Blackwater Medical Centre Appointment System
The practice has six full time partners (9 sessions per week) and one part time partner (7
sessions per week)
A session is a surgery consisting of between 16 – 18 appointments.
Due to Government Guidelines we are obliged to offer the following:
Advanced Booking up to 4 weeks in advance - we actually have six weeks.
Advanced Booking – 48 hours
Book on the Day
Telephone Slots
We also have advanced booking one week ahead separate to the six weeks.
We sub-divide the surgery session into the following:
4 – advanced booking – six weeks ahead
4 advanced booking - two days ahead
4 book on the day – for automated system – patient partner
4 book on the day for receptionists
2 telephone slots.
Automated System:
The automated system can detect any available appointment on the advanced booking
appointments.
For on the day – these are released by the system after midnight on the day. The best
time to telephone is before 8 am when the phones back over from the Out of Hours
(OOH) service.
The system can be used over the weekend. Saturday books for Monday and Sunday for
Tuesday, providing there are available appointments on the system.
If the system does not respond to your details – do not call back as they need checking by
the practice.
If the system has no appointments on the day it will find you the next free appointment.
Specialist Clinics
All the Doctors run specialist clinics at various times during the week.
Dr Roper and Dr Cargill
Dr Haeger, Dr Teatino and Dr Geranmayeh
Dr Lim
Dr Wright
Asthma
Chronic Heart Disease
Chronic Obstructive Airways Disease
Mental Health
Extended Access
Five of the Doctors do early morning 7am to 8am for their extended access.
Two Doctors do a three hours surgery every 3rd Saturday. These are all advanced
booking only.
Visits & Emergencies
There is always one Doctor out on early morning visits. His/her morning surgery will not
start until 10.30am and goes on until 13.00.
The other Doctors have surgeries running from 8am. 8.30 am or 9 am for about two and
a half hours. Following this these Doctors go out on visits. It is most important to have
the visit request in before 11 am so that all the visits can be divided equally between the
visiting Doctors.
We have an Emergency Doctor on call every afternoon from 13.00; he/she does a clinic
from 14.30 onwards. Sometimes the Doctor has to leave to do a visit and so patients at
the surgery may have to wait.
Annual Leave/Study Days
Each of the partners is entitled to six weeks annual leave.
They also have to attain 50 hours of study annually. So have a further week for achieving
this.
Locum Cover
It is not the practice policy to have locum cover and we do so only when it is really
necessary.
We try very hard to get local Doctors but sometimes this is not possible and we have to
use agencies.
Triage/Nurses:
We have six practice nurses. We run normal treatment room surgeries and also
specialised clinics in Asthma, Spirometry, Travel and Diabetes.
We have a nurse in Triage every morning and afternoon who can deal with minor
ailments. Please check with the receptionist before booking an appointment.
Heybridge Surgery:
Our branch surgery at Heybridge usually has a Doctor there every day. The exceptions
for this are when someone is on annual leave.
All appointments for the Heybridge
Surgery are pre booked via the Maldon Surgery.
Nurses have sessions in Heybridge as follows:
General Treatment Room: Tuesday Morning
Diabetic Clinic:
Thursday Afternoon
Asthma Clinic:
Friday Morning