Seeing your GP or Nurse

If you feel that you need advice, an appointment  or a home visit, please contact the surgery by ringing 01495 244205.  You will be asked a few questions by our reception team about the reason for your call.  You will need to provide a telephone number where we can call you back - a clinician - doctor, pharmacist or nurse - will call to speak to you.  Many problems can  be dealt with over the telephone or via a video-call, but should this not be the case you may be asked to attend for a face to face appointment with one of our clinicians. 

Please note that we do not take appointment requests for consultations with clinicians in person. Please call the surgery on 01495 244205.

We are here for you and are doing everything we can to help you stay safe - please telephone us if you need our help or advice, or use our econsult service for non-urgent queries or requests. If you are unwell please do not delay contacting us.

Appointments

All appointments must be booked before attending; we do not operate a drop in surgery.

• Preooked appointments - some appointments are available 1 week in advance and some up to 4 weeks in advance.
• Same day appointments are available from Monday to Friday.  These can only be booked on the same day, from 08:00 for morning appointments.  This means that people with an urgent need to see a doctor can usually be seen on that day. There are limited afternoon appointments, available to be booked at 13:30.  The doctors would prefer patients to telephone in the morning for an appointment.
• Under 16s with acute presentations will be offered a same day consultation (this may be by telephone, video call, home visit or face to face)
• Urgent - Patients who have been clinically triaged as requiring an urgent assessment will be offered a same day consultation (this may be by telephone, video call, home visit or face to face)

NHS APP

We are pleased to announce that you can now access health services from St. Luke’s Surgery on the new NHS Wales App. The App is a simple and secure way to: book routine appointments, order repeats and view parts of your medical record. To access the App you must have a fully verified NHS Login, or a valid photo ID to prove who you are and be aged 16 or over. To access more information and to download the App visit https://app.nhs.wales/login

Telephone Triage System

This may be used when you think your symptoms need urgent attention but there are no available  appointments.  The receptionist will ask you to leave a contact telephone number.  Alternatively, if you have experienced difficulty in obtaining an appointment to be seen please let the reception staff know. The doctor will assess your call and decide if you need to come to the surgery to be seen, or any other appropriate action to be taken. Telephone Messaging Service

If you are concerned about something, or have a query but don’t think it’s medically urgent to see a doctor that day, the receptionist will ask you to leave a message for either the doctor of your choice (if he or she is available), or the duty doctor. They will assess your call and you will be contacted by someone from the surgery. 

Practice Nurses

In a number of cases it might be worth considering an appointment with a practice nurse rather than a doctor. Practice nurses are qualified to deal with many conditions and you may be seen more quickly.

Booking an Ambulance

If you have to attend hospital and for medical reasons you require an ambulance you can book transport via the Transport Booking Centre, Freephone 0800 32 82 332.  Please make sure you phone them at least 2 working days before your appointment date or as soon as you receive your appointment.

Cancellations

If you cannot attend an appointment for any reason it is important that you please inform us as soon as possible in order for us to offer the appointment to someone else. Please contact us by telephone or by using the email link on the home page to let us know of your wish to cancel.  Patients who consistently fail to attend for their appointment may be asked to register with another practice.  Thank you

CHOOSE WELL - click here to access the Choose Well website which provides useful information about the various NHS services provided in our local area.  It helps you to decide whether a GP appointment is the most appropriate way to access the NHS care you need.

Our receptionists are trained as 'Care Navigators' with the support of our GPs.  Care Navigation helps  you receive care from the most appropriate professional - not all requests need a GP appointment.

All patients will be politely and confidentially asked the reason for their appointment request. If you have symptoms that are better suited to care from other organisations, community based services or surgery team members the Care Navigator will give you the choice to access these instead.

These could include:

• Minor injuries unit - available at Ysbyty Ystrad Fawr for information click here
  Local pharmacies - for a list of local pharmacies click here
• Urgent eye care from Opticians - for a list of local opticians click here
• Emergency dental services - for a list of local dentists click here
• Community connectors - for more information and to access the directory of support available click here
  
• In house Physiotherapist
• Practice Nurse
• In-house Pharmacist

Care navigators/receptionists understand that what you tell them may still mean you need to see a GP.  Care Navigators will never make clinical decisions about you.  Please be patient with our receptionists - the best way to get you the most appropriate support is by asking you a few specific questions.

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. We regret that lack of transport is not a reason for the doctor to make a call.  It is your responsibility to make arrangements to get to the surgery. 

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 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)

A new set of standards were announced by the Minister for Health and Social Services in March 2019 that are aimed to raise and improve the level of service for patients in Wales from their GP practices.  These standards as set out below:

Access Standards - what can you expect from your GP (eng)

Access Standards - What you can expect from your GP (Welsh)

• Practices have the appropriate telephony systems in place to support the needs of people avoiding the need to call back multiple times and will check that they are handling calls in this way.
• People receive a prompt response to their contact with a GP practice via telephone. 
• People receive bilingual information on local and emergency services when contacting a practice.
• People are able to access information on how to get help and advice.
• People receive the right care at the right time in a joined up way which is based on their needs.
• People can use a range of options to contact their GP practice.
• People are able to email a practice to request a non-urgent consultation or a call back.
• Practices understand the needs of people within their practice and use this information to anticipate the demand on its services. Aneurin Bevan University Health Board will be supporting your GP practice to ensure these standards are achieved