Dr Cathcart & Partners - How to make an appointment to see your doctor or nurse at the surgery

Noticeboard

In case of an Emergency outside Practice working hours (Evenings and Weekends) please Telephone:

Out-Of-Hours on 028 71 865195.

Appointments

All consultations for GPs and Practice Nurses are by appointment only and can be booked in person at reception, by calling 028 66 322707 during opening hours or on-line.

To use our on-line appointment facility, you will need to talk to a member of staff to receive your own unique registration details. You can register to use online services to make appointments with the practice by clicking the link below.

Routine appointments to see the Doctor of your choice can be made up to two weeks in advance.

We use an appointment system to assist us in planning our daily work. The appointment system is for your convenience and we try to keep to time, however occasionally delays will occur.

Appointments are for ten minutes but please bear in mind that some problems take longer than others so do try and be patient if you have to wait (some day you may be causing the delay!)

Remember

It is better to attend one doctor with the same problem,
One appointment per person please, as extras cause the surgery to run late,
If you are unable to keep your appointment please let us know in good time so that the appointment is not wasted.

To Make a Non-Urgent Appointment

You are free to choose the doctor that you would like to consult with and the surgery that is most convenient for you. However whenever a surgery is booked up you will be seen by whichever doctor is available. Normally you will be offered an appointment within 48 hours.

To Make an Urgent Appointment

If your problem is urgent you will be seen on the same day by whichever doctor is available. It is helpful to us in assessing the urgency of your situation if you can please give us as much information as you can.

Sick Children

Sick children will always be seen as soon as possible if brought to the surgery (this may be quicker than a visit). If in doubt about bringing your child out please phone the doctor to advise. Arrangements can be made to isolate infectious children.

Further Appointments

When the doctor tells you that he wishes to see you again, please tell the receptionist on the way out and make an appointment for your return visit. She will give you an appointment card if you wish to have a note of the details of your appointment for future reference.

Telephone Advice

The doctors are available for telephone advice. Staff are asked not to disturb surgeries with non-urgent telephone calls as interruptions during consultations are upsetting for both doctor and patient. Staff will take a message for the doctor who will ring you back at the end of the surgery.

If on occasion you should find the above arrangement to be unsuitable the best times for telephoning are between 12:00 and 12:30 or between 16:30 and 16:50.

Home Visits Not Requiring Urgent Attention

Do try to come to the surgery if you can. On average seeing you at home takes 4 times as long as seeing you in the surgery and the surgery is better equipped than the doctors bag.

If you do need a home visit, requests should (except in emergencies), be made between 9.00am and 11.30 am if possible. Your help with this will enable us to organise our work in order to give you a better service. Your call will be put through to the duty doctor for that day who will assess the urgency of your request and give advice as necessary.

Home Visits Requiring Urgent Attention

If the doctor is in surgery the receptionist will either transfer your telephone call through to the doctor's surgery or speak to him/her on your behalf before you ring off. In this way further information may be obtained by the doctor and appropriate advice given to cover the situation until the doctor arrives.

If the doctor is not on the premises, depending upon the type of emergency, staff will either take your telephone number and relevant details and contact the doctor who will return your call or advise that you contact 999 directly.

Training Practice

This practice has been accredited by Northern Ireland Medical and Dental Training Agency for training of registrars in general practice. Practices are selected by judging the extent to which they provide the environment and opportunities for training.

As well as providing training during the most important year in a general practitioners life, this status also encourages clinical practice in keeping with the most up to date medical developments.

As an approved training practice we will normally have a registrar from 1st August until 31st July on alternate years. The registrar is bound by the same rules of confidentially as all other medical and nursing staff in the practice. Although the registrar will have completed all hospital training s/he will sit in surgeries with the trainer for the first few weeks. During this period you will be asked if you are happy for the registrar to sit in during your consultation when booking in for your appointment and you may at any time during your consultation ask that the registrar leave the surgery.

Following this settling in period s/he will hold surgeries and carry out home visits with full support of and access to a trainer.

You may attend any GP for individual consultation, however we hope that during the training periods you will also avail of the services of our fully qualified Registrar.

As a teaching practice, patients may also meet medical students in the surgery or accompanying the Doctor on their calls. These students are going through a very important part of their medical training and your co-operation is extremely valuable and much appreciated. No intrusion on the privacy of the consultation will take place against the wishes of the patient.