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Appointments
For non-urgent issues, please follow the guidelines below and choose the right service. An appointment may not be necessary.
This will help us to be more efficient by making an appointment available to you when you need it the most.
Pharmacy and Self Care
See a Pharmacist
Many conditions can be treated without the need to see your GP.
See a list of conditions a pharmacist can help with
- impetigo (aged 1 year and over)
- infected insect bites (aged 1 year and over)
- earache (aged 1 to 17 years)
- sore throat (aged 5 years and over)
- sinusitis (aged 12 years and over)
- urinary tract infections (UTIs) (women aged 16 to 64 years)
- shingles (aged 18 years and over)
If you are not within these age ranges, a pharmacist can still offer advice and support decisions about self care treatment with over the counter medicines, but you may need to see a GP for treatment.
Self-Care
Help and support available from many National and Local Organisations
Book an Appointment
Urgent appointments for today or tomorrow (Monday to Friday)
We will get back to you within 6 working hours. Most of the time this means you’ll get a response the same day. If it’s urgent we will get back to you as quickly as we can.
Ways to book
1. Request an urgent appointment online
By far the quickest and easiest way to get a message to us requesting a same-day appointment is via our online form. A GP will read the request and the reception will get in touch to offer you an appointment (urgently, if needed).
Your message will be read by a member of our team within 6 working hours. For urgent medical concerns we will try to respond as soon as possible. Please remember to include your availability when submitting your request.
2. Telephone: 020 8788 0686
You can still ring the practice when we are open. If you are unable to use our online form, the receptionist will take some key details from you to pass onto the GP and then get back to you about an appointment.
Extended access
We also have extended access available. See our Out of Hours information.
Request a Routine Appointment
Ways to book
1. Request an appointment online
By far the quickest and more convenient way to request an appointment is using our simple online form. A GP will read your message and may contact you for more information. The reception team will get back to you to with the outcome from the GP, including to arrange a convenient appointment if required.
2. Telephone: 020 8788 0686
You can still ring the practice when we are open. If you are unable to use our online form, the receptionist will take some key details from you to pass onto the GP and then get back to you about an appointment.
Practice Nurse and Healthcare Assistant (HCA) appointments
Practice Nurse and Healthcare Assistant (HCA) appointments are usually 15 minutes in duration. Some appointments may require more than 15 minutes. If you need more than a single 15 minute appointment with the nurse, please phone the practice to book.
Counsellors
Putneymead have an in-house counselling team which can be accessed without the need of a GP referral. We provide "Direct Access" face to face and telephone appointments. During these initial consultations, the counsellor will be able to assess whether you would benefit from continued counselling at Putneymead or a referral to another service.
First Contact Physiotherapist
Sickness Certificates (Fit Notes)
You must give your employer a doctor's 'fit note' (sometimes called a 'sick note') if you've been ill for more than 7 days in a row and have taken sick leave. This includes non-working days, such as weekends and bank holidays.
Travel Vaccinations
Information and advice for travelling abroad.
Home Visits
We offer home visits for patients who are genuinely housebound because of illness or disability.
Please try to telephone reception before 10:30am if you think you may require a home visit. We will take your details and ask a doctor to get in touch over the phone initially.
Telephone: 020 8788 0686
You can also request a home visit for yourself or someone you care for using our online form. A GP will read the request and will ring you back as soon as they can.
A doctor will phone you back to discuss the matter on the same day. We find that often problems can be safely managed with telephone advice, or it is much more appropriate to manage incidents by arranging a district nurse visit or a hospital attendance rather than a home visit.
Please remember that multiple patients can be seen at the practice in the time that it takes to make a single home visit. This is why we fully explore all alternatives before confirming whether a visit will take place or not. We also have better facilities on-site for examining and treating patients.
Student Medical Centre
Please follow the steps above to book an appointment.
It helps us if you mention on the online form that you're a patient with the Student Medical Centre (SMC).
Change or Cancel an Appointment
Please give us as much notice as possible so we can offer your appointment to someone else.
Ways to cancel
1. By text - reply using the word CANCEL to your appointment reminder message
2. Cancel an appointment online. Please give at least one working day's notice, otherwise it is better to call so we can ensure the appointment is made available to someone else.
3. Cancel using our online services
5. Telephone us on 020 8788 0686.
Out of Hours
Enhanced Access
Ask at reception for enhanced access information
Life Threatening
Call 999 or go to A&E now if:
- you or someone you know needs immediate help
- you have seriously harmed yourself - for example, by taking a drug overdose
A mental health emergency should be taken as seriously as a medical emergency.
Urgent But Not Life Threatening
Visit an urgent care centre if:
- You have an urgent medical issue requiring on the day attention
Non-urgent
Use NHS 111 if:
- You need help now, but it's not an emergency
There will be someone to provide you with advice and to direct you to a clinician if it is necessary.
Text Messaging - Reminders, Invitations, Results
By providing your mobile phone number and email address you can now have reminders, invites and practice news and results sent to you directly by SMS or email.
This means that we will be able to communicate with you via text, land line phone and email, using automated technology that will enable us to contact you much more quickly and effectively. This will free up our staff to deal with those tasks only a human can do! It is important that you keep us up-to-date with your current mobile phone number and email address.
Types of communication include:
- Automated appointment reminders are sent 24 hours before. You can cancel your appointment by simply replying back to the appointment reminder using the word CANCEL, which immediately frees it up for others to book.
- Targeted health promotion campaigns, such as flu clinics
- Targeted questionnaires to individual patients to help them manage chronic long term medical conditions better
- Reminders to attend specific clinics like diabetic, CPD, etc.
- Urgent communications: for example, if a GP calls in sick first thing in the morning, all patients in that surgery will be advised by text within minutes.
Of course, you can opt out by sending us a message or advising reception, but you would not be benefiting from the quick and non-intrusive communications from us that the system provides.
If you do not want to receive information by text message on your phone or via email, please inform your doctor or a receptionist when you’re next in.
Chaperone Policy
We are committed to providing a safe and comfortable environment for patients and staff. Sometimes you may wish to have a friend or relative in the room with you during a consultation or procedure. You can always ask to have someone with you and we will always ask before carrying out any intimate examination or procedure.