How to make an appointment

Please call our main switchboard number (Valley Surgery: 0115 9430530, Chilwell Meadows Surgery 0115 9462767) to book an appointment or use the NHS App.
Medically urgent cases are seen on the day.
If your condition is not medically urgent, we will offer you a routine appointment. Appointments are usually 10 minutes in length which means that we may not have time to deal with more than one issue.
You are free to consult with any doctor within the practice but it is obviously an advantage to see the same doctor with the same problem so that continuity can be maintained.
Please let the receptionist know whom you would like to see.
Nurses based in our practice treat patients for a wide range of common conditions.
You can book up to 8 weeks ahead for clinics – please see the ‘Clinics and Services’ section.
A guide to our appointments system can be downloaded here.

Book your appointment online

The practice offers a system for booking some appointments online, from the comfort of your own home. To take advantage of this system please click on this link.

Same day (urgent) appointments

We are a busy practice, and providing some same day appointments makes it easier for you to see a doctor quickly if your need is medically urgent. You can phone from 8.00am for same day medically urgent appointments only.

Routine appointments

These are appointments for something which is not going to get worse if left. If you need to book a routine follow-up appointment with a particular GP you can make an appointment up to 8 weeks in advance.

Long term condition monitoring

We will call you in for an appointment with our practice nurses for this.

Getting the most from your appointment

We want to work with you to help to solve your problems.

If you could offer information about the following areas when you see us we would be very grateful.

Non-urgent advice: It would help us work more effectively within the current time constraints:

1.    Please tell us what you think may have caused the clinical problem – you will probably be right!

2.    If you have concerns or worries about a serious underlying disease such as cancer or meningitis please tell us – we can work to deal with these issues more effectively if you let us know what may be bothering you, even if it seems ‘silly’ to you.

3. Please tell us what you have found on websites if it is worrying you.

4.    If you have discussed the problem with anyone else such as relatives, other health workers or pharmacists and they have suggested tests or treatment which you now expect please tell us – if we know what you are expecting we can sort things out for you more quickly.

5.    If the effect of the problem is disruption of your life or work and you may need a ‘sick note’ or other support we need to know please – it helps us to prioritise treatment if we know how difficult things are for you.

6.    If you are feeling unusually sad or worried please tell us – many things apart from physical diseases can cause distressing symptoms.

Please remember that having to deal with several problems in a consultation is a common reason for us being unable to keep the appointment system running smoothly.

Role of reception

Our receptionists are usually the first point of contact and are here to help you. They have a lot of information to hand and in most cases will be able to help with your enquiry, ensuring you see the most appropriate clinician. Nonetheless, it is your right to request to talk only to the doctor.
Anything that is discussed with the receptionists or any other member of the team is treated in strict confidence.
You have a right to be treated courteously, and our receptionists also have a right to be treated courteously by you. We can offer a degree of privacy in a separate room if your enquiry is sensitive. Please respect the privacy of other patients by standing well back from the reception desk until your turn.

Why might it be difficult to get an appointment?

The surgery is particularly busy on Mondays especially during the winter months. If your appointment is not urgent, try to book on a less busy day after 10.30am. If you let us know as soon as possible you can’t attend your appointment, we can then make it available for another patient. Please cancel through the NHS app or call us.

How to arrange a home visit

If you need a consultation but are too ill to come to surgery, a doctor may visit you at home. When urgent medical help is required this will be the doctor on call, but in less urgent cases you may request your own particular doctor, please note we cannot guarantee which doctor will come.

Patients are expected to attend the surgery if they are able to travel, with the necessity for a home visit being at the discretion of the doctor. If there is doubt your doctor may ring you to discuss the problem before deciding the most suitable place for the consultation to take place.

Please remember we can see 3-4 patients in the time it takes to see one person at home. Please consider asking a friend or using a taxi to see us. If transport is the issue please speak to reception first.

Please ring the main switchboard before 12noon to arrange a visit. Home visits are normally made between 1pm and 3pm.

Understanding the GP Appointments System: a Guide for Patients

Introduction to the appointments system

This is intended to help you understand how the appointments system works at our practice so that you can be seen most effectively.

Our aim is to see any patient who has a health problem within a timespan that is appropriate for that problem. As a practice we undertake more than 35,000 face to face consultations in a year for our population of 16000 registered patients. Some of these consultations are for new illnesses whilst others are for continuing problems, with more than 90% of all medical care being provided in general practice. It can therefore be a massive challenge to match the needs of individual patients to the supply of appointments.

Appointment Types

We have several different types of appointment aimed at meeting the needs of the majority of patients:

Telephone appointments. A telephone call can often save time for both patients and doctors, and we are developing telephone consultations as a means of improving efficiency.
Urgent (same day) appointments. These are intended for problems that need to be dealt with as a matter of medical urgency. Please phone early in the day if you genuinely require one of these appointments.
Soon appointments. We aim to offer an appointment within five working days for people with problems that are not urgent but need reasonably quick attention. These appointments become available on a rolling basis and so it is not necessary to phone at any particular time of day to be given one of them. You will offered an appointment with the first available GP, not necessarily the one of your choice.
Routine appointments. These can be booked several weeks in advance and are best suited to follow-up of continuing problems with a doctor of your choice.
Nurse appointments. Our nurses can deal with a range of common problems including monitoring long term health conditions.
Home visits. Given that a doctor can see three or four patients in surgery in the time that it takes to do a single visit, home visits are restricted to patients who are genuinely unable to get out of their home.

Making Appointments

There are several different ways of making an appointment including the following:

In person. We are happy to make appointments at the reception desk although it can sometimes be very busy as other patients will be wanting to check in or have other requests.
By phone. This is still the most popular way of making an appointment although our lines can sometimes be very busy depending on the number of patients phoning.
Online. We advise you to use our online contact messaging service on our website for any routine medical queries. We will then contact you with a link to book an appointment if deemed appropriate. Cervical screening appointments (Smears) can be made online, and this has the advantage that you can access them even when the surgery is closed. You do not need to register at reception in order to get access to the online service.

10 tips to help us to help you get the most out of the Appointment System

Is it ‘urgent’? Please don’t request an urgent (same day) appointment unless you consider your problem to be medically urgent. If you are not sure then you can ask to leave a message for one of the doctors to phone you back to assess your situation. Inappropriate requests for same day appointments mean that it is more difficult for patients with genuine urgent problems to be seen.
Think ahead. If you have a long term medical condition or you take regular medication then you will need to be seen periodically for review, usually every six or twelve months. Please try to book these review appointments well in advance so that you can see the doctor (or nurse) of your choice. Appointments can usually be made up to eight weeks in advance.
Turn up … or cancel. Please don’t miss an appointment that you have booked. This is wasted time that could have been used for another patient. If you can’t make an appointment or need to change it then let us know. You can cancel any appointment using the NHS app or by phoning us.
Can anyone else help? Before you make an appointment please think about whether there are any other services that might be more appropriate. For example, remember that pharmacists are trained to give advice about minor health problems and answer any questions about your medicines and treatment. The NHS 111 system is also available to guide you to appropriate sources of advice.

What’s the problem? Understandably many people are reluctant to tell a receptionist about the reason that they want to see a doctor. However our reception staff are more likely to be able to guide you in the right direction if you give them a rough idea about your problem. All our staff have a responsibility to treat your information confidentially, and we take this very seriously.
Go online. You can message us about medical or admin related queries and order repeat prescriptions online using the NHS app. You can also view test results and other aspects of your medical record since 1^st April 2023. Online services are available 24 hours a day so you can use these services at your convenience. Using the online services also reduces demand on reception staff during the day so everybody gains. You will need to register for the NHS app for this service. There is no need to contact us for this.
Telephone consultations. If you have a simple problem or question then it may be possible to sort this out over the phone. Ask the receptionists to take a message and we can call you back. However please check that we have your correct phone number and you let us know if there is a best time to call.
Continuing care. If you have an ongoing problem then please try to see the

same doctor for each appointment. This means that you don’t have to keep on repeating your story, and enables the doctor to build up a better picture of what is going on. If you have been for a consultation and been told that you need a follow-up appointment then try to make it before you leave the surgery.

Multiple problems. A routine appointment is for 15 minutes. During that time the doctor needs to read up on your records, get you from the waiting room, deal with your problem(s), and write up the records. If you have more than one problem then it may not be possible to deal with it in a single appointment. Ask the receptionist if you think that you may need more time.
Be patient. Please understand that the receptionists and clinical staff are trying to meet the needs of thousands of patients, each of whom is very important. Although we want to offer personal, patient-centred care, we are often stretched to the limit. Please try to be understanding if things are not completely to your satisfaction.

Finally, although our reception staff will always do their best to offer you an appointment that meets your needs when you contact us, if one is not immediately available then you will be invited to leave a message so that the doctors can decide on the best way to deal with your problem.