations
- Fluctuating levels of consciousness or completely unconscious
- Difficulty breathing or stopped breathing with a change in colour
- New seizure, fit or uncontrollable shaking
For immediately serious conditions such as the following, GO TO Emergency Department (A&E) IMMEDIATELY
- A fever and lethargic (drowsy) child
- A feverish and floppy (unresponsive) infant
- Difficulty breathing
- Sudden, severe abdominal pain
- Accidental or intentional overdose of medication
- Trauma (including falls) and possible broken bones or road traffic accident
If you have an urgent problem, please visit the Urgent Care Centre in Tiverton & District Hospital, which is open 7 days a week 8AM – 8PM. If your condition appears serious and is causing you concern, please contact us on 01884 252333.
Your appointment at the Practice
- Consultations are by appointment only, please submit your request either online, in person or by telephone. Requests will then be triaged by our team and you will be offered help by our team.
- Please put an individual family member needs to be seen.
- We try to keep to time but please be patient if someone before you takes longer than planned.
- If you have a complicated problem, or more than one problem, please ask for a longer appointment.
- Patients have a named GP and to improve continuity and care we try to offer appointments with your named GP. However, patients can choose whichever Doctor they wish to see in the Practice and we will try to facilitate this.
Need to cancel your appointment?
If you are not able to attend your appointment please let us know in time so that the time can be used for someone else. If you are late for an appointment you may be asked to re-book.
You can now cancel your appointment easily by calling our Appointment Cancellation Line: 01884 244707.
When leaving a message, please include:
- Your full name
- Your date of birth
- The details of the appointment you wish to cancel
Please note, this is a voicemail service only and should only be used to cancel appointments.
Missed Appointments and DNA’s
Do you feel frustrated when you cannot get an appointment?
Every year wasted appointments cost NHS £162 million. This can cause serious delays in treatment for other patients. On average approximately 150 patients each month Did Not Attend (DNA) their appointment. This means the patient did not turn up for the appointment and did not contact the surgery in advance to cancel or change the appointment. This currently results in approximately 40 hours of wasted clinical time each month.
Here is a list of the different ways you can access one of our Clinical Team
When it’s urgent
- We provide a same day service for urgent medical conditions on the day.
- Each day we have a ‘Duty doctor’ who provides support for the Advanced Nurse Practitioners for consultations within the practice.
- We provide a home visit service for those who are housebound (not able to attend hospital appointments, go shopping etc) The duty doctor will provide support to our paramedic.
- Details of the nature of your request will be taken by the receptionist in order to support you in making the most appropriate appointment. Many seasonal illnesses can be dealt with in the first instance by visiting your local pharmacy. We are now a primary care practice offering appointments with practice nurses, advanced nurse practitioners, pharmacists and GP’s.
- We will provide you a start time for our same day, sit and wait service. We aim to see you within an hour of arrival. Please note the nature of same day, urgent cases could mean further short delays. If a patient is very unwell, we ask for your understanding that we medically prioritise those patients.
When it’s not urgent
- The best way to obtain the most appropriate care for your needs is with our Online Triage System Accurx. Fill in a simple online form. This will be read by a member of the team within 2 working days for clinical and 3 working days for administration enquiries.
- Routine Appointments (up to 3 weeks) within the practice – Please use Patient Access or call us to book an appropriate appointment with a GP, practice nurse or pharmacist. These are routine, new or ongoing but non-urgent medical issues.
- Extended Access for our patients in Tiverton is provided by Devon Doctors and these are for routine and new medical conditions. The service is provided from Tiverton Hospital every weekday evening, Saturdays and Sundays by calling 01392 822354.
Multi-skilled Team
- Not all appointments at the practice are necessary for a GP skill set. We understand that traditionally patients have looked to their GP for all their medical needs.
- Our practice nurse teams specialise in care for diabetes, COPD, asthma, well woman clinics and general health and well being.
- Our practice clinical pharmacists are experts in medicines and medicines management.
- Our advanced nurse practitioner team have expertise and skills in minor illnesses.
Talking to the Doctor or Nurse on the telephone
There may be occasions when you would prefer to speak to your GP or one of our Practice Nurses on the telephone, rather than visiting the practice. Our reception team will happily take your contact details and ask the nature of your call, before passing a message to the appropriate clinician. More often, the person you wish to speak with might be consulting patients when you contact the practice, but they will return your call when their clinic has finished.
Additional information
Can I bring someone to accompany me to the Appointment?
We are generally very happy for patients to bring with them a carer, relative or even a friend. This often helps, particularly when they know you well and it allows them to tell us any observations they would make about you, which can help us in undertaking our assessment. Ultimately this will lead us more quickly to make an accurate diagnosis and therefore help you more.
Also, having someone with you means they can prompt you to ask questions that you may have forgotten, and after the appointment they can help in reminding you what was discussed.
Occasionally we might ask for them to leave but this would be unusual.
If you require interpretation services please contact us in advance of you appointment and we will arrange this.
Giving Consent for Treatment
You have the right to accept or refuse treatment that is offered to you, and not to be given any physical examination or treatment unless you have given valid consent. If you do not have the capacity to do so, consent must be obtained from a person legally able to act on your behalf, or the treatment must be in your best interests.
Your valid consent (agreement to the course of action) is needed for the treatment that’s offered to you before any physical examinations or treatment can be given. If you haven’t given your consent, you can accept or refuse treatment that’s offered to you.
It’s important to be involved in decisions about your treatment and to be given information to help you choose the right treatment. When making treatment choices, you’ll often discuss the options with your doctor or another healthcare professional.
If you have a suspected infectious disease
Please inform reception if you suspect an infectious disease, as this will enable us to deal with it appropriately during your visit to protect you, other patients and staff.
Interpreters
We aim to provide a service that is user friendly and easily accessible to all. This includes offering spoken language and British Sign Language (BSL) interpreters.
If you, or somebody you know, requires specific translation support at their appointment, please contact us a week before the appointment to let us know. We will do our best to meet your needs.
Please email: [email protected] or call 01884 252333.
Urgent and emergency care services
Which Doctor?
As a patient, you are registered with the practice, not an individual GP. You can make an appointment with any of the Doctors at the practice. As medical records are now computerised, all Doctors, at any site can access your details. If you prefer, you can make an appointment with a Doctor of your choice. You may need to wait longer to get an appointment with a specific Doctor of your choice, as they may be in high demand at the time.