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Appointments

Appointments can be made either in person at the Reception Desk or by calling 01292 262697 (see below) between 8.15am and 5.30pm Monday to Friday, except Wednesdays, when the practice is closed 12.30 to 1.30 pm.

You may choose to see any of the doctors or the practice nurse, subject to their availability.

We operate "Advanced Access" which means you can be seen on the day that you call, or you can make a future appointment.

Monday is always a particularly busy day so please avoid it if you can. We do not guarantee that you can get a same-day appointment with a specific doctor.

If you cannot keep an appointment

Please phone to cancel as soon as possible, so that the time can be offered to someone else.

If a patient fails to either cancel or attend 3 appointments in any 12 months then the patient will be asked to register at another practice that suits better, either geographically or by its consulting times. Patients will be reminded of this process when it affects them.

Appointment duration

Standard appointments are normally for a maximum of 10 minutes. If you feel that you will need more time than this, please ask the administrative assistant for a double appointment.

Medicals, which take longer than normal appointments, are by special arrangement. If you have more than one problem to discuss, please tell the doctor this at the start of your appointment so that the most important problem can be dealt with first. If it is not possible to deal with several complex problems during a single consultation you may be asked to make a further appointment(s) to deal with less pressing issues.

We try to run appointments to time but you will appreciate that we have no way of knowing in advance what problems will be presented during a surgery. Some problems require immediate attention and may result in subsequent appointments running late. Your understanding when this happens is appreciated.

Automated call answering

When you phone in on 01292 262697 you will hear the message: "Welcome to Tam's Brig Surgery. If you wish a house call now press 3. For appointments press 4. For results press 5. Dial 0 for an operator. To request prescriptions, please redial 267640. Calls may be recorded for training purposes."

This has been implemented for calls to be answered more efficiently. If you have any queries please let us know and we will endeavour to help you. Please note that all calls to the practice are recorded for training purposes. 

Home Visits

Home visits should be requested by telephoning the practice on 01292 262697. It helps us if requests can be made before 10.00am whenever possible.

Please ensure that you give the correct address for the visit, especially if the address is not the one at which the patient is registered.

Home visits use up our most valuable resource - time -and should only be requested when the patient is unfit to attend the surgery. Home visits should only be requested if there is a medical reason why the patient cannot come to the surgery.

The doctor may call you back to establish if a home visit is appropriate.

You should consider calling 999 for an ambulance in the following circumstances:- Sudden onset chest pain, collapse, possible stroke, head injury, any significant inujry

Telephone Appointments

You may request a telephone consultation if your problem can be dealt with without a face to face consultation.

You will be given a time slot, and the doctor or nurse will call you within ten minutes either side of this time.

When you request a telephone appointment the administrative assistant will ask you for the telephone number you will be at at the time the call will be made. Please make sure you give the correct number and that it will be free at the time. If the doctor/nurse cannot get through they may not be able to try later.

If the clinician feels you need to be seen you will be asked to arrange a surgery appointment.