Appointments with a Doctor
You can choose to receive your treatment from either the main surgery at Elswick or the branch surgery at Adelaide. Both surgeries are open:

Monday to Friday 8.30-6.00pm
Wednesday 12-1pm closed for lunch
Thursday 12.30-2.00pm closed for lunch and Team Meeting

• Please call late morning or late afternoon when the phone lines are less busy.
• When no same day appointments are available and your need is URGENT, we will arrange for a Doctor or Nurse to phone you to discuss your problem. An emergency same day appointment will then be arranged if this is appropriate.
• Please help us to help you by cancelling unwanted appointments, these can then be released to patients who really need to see a Doctor.

If you have any special requirements – please tell your Receptionist when booking appointments, for example:

• If you need language interpretation
• If you need British Sign Language (BSL) interpretation
• If you have any form of sensory impairment

Private Consulting/Interview Rooms – If you would like to speak to a member of staff and do not have an appointment, please speak to a Receptionist and they can arrange a room for you.

The Practice operates a booking system where an appointment to see a GP is offered within 48 hours, though you may have to wait longer if you want to see a particular GP. Appointments are for 10 minutes; should you require a longer appointment, please inform the Receptionist when booking your appointment. An appointment with an Interpreter requires a double appointment. Please note it is one appointment per patient. A Hearing Loop is available at both of our Reception Areas for those patients with impaired hearing.

The Doctors will start their surgery on time and will try to keep to time; however, some patient’s problems may take longer than their allocated 10 minutes. Please be patient and come prepared for a short wait. We will inform you if the Doctor is over 20 minutes behind time.

You can help us by:

• Being on time for your appointment
• Letting us know if you need to cancel
• Calling for a home visit or urgent appointment before 10am
• Ringing for test results after 11am

Urgent Appointments will be seen on the same day; however, all calls will first be triaged by either a Nurse Practitioner or Doctor.

Home Visits

Home visits are available on request and are reserved for patients who are not able to come to the surgery in person because of their medical condition. Home Visits need to be received by no later than 11am. It may be possible for reception staff to organise for you to speak to a GP if you are unable to come to the surgery in person.

Test Results

For test results, please contact the surgery, preferably after 3pm. You may not need to contact us if you are due to see the Doctor for a review to discuss your problem and the test result.

Evenings & Weekends Out of Hours Service

Evening and Weekend out of hours GP services are provided by Northern Doctors Urgent Care – Telephone 0845 60 80 320. They can also be contacted by patient with Hearing Impairments on Typetalk 18002.

Appointments with the Nurse Practitioner

A Nurse Practitioner (NP) is a registered nurse who has undertaken further training, to degree level to enable them to see patients independently with a variety of health complaints and prescribe medication if appropriate.

The Nurse Practitioner is available for all age groups and can offer health advice to all of the practice patients, babies, children and adults. This may be within the surgery or over the telephone.

What sort of things can a Nurse Practitioner do?

• Examinations for minor illnesses, coughs, colds, rashes, temperatures, eczema
• Minor injury advice e.g. back ache, joint pains, sprains and strains
• Contraception advice
• Stop smoking advice
• Medication reviews
• Cervical smears
• Health information

The Nurse Practitioner works closely with the Practice team including GPs, Practice Nurses, Health Visitors and District nurses.

Appointments with the Practice Nurse

For routine procedures you will be offered an appointment. Duration of these appointments depend upon the appointment request. You will be asked by the Receptionist what the nature of the appointment is, this is to allow them to allocate the correct appointment time.

The Practice nurse is a Registered Nurse working within the team in supporting patients to be healthy, screening activities and health promotion.

The practice nurse has undertaken training and has experience in supporting patients with long term conditions, such as Diabetes, asthma, heart disease and COPD.

Practice Nurses encourage patients to manage their health through the promotion of self care advice, lifestyle changes and strategies to manage their own health care needs.

Kinds of things a Practice nurse does:

• Chronic Disease management
• Diabetes
• Heart Disease
• Asthma
• Blood pressure + COPD
• Smear Tests
• Contraception
• Men’s Health
• Travel advice and injections
• Baby Injections
• Stop smoking advice
• Ear Care,
• Health Education information and many others.

Appointments with the Healthcare Assistant

The role of the Health Care Assistant is to support the Practice Nurses in providing patient care.

Appointments can be made with the Health Care Assistant for the following:

• Bloods
• Blood Pressure Monitoring
• New Patient Registration Checks
• Over 75’s Health Checks
• Screening Prior to Diabetic Appointment
• Heart and Kidney Disease Reviews
• Health Promotion

Health Visitors

Hazel Galloway, Mary Haggath – (Based at Armstrong Road Clinic) or e-mail us at agraingermg©nhs•net
The Health Visitors will be at the Baby Clinic at Adelaide on a Wednesday afternoon between 1.00-3.00pm. A Baby Clinic will be held at Elswick Surgery on a Tuesday morning between 10.30 and 11.30am.

H2>District Nurses

The main role of the District Nurses is to provide care for our patients in their home. To contact the District Nurses telephone (0191) 298 6060, fax 0191 298 6084 or e-mail agraingermg©nhs•net and leave a message. The District Nurses call into the practice daily so can pick up messages.

Midwife

The Midwife has Antenatal clinics at Adelaide Surgery for all new mums as follows:-
Monday – 9.00am – 12 Noon – Antenatal Clinic
Monday pm – Booking Clinic for newly pregnant Mums
Wednesday 9.00am – 12 Noon Antenatal Clinic

Repeat prescriptions can be ordered by completing the right hand side of your last prescription and placing the slips in the special post boxes at our Reception desks at both surgeries. In writing (please enclose a stamped addressed envelope). Fax 0191 298 6084 or e-mail requests to agraingermg©nhs•net.
Please allow 48 hours for your prescription to be issued (excluding weekend and bank holidays).