Access the online appointment system

Following feedback from both patients and staff, Woodley Centre Surgery decided to design a new appointment system. The new system operates mostly through routine/pre-bookable appointments. These routine appointments will be available to pre-book 1-4 days in advance and some available to pre-book 2-4 weeks in advance.

Acute Care Team

In April 2018 we set up a team of acute care health professionals to provide you with an on-the-day service in order to meet the demand for prompt access to appointments. This is proving very successful in meeting demand.

The team is available Monday to Friday and is made up of:

• 2 GPs
• Nurse Practitioner
• Paramedic Practitioner
• Pharmacist.

When you call or present to the surgery you will be offered a guaranteed telephone call back or an appointment to come in to see one of our Acute Care Practitioners on the same day.

It would be very helpful if you could provide a reason for your attendance or a description of your illness in order that the most appropriate clinician is assigned to you quickly and effectively.

To offer this service without a long wait we ask you to only discuss one medical condition during your Acute Care appointment.

Acute Care includes treatment of short-term illnesses, injuries and new problems. If you think your condition can be managed without the need for a face-to-face consultation, a telephone call will be offered and an Acute Care Practitioner will return your call that day (morning or afternoon). If your problem is more chronic you are welcome to request a booked appointment in advance with a GP.

We hope that with this system appointments should be more readily available to patients, and staff will be able to offer more choice to patients. We also have Nurse Practitioners who are able to treat minor illness conditions as well as a pharmacist who can help deal with most medication queries. The receptionist will signpost you to the most appropriate clinician for your health concern.

We will try to book you in with the Doctor of your choice, but this may not be possible and it may be better for you to see a Nurse Practitioner or Practice Nurse. Please be patient with our receptionists, they are not being obstructive.

In an emergency contact us by phoning the usual surgery number; please choose the emergency option.

Cancelling an appointment

If you cannot keep an appointment please let us know as soon as possible. We will always be able to give the appointment to someone else.

Home Visits

Please try to request a home visit before 10.00am and only if it is impossible for you to travel to the Surgery. This will enable the doctors to plan their day.

The receptionist may ask you to describe your symptoms and the GP will then call you to discuss how best to manage your problem: for some patients our GP paramedic may be the best person to visit you.