Lake Road Practice

Please ask at reception. When registering you will be asked to fill in a confidential questionnaire for the doctor, and invited to a routine health screening clinic. This will cover a brief medical history, details of medication and advice about health including weight, diet, exercise, together with a blood pressure check. Please bring a urine sample with you for testing too. Do attend as this is for your benefit. You can express a preference of doctor to the receptionist at registration.

HOW DO I...
CHANGE MY DETAILS?

Please let us know of any changes so we can keep your records up to date. You will also need to inform the hospital if you are attending outpatients or are awaiting inpatient treatment.

HOW DO I...
OBTAIN TELEPHONE ADVICE?

Your doctor will be happy to advise you, if not consulting with another patient. (Our receptionists are asked not to disturb the doctor if he is with another patient unless the matter is a medical emergency.) You may be asked to phone back, or leave a phone number for when your doctor is free later in the day.

HOW DO I...
MAKE APPOINTMENTS?

- All doctors run appointment surgeries.

- Please contact the practice during opening times to make an appointment.

- You will be asked to see your registered doctor if at all possible, although you may be asked to see another doctor if urgent treatment is needed.

- If your problem is painful, medically urgent or very worrying, ask for an urgent appointment.

SAME-DAY URGENT APPOINTMENTS

These are available for medically urgent problems. Please ring between 8.30 and 10.30am if you have an urgent problem. The doctor will deal with the urgent problem the same day but more routine problems will be dealt with at a later time. Please do not use urgent appointments for medically non-urgent matters.

- Please think carefully whether an appointment is necessary. Doctors will be happy to return calls to give advice and are also happy to receive messages by telephone or by letter if the matter is important but less urgent.

- The doctors do their best to run to time, but please be patient if you are kept waiting - they may be dealing with an emergency. Remember it may be you next time.

- Please help us to run to time by:

- Making a separate appointment for each person to be seen.

- Restricting your consultations to serious concerns.

- Please bring to appointments your repeat pescription card and computer slip if you have one, and your medication if you are not quite sure what it is or the dose you normally take.

- If you run out of medication by accident we may be able to do a temporary prescription to tide you over - please ask at reception.

- We have a team of skilled and experienced nurses to give advice and care in a range of acute illnesses and who may be able to help you in some circumstances.

- Please leave, if appropriate, requests for reports for solicitors, housing, passport forms, attendance and Disability Living Allowance forms with us. We may be able to complete them without asking you to be seen in surgery.

Children under 16 should be accompanied by a responsible adult.

HOW DO I...
OBTAIN HOME VISITS?

We visit patients at home when they are medically too ill to come to the surgery. However, each home visit takes the time it would have taken to see four or more patients at the surgery. It is best for everyone if acutely ill patients are seen in surgery where fuller facilities for assessment are available, unless they would need an ambulance and crew to travel. Acutely ill patients will be given urgent appointments and be seen as soon as possible.

If you do need a home visit, please telephone 0844 477 3540 between 8.30 and 10.30am and give details of the urgency of the problem - this allows the doctor to plan his rounds fairly. Please give any advice the doctor will need to find your home easily. Please try not to call your doctor out of surgery if at all practical, to avoid delays for many patients. If the problem is urgent attending the surgery may well result in you being seen sooner.

HOW DO I...
OBTAIN TEST RESULTS?

Please follow the doctor's instructions to ring for the results of tests. We will leave instructions with reception should any follow-up be needed. This is especially important for the results of cervical smear tests, when you should ring six weeks later, unless the doctor advises you otherwise. Because telephone lines are busiest when the surgery opens in the morning, please phone 0844 477 3540 for results between 2.00 and 5.00pm.