Appointments

Please contact the surgery you normally attend. Urgent appointments will be seen the same day but not always by your usual Doctor.

Routine appointments are for 10 minutes only but if you feel you will need longer please let the Receptionist know when booking.

If you cannot keep you appointment please let us know as soon as possible. If you have more than one problem the doctor may ask you to reattend for those that cannot be dealt with in the time available.

 

Home Visits

If you are too ill to come to Surgery, the Doctor will visit you at home wherever possible or appropriate. Please let us know before 10.30 am wherever possible and be prepared to give brief details to the Receptionist so the Doctor can assess the urgency of your request. There may be occasions when the Doctor considers that direct hospital admission is appropriate.

House visits are only available for patients who are housebound because of illness or disability.

Please remember that several patients can be seen in the practice in the time that it takes to make one home visit. There are also better facilities for examining and treating patients at the Health Centre.

When The Surgery Is Open

If you or the person you represent needs urgent medical attention please contact the Surgery and ENSURE that the Receptionist is aware that the matter is an EMERGENCY and be prepared to give details of the problem to the Receptionist.

Your call will then be passed to the Doctor who will need to ascertain further medical information from you to ensure appropriate priority is given to your call.

There may be times when the doctor considers that the most appropriate response is to call a 999 ambulance for example if someone is in a state of collapse or thought to be having a heart attack. It is also appropriate for the patient or patient’s representative to dial 999 directly when there is clear evidence of a need for immediate emergency treatment.

We have a Doctor on call each weekday who is available to deal with urgent visits and also has appointments for patients who need to be seen that day

When The Surgery Is Closed

Derbyshire County Primary Care Trust is responsible for the provision of medical services to patients when the Surgery is closed. This service is provided Derbyshire Health United for patients in this area. This Surgery is no longer open on Saturday mornings.

If you require urgent medical attention when the Surgery is closed, you can ring 111 and your call will be automatically transferred to the Out of Hours service

A Receptionist will answer your call (the Receptionist will either be from Derbyshire Health United or from NHS Direct, depending on the time of your call) and will take necessary details from you which will then be passed to a Nurse.

A Nurse will then ring you back. The Nurse will either give telephone advice, arrange for you to speak to a Doctor, ask you to attend the Medical Centre, Scarsdale, Nightgale Close, Newbold Road, Chesterfield or arrange for a Doctor to make a home visit, whichever seems the most appropriate need.

There may be occasions when the nurse advises that a 999 emergency ambulance is necessary.

At weekends you may be requested to attend the designated sessions held at either of the local hospitals at Clay Cross or Whitworth, Matlock. Please DO NOT attend the Medical Centre or either of the Hospitals without having first contacted the Out of Hours Service unless you have had an accident with injury requiring attention at a hospital A&E department in which case you may attend Derby Royal Infirmary or Chesterfield Royal Infirmary directly.

IF YOU ARE EXPERIENCING CHEST PAINS PERHAPS RADIATING DOWN THE LEFT ARM, NAUSEA, OR SWEATING PLEASE DO NOT DELAY IN GETTING MEDICAL ATTENTION – DIAL 999 FOR THE AMBULANCE SERVICE

Telephone Advice
The Doctor on call will be available to give urgent telephone advice between 9.00am — 10.00am. For telephone advice on routine matters your usual doctor will be available between 11.30am—12.00 noon and 2.45pm—3.15pm.