SURGERY CLOSURE FOR STAFF TRAINING

The surgery will be closed from 12.30pm on Wednesday 6^th April for important clinical education and training purposes.

Emergency cover will be provided by the 111 Out of Hours Service who will be responsible for:

• Telephone triage
• Face-to-face appointments at Drovers House in Bury St Edmunds

Please telephone 111 if you need these services

Repeat prescription requests will not be dealt with during these times so please ensure sufficient notice is given to enable the surgery to provide these for you prior to the practice closure.

The surgery will be open as normal on Thursday 7^th April at 8am.

Stanton Surgery Building Disruption – Friday 25^th February to Monday 28^th March

Thankfully we will be soon be entering the final phase of our surgery building works.  The new extension is nearly finished and the last stage will include the refurbishment of the existing building which is likely to be complete at the end of March. 

To enable this we do have to temporarily close the main entrance and reception area and move our dispensary.  We will have a temporary reception and waiting space in the new extension accessed via the pathway to the right of the building and the dispensary will be in a temporary location to the left of the main entrance.

We would be grateful for your continued support during this time and ask that where possible you telephone the surgery rather than attend in person if possible.  As we will have limited waiting space if you have an appointment please could you telephone to let us know when you arrive and wait in your car until we ask you to come into the building.  Blood test appointments will continue to take place in the Health Centre building opposite the surgery.  Repeat prescriptions can be ordered either online or via the telephone and where possible we would appreciate any additional time you can give to enable their preparation during this time when the dispensers will have very reduced resources.

On Friday 25^th February we will be moving staff to their temporary and new locations and there might be some disruption on this day.  For non-urgent issues we would be grateful if you could avoid contacting us on this Friday.  The dispensary telephones will also be switched off from 1pm to enable the temporary move.  The dispensary will be open on the Friday but if you are able to collect on an alternative day we would be most grateful.

We apologise for any disruption over this period and hope you will help support us during this time.  We are very much looking forward to being able to open our fully completed new premises by the end of March.  We know this will provide the much needed additional space we have been working towards for many years and will enable us to continue to provide the best possible care to our patients.

Thank you.

How to register for online appointment booking

Appointments line: 01359 253700

Booking Online: The online booking system enables you to book an available appointment with the doctor of your choice at your convenience.  Some additional appointments are released on the day for urgent same day appointment requests.

Should a suitable appointment not be available online please contact the surgery appointments line on 01359 253700 and a receptionist will endeavour to help you with your specific request.

Please note that at times of heavy demand, such as winter pressures or during holiday periods, you may have to wait a little longer for a routine non urgent appointment.

You can telephone at 8 am on the day you would like to be seen for an urgent available appointment.  All genuinely medically urgent cases are seen on the same day, but not necessarily by the doctor of your choice.  You are asked to confine your discussion to the urgent problem.

Appointments for blood tests need to be booked with the phlebotomist.

Emergencies: If you need attention in an emergency telephone 01359 251192.

Telephone Consultations: We are always happy to pre-book a telephone consultation with a doctor or nurse if you feel it is not necessary for you to attend the surgery but would like medical advice. Please inform the receptionist of your preference. The doctors are happy to talk to you on the telephone at other times as this can sometimes save having to make an appointment.  However, the doctors are not interrupted during their surgeries so please try to telephone between 11.30 am and 1 pm or between 6 pm and 6.20 pm, when a doctor will usually be available to speak with you.  If a doctor is not available at the time please be prepared to leave a message for them so that they can return your call.

For full details of the consultation times of all our consulting staff see the Practice Information Page 'Consulting Times'.

House Visits

Please make requests on 01359 251192 between 8.00am & 10.00am except in sudden emergency. The receptionist will pass the request on to the duty doctor who may speak to you personally and offer advice as well as discussing the visit.

The practice covers a large rural area and we are always grateful if patients can try to come to the surgery— five patients can be seen at the surgery in the time it takes to make one home visit.

Self Arrival Screen

If you have an appointment booked please use the self arrival screen located in the reception waiting area. The clinician that you are seeing will know that you have arrived.

For any other business our reception team will be able to help.  At busy times you may have to wait in a queue to speak to a receptionist.  We thank you for your patience at these times.

SMS Reminders                                  

The Practice clinical system has the ability to generate SMS (text message) reminders of your appointment and also (where appropriate) lab result actions required from your GP. This will only happen if you have:

• Provided us with a valid/current mobile telephone number
• Provided consent to be sent SMS text messages

From 1st September 2016, the Practice has taken the decision to implement a new policy whereby this facility will be restricted to patients aged 18 years and over. Once a patient reaches this eligible age, they need only contact the surgery for it to be activated.

Suffolk GP+ is for people who urgently need a doctor's appointment or are unable to see their GP during normal GP hours.

Appointments can be made via Reception during our usual opening hours.  Please note: patients cannot refer themselves to this service.

The service is staffed by local Suffolk GPs and Nurse Practitioners in Bury St Edmunds, Haverhill, Ipswich, Stowmarket, Wickham Market, Felixstowe and Leiston and is an NHS service delivered by the Suffolk GP Federation.

You will be given a booked appointment and will be seen by a suitable local GP or nurse who will have access to your medical records (one consent is given).