Practice Information
Routine Appointments
Please call at reception, or telephone, during surgery hours only. As Monday is the busiest day of the week, please avoid telephoning then for non-urgent appointments, repeat prescriptions or results. It is usually much easier to telephone the surgery in the afternoon.
Please make it clear if your problem requires urgent attention. If you are acutely ill you will always be seen that day, but not necessarily by your usual doctor.
For routine matters please arrange to see your usual doctor, who will know your medical history. Try to make follow-up appointments well in advance.
Please come into surgery if you can where you will receive the benefit of all our facilities and professional staff. If that is not possible, contact Reception and one of our doctors will visit you at home.
Home Visits
If you are too ill to come to the surgery, then you will be seen at home. If possible please try to ring before 10:30am. We ask you to come to the surgery if this is at all possible. Emergency calls will, of course, be attended to at any time.
Sickness Certificates
You do not require a doctors sick note for any illness lasting seven days or less. Your employer may, however, require you to complete a self-certification form (SC1) which is available from your employer. For any illness lasting longer than seven days you will need to see your doctor for them to issue a sick note (F.med3). Self certification forms for the self-employed are available at the surgery.
Facilities For The Disabled
The surgery fully complies with the requirements of the Disability Discrimination Act and patients with disabilities have equal access to our services and facilities.
When The Surgery Is Closed
If you need a doctor urgently, telephone your usual surgery for instructions and one of our doctors or our Out of Hours Service HantsDoc will assist you. This may be a mobile phone so you should allow some time for the doctor to answer. If you require a visit during weekends or public holidays please telephone between 9:00am and 10:00am whenever possible as this helps the HantsDoc doctor to plan his rounds. Please do not telephone the emergency doctor on call about non-urgent matters.
Telephone Advice
Your contact with the doctor may be more appropriate by telephone rather than face to face. Please consider a telephone consultation when requesting an appointment and the doctor will call you back that day.
Telephone Access
The practice telephone lines are open for access to Reception from 8:30am to 6:00pm Monday to Friday. If you wish to speak to someone other than Reception, they will put you through. Calls to the Practice outside these hours will be handled by our automated telephone night service which will advise you who to call in the event that you require assistance. Please note that this night service does not take messages.
Reception
Our Practice Manager, Operations Manager and receptionists are here to help you. They answer the telephone, staff the reception desk and try to keep the practice running smoothly. Any comments on the practice are welcome and may be made either verbally, in writing to the Practice Manager or by e-mail to enquiries@gilliesandoverbridge.co.uk
Baby Changing And Feeding
We provide baby changing and feeding facilities in the male and female patient toilets.
Repeat Prescriptions
You may obtain repeat prescriptions if your doctor agrees. Please write or call at the surgery and bring your computer slip or quote your reference number. You may also submit your request from our website www.gilliesandoverbridge.co.uk where having entered the site, click on ‘Repeat Prescriptions’ on the left hand side of the screen and complete the form as prompted. Requests received before 10:30am will usually be ready for collection two working days later (after 3:00pm from Surgery, or 4:00pm from pharmacy) Monday to Friday. Prescription prepayment and exemption forms are available at the surgery.
Blood Tests, X Rays And Other Test Results
Please telephone for results from Monday to Friday.
Referrals - Choice & Booking
Please note that under the NHS’s ‘Choice & Booking’ scheme, there are a number of hospitals which have been listed for you to choose from should your doctor consider it necessary for you to be seen in hospital. Your doctor will discuss this with you should it be necessary.
Practice Area
Our Practice area may expand and contract periodically to reflect the pressure on our list size. Please contact Reception for the current areas from which we are accepting patients. If you move, please let us know your new address and telephone number.
New Patient Checks
All newly registered patients will be offered an appointment to discuss general health with the nurse and/or doctor within 28 days of registering. We strongly urge you to make an appointment to allow us to get to know you.
Parking
There is extensive parking available at the front of the Gillies Health Centre.
Non-NHS Services
We will provide medical reports and carry out examinations for you or for insurance companies, building societies and employers. For this and other work which is not provided by the NHS we have to make a charge. Our scales are in accordance with BMA recommended rates and can be seen at reception. Please ask how much the fee will be when making the request.
Confidentiality
All consultations between you and your health professional will be treated with strict confidentiality and all our staff are bound to obey rules of confidentiality.
Complaints
We continually strive to provide the best health care possible to all our patients. However, occasionally patients may have comments, suggestions, or complaints which they wish to bring to the attention of the practice. In that event, please contact the Practice Manager Mr Des McCarthy at the Gillies Health Centre, either by e-mail or by telephone and he will pursue your concerns in accordance with the Practice complaints procedure. Copies of our complaints procedure are available from reception.
Practice Patients Charter
The practice has it's own Patients Charter specifically for you, copies of which are available from reception.
Data Protection Act
All data stored on our computers is covered by the Data Protection Act and, as part of this practice's contribution to medical research, we provide completely anonymised patient level treatment information to reputable third party organisations. No individual is ever identified from the information and we all stand to benefit from this work as potential patients. If you would like more information please contact the Practice Manager Mr Des McCarthy.
Freedom Of Information Act
Our Freedom of Information Act Publication Scheme is available at Reception.
