Appointments Advice

Appointments

Summary:

• We offer same day/urgent and routine appointments with our clinicians.
• Appointments may be face to face or via telephone dependant on clinical need.
• To book an appointment, please use our appointment booking system Anima.
• Appointments are prioritised on the patient urgent clinical need.
• Appointments are at the Practice (Wellingborough/Earls Barton) or at our Wellingborough Extended Access Hub based at Albany House Medical Centre.
• If you are unable to attend an appointment please contact the Practice immediately to enable us to use for another patient.

Anima Appointment System
ANIMA

Further Details:
We are able to offer appointments with a variety of clinicians. We have GPs, Advanced Nurse Practitioners, Treatment Area Nurses, specialist Paediatric Nurses, Mental Health Nurses, Physiotherapists at the Practice. Evening and weekend appointments are our available for Long Term Condition reviews and the extended hours service at the Wellingborough Hub off additional GP and Nurse appointments.

We use a software package (NHS England approved) called Anima.  This system helps deal with patients clinical and administrative requests.  For those who are able to use the internet, you will be able to submit your symptoms and wait for the Practice to respond which means no more waiting on hold to speak to someone.  You will be able to track your requests as well as view your appointments, find local services that are able to help you and submi requests for sick notes.

Patients unable to access the internet or do not have access to an email can always contact the Patient Services Team via telephone.  We appreciate that not everyone can use this system and our team will still be here to help you and complete the form on your behalf.

You must register with Anima and the link is on our home page and further information please refer to Dr Kate Hughes video within our news page.

When using Anima there is a detailed form to be completed and it is very important that you submit as much information as possible.  It does not take long to complete the form.
The Duty Doctors will look at the requests and action based on the patient clinical need not want.  If there is a requirement to be seen immediatetly an appointment for the same day will be booked.  It may be that you do not need to be seen the same day and a routine appointment will be booked.  We will endeavour to book you with the clinician you saw previously to enable you to receive continuity of care thus helping you manage your problem better. Some things do not need an appointment and our Doctors will contact you regarding next steps ie prescription collection.
There will be occassions where you are asked to go to a Pharmacy as they are able to assist, or to A&E or visit the Corby Urgent Care Centre.  And when we do not have an appointments left we may ask you to contact 111.

We will respond to our patients the same day for those who have requested an appointment.

Telephone and Face to Face Appointments

You may be offered a telephone consultations in the first instance dependant on your clinical need. If the appointment is booked for the morning the Clinician will contact you between 08.30  and 13.00.  For afternoon appointments the Clincian will contact you between 14.30 to 18.30. 
We shall contact you twice. If there is no answer you will need to submit another request via our appointment booking system to re-arrange the appointment. We cannot continually call you until we get an answer. This missed appointment will be classed as a “Did not attend” and our process in managing these will be followed.

Patients attending the Practice for a face to face appointment must check in at the reception desk. The Practice will, as far as practicable, see patients who arrive late, however this may be at the end of the Clinicians surgery and will therefore involve a considerable wait.

If you are less than 15 minutes late the Receptionist will speak with the Clinician to see if they can see you at their first available opportunity.
If you are more than 15 minutes late it is likely that it will not be possible to see you. The Clinicians have very busy surgeries and therefore it will be necessary for you re-arrange the appointment at a later date.

Unable to attend your appointment?

We take the quality of the service we provide for patients very seriously and always strive to offer appointments as quickly as we can. We recognise that on occasions people’s circumstances change and there is a legitimate reason (medical or non-medical) that mean they no longer need the appointment. However, where this is the case we ask that patients (or someone that the patient has asked to support them) phone the Practice on 01933 233200 to let us know. 

By doing this it will free up your appointment, which is no longer required, so that another patient can be booked in. This clearly allows us to make sure we can continue to offer appointments to patients as soon as possible, and make sure that people do not have to wait for longer periods of time before a doctor or nurse can see them.

If you have supplied us with a mobile number, we have a system whereby we will provide you with an automatic text message to remind you of your appointment. These messages will be sent to you on the day you book your appointment and also the day before your appointment. If on receipt of the text message you no longer need the appointment please phone us on the above number so that we can make your cancellation and free up the appointment for someone else who needs it. If you do not wish to receive the text messages, please contact the Practice to let us know.

Once again, we appreciate that people lead busy lives and often remembering appointments are difficult. We also appreciate that circumstances can change. However, I must advise you that it is the policy of the Practice to consider the removal of patients from the Practice register who continue to fail to attend their booked appointments.

Please remember to cancel unwanted appointments.

Wellingborough Hub GP Enhanced Access

Appointments are also available at our “Wellingborough Hub” GP Enhanced Access.This is a GP led evening and weekend service where local GPs and other Clinicians offer a range of services for patients registered at Practices within Wellingborough.

These appointments will be of help for patients who find it difficult to attend an appointment during the day, those who are working parents with children and/or those who are reliant on working carers to take them to appointments.

Appointments are for routine general issues and not urgent care.

Patients of Abbey Medical Practice can contact a member of the Patient Services Team and ask to book an appointment at the Hub. This is not a walk in service and patients will not been seen unless they have an appointment.

Where it is appropriate, we will refer our patients to their local Community Pharmacist for minor illness such as:

• Coughs and colds
• Acne
• Mild allergies
• Sinusitis
• Sore throat
• Cold Sores and mouth ulcers
• Earache
• Infected insect bite/stings
• Blisters/boils
• Impetigo
• Conjunctivitis
• Shingles
• Uncomplicated urinary tract infections (UTIs) in women

Our Patient Services Team we will recommend this service to enable us to free appointments for our clinicians to see our patients with more complex needs.