Your GP surgery should usually be your first point of content if you have particular concern about your health.
A range of healthcare professionals work at your practice and in the wider community to help you get the right care when you need it. This means you might be seen by a GP, but you could also be seen by another trained professional such as a practice nurse, community pharmacist, physiotherapist, or social prescriber.
Appointment Information
XX Place have 1 and 2 week routine appointments. If you feel like you have an urgent issue, we offer telephone consultations where a doctor can give you a call back anytime from 9am – 10.30am. If they feel like you need to be seen you will be given an appointment. We also have routine appointments with our nurses and health care assistants.
The triage appointments will not be available to book online so please contact us to book these.
We will be offering routine appointments with our GPs which will be bookable in advance and they will be available to be booked online.
As a part of the appointment review we are changing the appointment release time to 8am only.
There are three ways to make an appointment. You can come into the surgery in person or you can ring the surgery on 020 7167 2828. You can also book appointments online by clicking here. You will need a special login to do this – just ask at reception (you will need to bring I.D). If you need a home visit you will need to talk to the on call doctor who will discuss with you why the visit is necessary and when it can happen. The doctors do home visits – Please ring 020 7167 2828 before 11.00am if possible.
If you medical help or advice outside of our opening hours, please call NHS 111 or online at www.nhs.uk/111.
Mental Health Crisis
If you are experiencing a mental health crisis, you can call the Tower Hamlets 24 hour Crisis Line number on 0207 771 5807.
Callers will be able to speak to a mental health professional.
Our Clinicians
There is an ‘on-call doctor’ daily to deal with any urgent health issues. Please contact the surgery if your concern is urgent and cannot wait. The doctor will call you back to assess and offer appropriate advice which might include seeing you on the day.
Our patient assistant team will always ask your reason for requesting an appointment. This is so they can book you in with the appropriate health professional be that a Practice Nurse, HCA (Health Care Assistant), Pharmacist or Doctor. If your query can be dealt with over the telephone they will book you in for a telephone consultation with the appropriate clinician.
Practice Nurses and Health Care Assistants (HCA)
Our Nurses and HCA’s offer a range of services:
- Blood tests, blood pressure checks, ECG’s, spirometry
- Long term condition management – Asthma, diabetes, COPD, hypertension, heart disease, anticoagulation monitoring
- Child and adult immunisation and travel vaccinations
- Health checks, advice on weight reduction, stopping smoking, reducing alcohol intake
- Cervical smears, sexual health screening, contraception
- Wound care
Different nurses and HCA’s do different things so please let the Patient Assistant team know what you want your appointment for, so they can book you in with the right clinician.
Cancellations
If you need to cancel an appointment please call the surgery and select option 1, you can also cancel an appointment online within your access and by text.
Blood tests and other investigations
These can be requested by the doctor, nurse or health care assistant at the health centre. Blood tests will be taken usually by a phlebotomist (a technician who takes blood by appointment only – please book an appointment with the Patient Assistant Team. Blood tests can also be done at the the local hospital as a walk in service, Patient Assistants can give you details of timings and print out your Test Request forms that you will need to take with you.
Please note that you can book directly for blood tests if you require a sexual health test (e.g. blood tests for HIV, hepatitis, Syphilis and swabs/urine for Chlamydia and Gonorrhoea), however, Other blood tests will be booked following discussion with a Doctor, Nurse or HCA.
Click here for information on test results
Other tests
Urine or stool samples, swabs and microbiological specimens come back to us electronically and will be processed by us in the same way as blood test results.
X-rays and Scan results can be discussed with a nurse but may need to be discussed with a doctor if abnormal.
Cervical Smears are taken by the nurses. For routine screening purposes smears should now be performed every 3 years between the ages of 25 and 49 years, then every 5 years from age 50 – 64yrs. If you are over 65, you only need a smear if you have not had a smear since the age of 50, or if one of your recent smear tests was abnormal. Your result will be sent to you by post directly from the cervical screening service but you are asked to call the practice and speak to a nurse if you do not receive your result letter. In the case of cervical smears you should always receive your result whether it is negative or if there are any abnormalities which require further investigation. You will also be informed of the date for your next test.
Understanding your results
Our team will explain what the results mean but if you want to find out more about your test results and what they mean there is an excellent web-site that we recommend: Lab Tests Online.
Our phone lines are open from 8am until 6.30pm Monday – Friday
Appointments out of hours
If you need an urgent appointment contact the practice during opening hours or fill out a form on our website.
When the practice is closed, please ring NHS 111 or use NHS 111 online and they can help you with booking an urgent GP appointment.
Routine and urgent appointments are provided in the evening and weekends.
You should only attend A&E if you need immediate care for something that is very serious or life-threatening. If your condition isn’t life-threatening, in many cases you could be seen faster by using other local services in your community.
If you feel unwell or have a minor injury, your local pharmacy can also offer advice and some medicines. Many pharmacies are open late and at the weekends, and you do not need an appointment to be seen. Find your nearest pharmacy.
If you are feeling overwhelmed and need urgent help because you are worried that you might harm yourself or someone else, contact your local mental health crisis line. Trained professionals are there to help you 24 hours a day, 365 days a year by calling (0207 771 5807).
For more information on finding the right NHS help visit www.northeastlondon.icb.nhs.uk/urgentcare
