 Use the appointment system correctly, as described above, and plan ahead for
follow-up appointments. You can make bookings up to 4 weeks in advance.
 Make and cancel appointments online whenever possible. If you haven’t yet
registered for online services, just check with Reception and we’ll make all the
necessary arrangements.
 If you can’t attend at the time booked, or if you no longer need the
appointment, please let Reception know as soon as possible so that the timeslot can be given to someone else.
 Remember that, although Reception staff cannot make medical decisions, they
are more than happy to get advice from a doctor or nurse on your behalf.
 Please treat the doctors, nurse and staff at Heaton Road Surgery with
courtesy. We are all trying to do our best, and shouting or swearing is unfair
and unacceptable.
USEFUL INFORMATION
Contact information and opening times are set out below. We close for staff
training at 12.00.noon on Thursdays, re-opening at 1.30.pm. There is a late
surgery on Tuesdays between 6.30.pm. and 7.30.pm. The Surgery is closed on
Saturdays, Sundays and Bank Holidays and is occasionally closed for staff
training in the afternoon. These closures are listed in our quarterly Newsletter,
available at Reception or on our website. Information about the days on which
individual doctors normally hold surgeries can also be found on our website.
SERVICES AVAILABLE
MON
TUE
WED
THU
FRI
Reception
08.30-18.00 08.30-20.00 08.30-18.00
08.30-12.00
08.30-18.00
13.30-18.00
Surgeries
08.30-10.30
11.00-11.30
13.30-16.00
15.00-17.30
08.30-10.30
11.00-11.30
13.30-16.00
15.00-17.30
(Ordinary appointments)
Surgeries
(Urgent appointments)
08.30-10.30
11.00-11.30
13.30-16.00
15.00-17.30
18.30-19.30
08.30-10.30
11.00-11.30
13.30-16.00
15.00-17.30
08.30-10.30
11.00-11.30
13.30-16.00
15.00-17.30
APPOINTMENTS
HOW THEY WORK
AND
HOW TO GET THE
BEST FROM THEM
Available from 11.00 daily subject to demand
Appointments bookable by telephone from 08.30
Telephone Number:
(0191) 265 5911
Fax Number:
(0191) 265 6974
Website:
www.heatonroadsurgery.nhs.uk
Heaton Road Surgery, 17-19 Heaton Road, Newcastle upon Tyne NE6 1SA
HEATON ROAD
.SURGERY
WHY WE NEED APPOINTMENTS
URGENT APPOINTMENTS
In the early days of the NHS, most doctors didn’t use an appointment system. If
they held a surgery from, say, 9.00.am. to 11.00.am. patients simply came along
between these times and were seen in the order in which they arrived. When
practices were smaller, this worked quite well in the summer, but in the depths of
winter surgeries were crowded, patients were queuing before the doors opened
and were still being seen two hours or more after the doors had closed again.
Waits of three hours and upwards were not unknown, and if you didn’t have a cold
when you arrived, you’d probably catch one before your name was called. As
demand increased and practices grew larger, the old system simply couldn’t cope.
The only practical way to deal with the problem was to introduce some kind of
appointments system.
Urgent appointments are offered from Monday to Friday inclusive, and are
available even if ordinary appointments for the day are fully booked. These
appointments are timed at 5-minute intervals, and there is no limit to the
number offered, so you may need to wait a while. To book an urgent
appointment, just ring the surgery as soon as possible after 8.30.am; you will
normally ne asked to come in around 11.00.am. Urgent appointments are
particularly useful for children who are unwell, for minor adult infections such
as tonsillitis, chest or urine problems, and for sudden attacks of stomach, back
or chest pain (but not for severe, crushing chest pain which you think may be a
heart attack – you should call 999 and ask for a paramedic ambulance).
Please don’t use urgent appointments for long-term ailments, for conditions
that have been going on for several weeks or for renewal of prescriptions,
issue of sick notes or requests for referral.
HOW APPOINTMENTS WORK
We can’t predict how long a particular consultation with a doctor or nurse will take;
it can vary from a couple of minutes to half-an-hour or more, depending upon the
circumstances of each individual case. Similarly, we can’t predict how many
people will want to see a doctor or nurse on a given day. What we can do is look
at our records and work out the average time taken for each appointment, and the
average number of appointments needed each day. If, for example, a doctor can
deal with an average of six patients an hour, we need to allow 10 minutes for each
appointment. Of course, a random hour may actually be made up of two 5-minute
consultations, three 10-minute consultations and one 20-minute consultation. If the
20-minute case comes first, the following appointments will inevitably be pushed
back. Delay of this kind can’t be avoided, but by working out the average demand
and building in some flexibility we do everything we can to keep it to a minimum,
though staffing problems outside of our control can sometimes make this an
almost impossible task.
ORDINARY APPOINTMENTS
This description covers all appointments other than urgent appointments as
described in the next paragraph. Ordinary appointments can be booked up to four
weeks in advance and are normally 10-minutes slots, but if you have a lot of
issues to discuss you can ask for more time when you make your booking.
There’s a daily limit on the number of appointments available and the surgery
times are given at the end of this leaflet. All our doctors offer these sessions, but
work part-time at Heaton Road to fit in with family and work commitments
elsewhere, so if you want to see a particular doctor you may need to wait a
few days for your appointment. Doctors take turns to provide the late surgery on
Tuesday evenings, so it may not be possible to see the doctor of your choice at
these surgeries.
HOME VISITS
Home visits will normally be made only to people who are genuinely
housebound and whose medical condition would be worsened by any
attempt to visit the surgery. If, in these circumstances, you think a home
visit is needed, you should call the surgery – before 10.00.am if at all
possible. The receptionist will ask for your name and phone number and
for a brief summary of why a visit is requested; a doctor will call back as
quickly as possible to assess the situation and establish the level of
urgency. Don’t ask for a home visit for a possible heart attack – see the
advice in the previous paragraph. Children with common childhood
symptoms such as fever, colds, coughs, earache, headache, diarrhoea or
vomiting should be brought to the surgery for an urgent appointment; being
taken outdoors is not harmful to the child. Similarly, adults who are
capable of travelling in a car should attend the surgery. Transport between
home and surgery is the responsibility of each individual, with the aid of
carers, family or friends.
HOW YOU CAN HELP
There are several ways in which you can help to keep our Surgery running
smoothly – if you follow the six guidelines below you can make a real
difference for everyone.
 Please be understanding – we want to give you the best clinical care as
promptly as we can but, as explained above, we work in an unpredictable
field and delays can happen for all sorts of reasons.