Appointments

Morning Appointments

We operate a triage service during the morning. To obtain an appointment please telephone the Surgery between 08:30 - 10:00. You will be asked for your name and contact telephone number and a GP or Nurse Practitioner will call you back. If you then need to be seen the GP or Nurse Practitioner will book you an appropriate appointment. Each GP has a set amount of appointments to offer, once these appointments have been allocated, regardless of the time, you may be asked to ring back the following morning.

Afternoon/Evening Appointments

All afternoon and evening appointments must be booked in advance. Please note that appointments are for the person in whose name the appointment has been made. If you have a query about another member of your family please make an additional appointment. Appointments can be made 1 month in advance.

Afternoon and evening appointments are now available to book online, if you are registered for online services with the surgery.  Click here to log in.

Cancellations

If you cannot attend an appointment for any reason please inform us as soon as possible in order for us to give the slot to someone else.

Home Visits

Whilst we encourage our patients to come to the surgery, where we have the proper equipment and facilities available, we do appreciate this is not always possible. In this respect, if you do need a home visit, you can help us by calling reception between 08:30 - 11:00. Home visits requested after this time may be passed to the Out-of-Hours Service.

You may only request a home visit if you are housebound or are too ill to visit the practice. Your GP will only visit you at home if they think that your medical condition requires it and will also decide how urgently a visit is needed. Please bear this in mind and be prepared to provide suitable details to enable the doctor to schedule house calls

You can also be visited at home by a community nurse if you are referred by your GP. You could also be visited at home by a health visitor if you have recently had a baby or if you are newly registered with a GP and have a child under five years.

Sickness Certificates

You do not require a doctor's sickness certificate for any illness lasting seven days or less. Your employer may however require you to complete a self-certification form (SC2) which is available from your employer or on the HMRC website.

Evidence that you are sick

If you are sick for more than seven days, your employer can ask you to give them some form of medical evidence to support payment of SSP (statutory sick pay).

It is up to your employer to decide whether you are incapable of work. A medical certificate, now called a 'Statement of Fitness for Work’ (see below) from your doctor is strong evidence that you are sick and would normally be accepted, unless there is evidence to prove otherwise.

You could also provide evidence from someone who is not a medical practitioner, e.g. a dentist. Your employer will decide whether or not this evidence is acceptable. If your employer has any doubts, they may still ask for a medical certificate from your GP.

Statement of Fitness for Work - ’Fit Note'

The 'fit note' was introduced on 6 April 2010. With your employer's support, the note will help you return to work sooner by providing more information about the effects of your illness or injury.

For more information see the DirectGov website (where this information was sourced)

Evening and Weekend Appointments Available

Patients can see a GP, nurse or healthcare assistant for routine appointments in the evenings and over the weekends.

The Evening and Weekend GP service offers additional, pre-booked appointments at convenient times to suit your needs.

The service operates from six locations across Epping Forest, Harlow and Uttlesford and appointments are booked through our receptionists. This service is not a “walk-in service” and is for booked appointments only.

For non-emergency but urgent medical appointments over the weekend please continue to call NHS 111.

To book an evening or weekend appointment, contact us in the usual way. We will book an appointment at a local hub, through our booking system, and ask permission to access your medical records.

We will provide you with a date, time and location for your appointment.

To find out more please go to https://hucweb.co.uk/services/gp-extended-access

You will be seen by a GP, nurse or healthcare assistant at a local health centre who may not be your own GP or nurse.

Should you need to change or cancel an appointment please call NHS 111 and select option 3