Dear patients
We understand that there is frustration about being able to access a timely appointment with your GP. Prior to the COVID pandemic we received just over 400 requests per week for an appointment; this year that number is around 750, representing an increased demand of 75%. We are currently providing over 3000 appointments per month, seeing a third of all patients registered with us every month; last week over 10% of our registered patients had a consultation with the surgery.
How can we help each other?
– please submit a timely request using our askmyGP service. All requests are assessed by the on-call doctor and offered an appropriate appointment based on clinical need. The more information you provide on your request the better we will be able to triage you to an appropriate appointment. If you contact the surgery once askmyGP is closed we are unlikely to be able to deal with your request that day, simply because we will be overwhelmed with requests already for that day.
– please continue to check your askmyGP account once you have submitted a request. We may email back asking for further information, a photograph, a questionnaire to be completed, etc to help triage your request
– consider speaking to a pharmacist first – most minor illnesses do not require antibiotics and can be safely managed at home with advice from your pharmacist. If they are concerned, they will advise you to contact us for an assessment.
– if you wish to see/speak to a particular doctor you must be prepared to potentially wait longer for your appointment to see that specific clinician.
– if your request is considered to require a routine appointment you must be prepared to accept that the wait for this appointment will be at least a few weeks. Half of all requests are dealt with within a week, less than 10% of patients have needed to wait for more than a month for an appointment.
GP’s of The Lindum Medical Practice
