Booking an appointment – An explanation of Receptionist signposting.
Your NHS now offers lots of community services and self-care options that you can access without needing to see your GP first.
When you request an appointment at your surgery, the receptionist will ask you the reason why you are calling. If you tell us the reason for your call, the receptionist might be able to give you information about services or self-care options that you could access for your symptoms – for example the minor ailments service at your local pharmacy.
You do not have to say what your symptoms are if you don’t want to, but if you do it might get you the help and information that you need more easily and quickly.
*Receptionists are NOT trying to be doctors or make medical assessments and they are duty bound to respect your confidentiality, in exactly the same way the GPs are.*
When you telephone the surgery to book an appointment, the receptionist will ask you the following question:
- Can I ask the reason for your appointment today?
This is because the receptionist has a number of different options and types of appointments available, and can direct you to the most appropriate option for your specific problem. The best option might be to go to the pharmacy or the dentist, or if you do need an appointment it might be the Practice Nurse is the best trained person to help, or perhaps another member of our clinical team.
This way, when you really do need to see a GP, there will be a free appointment for you and the GP will have more time to spend with you. The following table may help you understand the choices available.
We very much hope that this system will make the best use of the services available both at the Practice and in the wider community.
For further information, please see the NHS inform website – The NHS website - NHS (www.nhs.uk)
Or use the NHS symptom checker: Get help for your symptoms - NHS 111
Depending on your symptoms, you may be sign posted to one of the following services:
| Optician |
Any eye problems |
| Dentist |
Any issues with teeth, mouth ulcers, abscesses |
| Pharmacy |
Acne, Athletes foot, Backache, Bites and Stings, Chicken Pox, Cold sores, Colic, Conjunctivitis, Constipation, Coughs and Colds, Diarrhoea, Dry Eyes, Earache (less than 3 days), Haemorrhoids, Hay fever, Headlice, Indigestion, Mouth ulcers, Nappy rash, Oral Thrush, Ringworm, Scabies, Sore throat, Teething, Threadworms, UTI, Vaginal Thrush. |
| GP |
Acute new onset rash, Chest Infection, Acute severe back pain, Concerns over children, Earache (for more than 3 days) Children with tummy pain, Heart Palpitations (not chest pain), Pregnancy (vomiting, pain or bleeding), Severe depression, Severe new headache, Suicidal thoughts, Testicular lumps/pain, Unwell child with high fever |
| A&E |
Acute new onset chest pain, Difficulty breathing, Unconscious, Stroke, Fitting, Floppy ill child, Severe bleeding, Spinal injury, Severe allergic reaction, Head injury, Broken bones, Poisoning, Burns/scalds, Traumatic Injury, Road Traffic Accident, Sprain (unable to use limb), Nose bleed for longer than 20 minutes. |
Remember that the GP is not an emergency service