Appointments

How to make an appointment

All consultations are by appointment.

Appointments and appointment cancellations may be made either:

• via our online services
• in person when the surgery is open
• by telephone 0844 477 2400 or 0203 667 1850 when the surgery is open (Press 2 for Appointments, Press 3 for Home Visit requests).
  

Please remember: If you cannot keep your appointment, please let us know so that it can be offered to someone else.

Office Opening Hours

Elstree and Bushey Surgeries are open during the following times:

Monday - Friday	8.30am - 6.30pm

Please note that the surgery is closed on Sunday and Bank Holidays. 

Medical Emergencies outside these hours - please call the normal surgery number and you will be put through to the out of hours service.

Surgery Appointment Times

The standard bookable surgery appointment times are normally:

Monday - Friday	8.50am - 10.50am
	3.30pm – 5.50pm

Extended Hours

• We are now open on Saturday (every other week) for booked appointments only.
• Late night appointments are also available two evenings per week 6.30pm – 8pm, at alternate sites and also on days to suit patients.
• Appointments can be booked by telephoning the Surgery (0844 477 2400 or 0203 667 1850) or by requesting an appointment via our online services.

All these times are regularly extended to incorporate "extras" and emergencies as required, and our actual consulting hours are therefore substantially longer.

Routine Appointments

Routine Appointments may be booked up to one month in advance with the Doctor of your choice. It is better to see the same Doctor for the same illness.

Routine appointments are booked at 10-minute intervals. If you come with more than one problem, there will be less time for each, and your Doctor may ask you to choose the most important problem for that consultation. If you anticipate needing a longer consultation, ask the receptionist for a double appointment.

If your Doctor is booked too far ahead, you are welcome to make another routine appointment with another Doctor. All patients are free to ask to see any Doctor. Your chosen Doctor may therefore get booked up further in advance, particularly when other Partners are away on study leave or holiday.

Morning "short" appointments

If your problem cannot wait until the next routine appointment available, you may be fitted in at the end of morning surgery. This means that you may always be seen within one working day, with whichever Doctor is available. Patients are seen in order of arrival.

These are short appointments, so you may be invited to make a further routine appointment to give the time required to a more complex problem.

Urgent Appointments

If you need to be seen URGENTLY you may be seen during the next surgery. This time is not a booked appointment, and may result in other patients waiting longer. Only ask for an URGENT appointment if you genuinely cannot wait until the next morning ‘short’ appointments.

Doctor or Nurse Telephone Advice

Doctors and Nurses are available on the telephone for queries during Surgery hours.

Cancelling an Appointment

Cancellations can be made when the practice is closed via:

• our online services, or by
• ringing the normal surgery number 0844 477 2400 or 0203 667 1850.

At the end of the message the telephone system will ask you if you wish to cancel an appointment.

Listen to the message and follow the prompts and your appointment will be cancelled without the need to contact us during opening hours.

If you would like to cancel your appointment online now please fill in the form below:

Home Visits

The doctor will visit where a patient is too ill to come to the surgery.
Most of our patients come to the surgery where there are better facilities for examination. Please remember that a doctor can see five patients in the surgery in the time it takes to see one patient at home. By saving doctors travelling time, there is more time available for consultations.

If you or your child feels too ill to wait in the waiting-room, the receptionist will show you to one of the consulting rooms on arrival.
If you are too ill to attend surgery, however, you will of course be visited at home.

To request a home visit telephone 0844 477 2400 or 0203 667 1850 before 12.00am whenever possible.

Be ready to give the receptionist clear details of the problem as well as name, address and telephone number. At times it may be more appropriate to offer you an emergency appointment at the surgery rather than a home visit.