Appointments

Appointments are available morning and afternoon Monday - Friday (excluding bank holidays). Morning appointments start from 08:40 and afternoon appointments from 14:00. The majority of our appointments are face to face but if you prefer a telephone appointment please inform the booking staff. Appointments can be booked online and by phone. We offer a range of routine slots, 48hr slots and same-day appointments. 

Lodge Health use a multi-disciplinary team approach to patient care. For a number of medical problems it may be more appropriate to attend our First Contact Physiotherapist, Practice Nurse, Mental Health Practitioner or Social work team, Pharmacist, Health Visitor or Treatment Room for help and guidance.

Our admin staff are trained to take information about each medical query and sign-post each patient to the most appropriate member of our team. All staff work under the strictest rules of confidentiality so we kindly ask that as much information as possible can be provided to help us manage each query as quickly as possible. 

When you arrive for your appointment please check-in at reception or use the electronic self check-in.

Please also remember that an appointment is for one person only. If another member of the family needs to be seen or discussed please make a separate appointment.

Treatment Room

The treatment room operates an appointment system and is open Monday to Friday between 08:30 - 12:45 and 13:45 and 17:00. It is for conditions such as blood pressure checks, ECGs, minor skin problems, removal of sutures, dressings, wound infections, urinary infections in well adults and blood tests as requested by your doctor.

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.

Home Visits

Whilst we encourage our patients to come to the surgery, where we have the proper equipment and facilities available, we do appreciate this is not always possible. In this respect, if you do need a home visit, you can help us by calling reception before 10:00.

You may only request a home visit if you are housebound or are too ill to visit the practice. Your GP will only visit you at home if they think that your medical condition requires it and will also decide how urgently a visit is needed. Please bear this in mind and be prepared to provide suitable details to enable the doctor to schedule house calls

You can also be visited at home by a community nurse if you are referred by your GP. You should also be visited at home by a health visitor if you have recently had a baby or if you are newly registered with a GP and have a child under five years.

Sickness Certificates

You do not require a doctor's sickness certificate for any illness lasting up to seven calender days.

Your employer may however require you to complete a self-certification form (SC2) which is available from your employer or on the HMRC website.

A 'Statement of Fitness for Work' - or Med3/ fit note covers any period of work absence after the first 7 calender days of an illness. 

A Med 10 covers any period that a patient is in hospital and is issued by the hospital. On discharge from hospital the doctor who has clinical responsibility for the patient should provide the patient, if appropriate, with a Med 3 to cover a forward period. This is to avoid unnecessary referrals to GPs solely for the purpose of sickness certification. Unfortunately many hospital doctors are still unaware of the changes which took place from 6th April 2022 and that they should, if appropriate, issue Med 3 forms to patients in their care.

From July 2022 the Department for Work and Pensions has updated the law for Med3's so they can now be issued by appropriately trained nurses, occupational therapists, pharmacists and physiotherapists in addition to doctors. This means that you may be issued a fit note by someone other than a doctor as long as they are discussing your fitness to work with you. These health professionals should be treating you through NHS services.

For more information see the DirectGov website (where this information was sourced)

Teaching

Our practice is involved in the teaching of future doctors and training of General Practice Registrars. You will be informed at reception if a medical student or trainee is sitting in with your doctor and you may of course request to see your doctor in private.

During your consultation, with your consent, occasionally audio video recordings may take place for training purposes. We value your co-operation in this matter.