Appointments

We have improved  access to the Health Centre by offering more appointments online. It is your responsibility to ensure that you book the correct type of appointment e.g Advanced Nurse Practitioners are only able to see specific issues which are listed on the document under the section below.

Patients can now book direct with our Healthcare Assistants for blood test or Blood Pressure only. Please note your blood test must have been requested by your doctor. If you book an appointment with our Healthcare Assistant and it is not for a blood test or blood pressure we will not be able to see you.

If you wish to book an appointment on-line, please contact the surgery who will provide you with details to access this service.

Please note that GP appointments are for 10 minutes with a Doctor who will usually deal with a single medical problem. Please do not allow multiple medical problems to build up and ask the GP to sort them all out in 10 minutes, as this will delay appointments following. If you require additional time you will need to book a double appointment.

Sickness Certificates

You do not require a doctor's sickness certificate for any illness lasting seven days or less. Your employer may however require you to complete a self-certification form (SC2) which is available from your employer or on the HMRC website.

Evidence that you are sick

If you are sick for more than seven days, your employer can ask you to give them some form of medical evidence to support payment of SSP (statutory sick pay).

It is up to your employer to decide whether you are incapable of work. A medical certificate, now called a 'Statement of Fitness for Work’ (see below) from your doctor is strong evidence that you are sick and would normally be accepted, unless there is evidence to prove otherwise.

You could also provide evidence from someone who is not a medical practitioner, e.g. a dentist. Your employer will decide whether or not this evidence is acceptable. If your employer has any doubts, they may still ask for a medical certificate from your GP.

Statement of Fitness for Work - ’Fit Note'

The 'fit note' was introduced on 6 April 2010. With your employer's support, the note will help you return to work sooner by providing more information about the effects of your illness or injury.

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

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. This applies to all appointments for doctors, nurses and health care assistants.

To cancel an appointment please email [email protected]

What is the NHS APP?

The NHS App allows you to access a range of NHS services. You can download the NHS App on your phone or tablet. You can also access the same services in a web browser by logging in through the NHS website.

You must be aged 13 or over to use the NHS App. You also need to be registered with a GP surgery in England or the Isle of Man. Find out more about who can use the NHS App.

What you can do with the NHS App

You need to prove who you are to get full access to the NHS App. With full access you can:

• order repeat prescriptions and nominate a pharmacy where you would like to collect them
• book and manage appointments
• view your GP health record to see information like your allergies and medicines (if your GP has given you access to your detailed medical record, you can also see information like test results)
• book and manage coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccinations
• get your NHS COVID Pass (there are also other ways to get your COVID Pass)
• register your organ donation decision
• choose how the NHS uses your data
• view your NHS number (find out what your NHS number is)
• use NHS 111 online to answer questions and get instant advice or medical help near you

Before proving who you are, you can use the NHS App to:

• search trusted NHS information and advice on hundreds of conditions and treatments
• find NHS services near you

Patient’s Not Attending For Their Appointments

We understand how frustrating it is to have to wait. Our clinicians try their best to work to their appointment times and we hope that you do too. If you arrive more than 15 minutes late for your appointment, you may be asked to make a new appointment and be counted as a Did Not Attend (DNA). In conjunction with our Patient Partnership Group we will be introducing a ‘Did Not Attend’ policy (DNA) for patients who fail to contact us to advise us that they are unable to attend the appointment they have made with a member of our team.

The average number of monthly appointments which fall into the ‘Did Not Attend’ category for 2019/20 is listed in the attached document. The figures are also published in our waiting area for all patients to see.

Please find a list for our DNA’s 2019/20 attached.

DNA 1920

We appreciate that emergencies happen but we need patients to understand what the effects of not contacting us to cancel their appointment are:

• An increase in the waiting time for appointments
• Frustration for other patients who are not able to obtain an appointment
• A waste of time and money i.e. precious NHS resources
• A potential risk to the health of the patient

We will be regularly reviewing the number of appointments which are missed and contact the patients who miss their appointment to help us to understand the reasons why.

Patients will be given an opportunity to improve on their attendance however if this doesn’t materialise, we may decide to remove them from the practice list and advise them to register elsewhere.

To cancel your appointment please contact us on 0114 4333888

Think! – someone else may be in need of this appointment. 

We have reviewed our DNA Policy and unfortunately will need to be strict with this in taking a consistent approach with all our patients.

Please refer to the policy below:-

DNA Policy

To cancel an appointment please email [email protected]

Monday to Friday, including extended hours on a Monday evening.

The health centre is not a walk-in centre, patients are seen by appointment only. Please telephone or call in person to make an appointment and remember a separate appointment is required for each person.

If you require a longer appointment time, please ensure that you request a double appointment.

If you have a preference for a GP, you must be aware that you may have to wait longer for an appointment.

Normally there are doctors available between 08:30 and 11:00 and between 15:30 and 18:00 Monday to Friday. We also offer a number of early evening appointments every Monday between 18.30 and 20.30 for patients who find it difficult to attend surgery during our usual opening hours.

When arriving at the surgery please use the anti-bacterial hand wash and then use the touch screen service to advise us that you have arrived. This service will tell the doctor or nurse that you are in the building and it will also advise you how long you are likely to be waiting. This procedure allows our reception staff to handle more complex queries in person and to answer our telephones more promptly.

Saturday and Sunday

If you are unable to attend weekday appointments during our core hours, you can book to see a GP at one of our Saturday Hubs (Dinnington, Broom Lane Medical Centre and Magna Surgery) Monday to Friday between 18:30 and 20:00. Appointments within the hubs are also available on Saturdays and Sundays. If you wish to book one of these, please contact the surgery and speak to a member of staff. When booking the appointment a member of staff will ask you the following questions:-

• Reason for the appointment
• Consent for 3rd party access to your clinical records (without this you will not be able to access the Hubs).
• If you require a chaperone
• If this is an ongoing problem. (Please note the appointment won't be booked if it is ongoing).
• Up to date contact number

Please note that these appointments are not available to book via the practice online service.

Swallownest Health Centre would like to welcome a new Advanced Care Practitioner to our team.

Sarah will now be undertaking the majority of home visit requests, together with our other Advanced Nurse Practitioner Liz. This will allow GPs to deal more effectively with patients seen at the surgery.

Sarah is an experienced Advanced Care Practitioner who can diagnose, treat, prescribe, refer to hospital and give advice.

Home visits are strictly for housebound patients only. Please be mindful that several patients can be seen at the surgery in the time it takes to do one home visit and daily surgery emergency appointments are available.

If you feel a home visit is required, please call the surgery by 10.30am to allow us to try to assess your condition as promptly as possible. You may be phoned by a clinician to decide the appropriate action,  which may not be a visit.

Our reception staff are not qualified to explain any results: they can only repeat the brief comment that the doctor has attached to the results, such as "normal" or "make appointment". Sometimes if the result is particularly sensitive (e.g. HIV test) or complicated, the doctor will recommend receiving the result in person.

Normally results are sent to the doctor who ordered the test. If a hospital doctor orders a test, the GP may not receive the result and may even not know it has been done. You can contact the specialist's secretary to ask about results, although usually a hospital secretary will not provide a result directly- the secretary may ask a hospital doctor to phone you back or they may involve the GP. Routine hospital letters can take up to a month to reach us, sometimes longer.

Here is how you can make the most of our services:-

• • Read the notices posted in the surgery

• • Make sure you know the opening times of the surgery

• • Find out how to arrange home visits, repeat prescriptions, and urgent appointments

• • You may not always need to see a doctor; ask what services the nurse can provide

• • Keep your appointment or cancel it

• • Take a list of questions with you when you see your doctor or nurse

• • Ask your doctor to write down anything that you do not understand the answers to

• • Take a friend or relative with you if necessary

• • Tell the receptionist if you need more time to speak to the doctor, she may be able to arrange this

• • Think twice before making an appointment: Do you really need to see a doctor? Have you tried simple home treatments?

• • Find out how your practice deals with complaints

Advanced nurse practitioners as part of our team who are trained in clinical assessment and are able to prescribe independently. They are able to see patients with minor illnesses. This allows doctors' more time to deal with the ever more complex patients' that are managed in general practice.

When you contact the surgery to arrange an appointment you will be asked for brief details of your symptoms. This is so that the receptionist can offer you an appointment with the most appropriate person.

Please find attached a list of the conditions which are suitable for a nurse practitioner to deal with.

Advanced Nurse Practitioner List

You can now have a NHS physiotherapist assessment within one of our Rotherham Hubs.
If you have:-

• Back pain
• Neck pain
• Shoulder pain
• Elbow, wrist or hand pain
• Knee, hip or ankle pain
• A sprain or a strain

Contact your GP practice and ask reception to access the Physio First service to make an appointment to see the next available physiotherapist.

To read more info regarding this service click the links below:-

https://www.rotherhamadvertiser.co.uk/leisure/view,health-wellbeing-you-could-see-a-physio-first-to-get-assessed-without-needi_29946.htm

http://connecthealthcarerotherham.co.uk/index.php/physiofirst/

http://connecthealthcarerotherham.co.uk/index.php/physiofirst/

When you attend for a test of any kind you should be told that you will be contacted if the results need following up. If you sign up for online services you will be able to check your own results on-line at any time, as soon as they have been checked by a doctor. You will also be able to compare them with previous results in your notes.

Please do not assume "no news is good news" in case the result has gone astray or we have tried and failed to reach you.

Most blood tests results are back in a few working days, but some tests, especially rarer ones may take longer. Just because one result is back, it does not mean they are all back. Most x-ray results are back within 7-10 days, but if a test suggests something serious, it is likely we will be told more quickly.

Our reception staff are not qualified to explain any results: they can only repeat the brief comment that the doctor has attached to the results, such as "normal" or "make appointment". Sometimes if the result is particularly sensitive (e.g. HIV test) or complicated, the doctor will recommend receiving the result in person.

Normally results are sent to the doctor who ordered the test. If a hospital doctor orders a test, the GP may not receive the result and may even not know it has been done. You can contact the specialist's secretary to ask about results, although usually a hospital secretary will not provide a result directly- the secretary may ask a hospital doctor to phone you back or they may involve the GP. Routine hospital letters can take up to a month to reach us, sometimes longer.