Dear Leacroft patients,
On Monday 12th February, we will be slightly changing the way we manage appointment requests and offer appointments. We still strongly advise everyone to visit our website to request a GP appointment if you can, as there are no queues, but you can call us (or come in to Reception) if using the website is not possible or easy for you.
All patient requests are reviewed by one of our doctors, who decides the appropriate outcome – this could be:
- an appointment with one of our doctors;
- an appointment with another part of our team, such as a physio or a specialist nurse;
- an appointment with the new Pharmacy First scheme for one of seven common conditions (click here for more info);
- a quick call or message from the doctor with help and advice.
We will respond to everyone on the same day if we can, but within 48 working hours at the most. Requests that are truly urgent for medical reasons will be prioritised and responded to first, as will requests for vulnerable patients, very young children or patients with complicated health conditions.
Although we will prioritise urgent requests, we would like to remind everyone that we are not designed to be an emergency service, and our capacity to see patients on the same day that the appointment is asked for is limited. We will only consider medical reasons for an urgent appointment.
If the doctor who reviews your request wants you to see one of our GPs, we can now send you a link via SMS to book an appointment at a time and day you choose, with a doctor you choose, subject to their availability. This can be up to 2 weeks ahead, if you want.
We will ask you when you request an appointment if you are able to book online like this – if you are not, we can book for you if needed, but we will not be able to offer a choice of time or day. Please try to use the online booking link where possible – we believe this will result in a much better service for everyone.
Many thanks for reading – we are always trying to improve our service for the Leacroft patient community.