How to Book an Appointment
You can book a routine appointment in several ways:
- At the reception desk during our opening hours of 8:00am to 6:30pm
- By telephone on 01434 603627 during our telephone opening hours of 8:00am to 6:00pm but if possible please do not call for a routine appointment first thing in the morning as the lines are very busy will calls from patients requesting an urgent appointment
- Using the NHS App (or Patient Access)
- Individual booking links sent to your mobile phone
GPs
Routine appointments can be booked by speaking to a Receptionist or using the NHS App. We offer face to face and telephone appointments with GPs and these are made available for online booking up to 6 weeks ahead.
Urgent Care
If you have an urgent medical problem that cannot wait unrtil you can be seen in a routine GP appointment, then please ring and speak to a receptionist. They will take details of your medical problem and book you a n appointment for a telephone call with one of our GPs or Advanced Nurse Practitioners (ANP). Many problems can be sorted on the phone but if you need to be seen in person then the GP or ANP will make arrangements with you to come to the surgery.
Our Receptionists are trained in Care Navigation - so they may direct you to a more appropriate service. That could include phoning 999, using the Urgent Care Centre at Hexham General Hospital or visiting a local pharmacy.
Please note that while we do offer our registered patients a same-day consultation for urgent medical conditions, we do not have unlimited capacity and we rely on our patients to make sensible use of our services. We are also not an emergency service. If you may be having a stroke, a heart attack, serious blood loss or a significant broken bone then please call 999. If you may have a minor fracture or or a cut then please visit the Hexham General Urgent Care Centre.
Practice Nursing Team
Other members of our clinical team such as Health Care Assistants and Practice Nurses have different appointment lengths based on the reason for the appointment. There are also differences in who members of the team see - some may see patients for a Diabetic review, other may see patients for an Asthma check or Cervical Smear. Our reception team are able to book you in with an appropriate member of the team, but opening up online booking for our Practice Nurses and Health Care Assistants is not straightforward, so at the present time booking is via reception. We are however now able to offer direct booking links via a mobile phone text message. These are sent by a member of our team and will enable you to book an appopriate appointment. We have used these booking links for flu vaccinations and increasingly for blood tests and even Asthma reviews. The aim is to expand use of these booking links where we can to enable a convenient way for patients to book an appointment without the need to phone us but without making appointments available online that could well be booked inappropriately.
Attending for Your Appointment
Please ensure we know you are here when you attend for an appointment. You can check-in at the reception desk or using our self check-in system opposite the reception desk.
Providing healthcare does sometimes mean taking longer than expected with a patient, so please be patient if you are not seen at your appointment time. If you have been waiting for more than 20 minutes past your appointment time then please ask at reception to check on how long the delay might be.
Reminders and Cancelling Appointments
Patients with mobile numbers will receive a text message a day or two before their appointment with the option to cancel via text.
If you are unable to keep your appointment please cancel it in good time so the appointment can be offered to another patient.
Home Visits
If you are not well enough to come to the surgery a home visit can be arranged. Please telephone before 10am if possible. The receptionist will ask for details of your illness and your request will be assessed after morning surgery has finished. You may receive a telephone call prior to a visit and you may be visited by a GP or one of the Paramedics who work as part of a team covering local Practices.
Evenings / Weekends / Bank Holidays
The Hadrian Extra Care Hub provides evening telephone appointments and Saturday appointments which can now be booked online. If there are no appointments at Corbridge (weekday evenings) just click ‘back’ on the link at the top of the page to select one of our other locations which are open on Saturdays: Hexham, Prudhoe, Bellingham or Haltwhistle. Appointments are available with GPs, Nurses and Healthcare Assistants – please select the slot type you require and use your NHS login to proceed with the booking. Alternatively, you can book appointments by ringing our reception team on 01434 632011.
If you need urgent treatment when the surgery is closed please call 111 who are the gateway to the Out of Hours GP service.