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Appointments

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We offer a variety of appointment types including telephone appointments, Skype/video appointments, email consultations and face to face appointments at the practice.

Remember that you may not always need to see a GP as there are services you can self-refer to or other places where you can obtain expert professional advice (see “Who Do I See” section on our homepage).

We have tried to listen to feedback that there is a long wait for routine appointments and have responded by changing our booking system. The demand on our surgery has increased dramatically since pre covid times.  In addition, there has been a huge increase in missed appointments which is making our wait time longer. We had 244 missed appointments in September.  

We have made changes to our appointment system to make it more accessible and hopefully reduce the wait time. Appointments are now released in advance: at 4 weeks, 2 weeks and 48 hours before the appointment time. This should mean you won’t have such a long wait for an appointment but can also book in advance if this is what suits you. 


Of course, we always have access on the day for urgent problems via our duty doctor.

Please help us to help you:
 

  • Cancel your appointment if it is no longer needed so it can be given to someone else.

  • Please be ready to explain to the receptionist the nature of your problem when requesting an appointment (urgent or routine) – this is so that our team can book you in directly with the appropriate clinician which may also mean an earlier appointment


There are also routine appointments available at hub practices with short waiting times: Connaught Square and Pimlico (evening and weekend)

  • GP (telephone)

  • Advanced Nurse Practitioner (Pimlico only)

  • Nurse

  • Healthcare Assistant

  • Clinical Pharmacist

How to Make an Appointment

Appointments may be booked in several ways:

  • By Phone - Patients can book an appointment by calling reception on 020 7487 5244.

  • In Person - Patients can visit the surgery and book an appointment with the receptionist.

 

At the moment we have paused online booking of appointments to enable our team to better direct you to the right clinician that can help you, as soon as possible. Online bookings did not allow any triage of appointments. We are keeping this under review at the moment.

Do You Need to See a GP?

Please consider whether you need to see a GP or whether it will be more efficient for you to seek advice from one of our wider team members. Examples include:

  1. First Choice Practitioner - At the practice we are lucky to be able to offer directly bookable sessions with senior physiotherapists for your musculoskeletal needs

  2. Healthshare - we are partnered with Healthshare too and they provide a range of musculoskeletal services. You can self-refer to them via their website by clicking here

  3. Practice Pharmacist - our friendly practice pharmacy team can help with medication reviews and medication queries as well as minor ailments

  4. Mental Health - you can self refer to IAPT for help with anxiety and depression. Click here

  5. Our nursing and HCA team can help with asthma and diabetes and mental health checks, wounds, dressings, immunisations, cervical screening, phlebotomy, annual health checks and much more.

  6. For antenatal care you can self-refer to your hospital of choice - see here

  7. For sexual health screening and contraceptive advice please see London SHL and Mortimer Market websites.

GP Appointments

Appointments are booked at 10 minute intervals so please try to bear in mind each appointment can only deal with one issue.

Longer appointments can sometimes be arranged in special circumstances. Please tell the receptionist if your appointment is for more than one person (e.g. if bringing children, or if you need an interpreter) so that adequate time is allocated.

Although you will be registered with one doctor, you may see any doctor you choose. However we recommend you try to see the same doctor each time, as far as possible, so that you have better continuity of care.

Urgent appointments

From Monday to Friday, some appointments are reserved for patients with conditions needing urgent medical advice and attention on the same day. These spaces are not to be used for long-standing medical problems, problems that could wait a day or two, medical certificates or repeat prescriptions. If you think you need to be seen on the same day, please phone between 09:00 and 10:00.

Please remember these urgent appointments are booked on a ‘first come first served’ basis and you will be called back by the doctor on call who may offer you advice, a same day appointment or a routine appointment, depending on the condition. It may not always be possible to see the doctor of your choice in an emergency.

Doctor with Computer
Telephone/Email/Skype/Video Consultations

We offer a number of types of consultations so our patients are able to choose a consultation that suits them.

Please click here for information on how to email your doctor via the online system.

Please click here for information on telephone appointments.

Please click here for information on Skype/video appointments.

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Nursing / Pharmacist/ Physiotherapy Appointments

In a number of cases it might be worth considering an appointment with a practice nurse or healthcare assistant rather than a doctor. Practice nurses are qualified to deal with many ailments and you may be seen more quickly. Please click below for more information on what our nurses and healthcare assistant can do for you.

We are also pleased to be able to offer appointments with an NHS physiotherapist to help you with musculoskeletal problems and practice pharmacists who can assist you with medication queries and medication reviews. 

Telephone Advice

If you need urgent telephone advice please call and leave a message at reception. The doctor on call will get back to you by phone the same day.  If you have asked for a call back please keep your phone line free so the doctor can speak with you as soon as possible.

Special Needs

If you need an interpreter for your appointment, please ask our reception team to book this service through Language Line which includes a wide range of languages. If you need an interpreter, please inform the reception staff at least 1 week before your appointment so they can arrange this for you. If you have a hearing impairment, a sign language interpreter can be booked for you. These services need to be booked at least one week in advance.

Cancellations

If you cannot attend an appointment for any reason please inform us as soon as possible in order for us to give the slot to someone else. Patients who regularly miss appointments will receive a warning letter and may be removed from our list. If you are more than 10 minutes late for an appointment you may be asked to re-book.

Please click here to read our Did Not Attend (DNA) policy.

Text Messaging Reminders

Cavendish Health Centre uses a text messaging service to remind patients about appointments etc. Please let us know of any changes or updates to your mobile telephone number so we can continue to provide this service.

If you do not wish to receive this service, please contact the surgery so we can update your records accordingly.

Late for Appointments

   Whilst we appreciate clinics are often running late, this usually happens because a doctor is having to spend extra time looking after an unwell patient.  
   In order to treat each patient fairly, if you are more than 10 minutes late for your appointment the doctor may ask you to reschedule or wait until the end of the clinic to see you. 

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