Appointments

Configure Appointment Details

How to contact us and request an appointment

If you need medical assistance at Beech Tree Surgery, you can access this in a number of different ways. We want to ensure a safe and fair access to our appointments for all patients registered with us. Whether you contact us by phone, walk in to our reception desk or use the online tool, your request for an appointment will be processed in the same way.

Online:

You can currently access our online triage tool Anima from 8am Monday to Friday. Once you have logged in, you can 'Submit a new request' either for a medical query or an administative one. It is the quickest way to let us know about new or ongoing symptoms, request a fit note, arrange an appointment with a nurse for a routine injection or update your contact details and much more. 

Patients who choose “Medical request" will be taken through a series of questions about their symptoms. This helps us to triage your problem (i.e. determine the urgency) and the query is then directed to the most appropriate team.

By phone:

Call 01757 703933 8am to 6pm Monday to Friday. If you are requesting an appointment for a new problem, our reception team will go through a series of questions with you, similar to that of the online triage tool.

In person:

Our reception desks remain available to our patients daily, see our Contact Us page for specific opening ours for our different sites. 

Our receptionists will ask for some details relating to your query, similar to that of the online triage tool, and can even support you with accessing Anima if you would like some help to use it next time. 

How long will it take to get an appointment?

If you have a new problem or worsening symptoms of an existing problem please use the 'Medical request' option and then choose the appropriate symptom. Following this you will be asked to answer a series of questions, it is important you respond as accurately as possible as this is how urgency is assessed the on call clinicans. New problems are allocated as either URGENT or ROUTINE.

Continuity of care is really important to us and our patients. If you have an ongoing problem and would like routine follow up consultation with the same clinician (where possible) please advise of this when asked to provide further details of your symptoms

  • Urgent: Requests deemed urgent will be managed by our clinical team within 1 working day - you might receive a call, SMS or be asked to attend in person depending on your clinical symptoms.
  • Routine: We try our hardest to manage routine/follow up consultation requests as quickly as possible. Whilst you are likely to hear back from us within a few days, your appointment might not be for 2 to 6 weeks and this may occasionally be extended due to high demand, staff absence or bank holidays. If you have worsening symptoms please contact us again using Anima or phone us on 01757 703933. We know it can sometimes feel like a long time to wait, but please rest assured we are doing everything we can to book everyone in for an appointment as quickly as possible.

Please consider using self-care or attending a community pharmacy to ask for advice if you have a minor ailment. The Pharmacy First scheme, launched early 2024, allows pharmacies to offer treatment for a range of conditions including: urine infections, tonsillitis, shingles and infected insect bites.

If your symptoms have resolved before we have booked you an appointment, please contact us to let us know.

Your appointment

However you choose to contact us, we may offer you a consultation:

  • by phone
  • face to face at the surgery
  • on a video call
  • by text or email

Appointments by phone, video call or by text or email can be more flexible and often means you get help sooner.

Cancel or change your appointment

To cancel your appointment on the day of the appointment:

  • call 01757 703933, Monday to Friday from 8am to 6pm and select option 2

To cancel your appointment if earlier than the day of the appointment:

If you need help when we are closed

Out of Hours Service

Our usual opening hours are Monday to Friday 8am – 6pm excluding weekends and bank holidays.

  • In an emergency or if you suspect a heart attack please dial 999.
  • If you are contacting us between 6 & 6.30pm and you wish to speak to an emergency doctor please phone 01904 943.777
  • If you are calling after 6.30pm or over the weekend and you have an urgent medical problem which cannot wait until the surgery re-opens, please dial 111.

 

NHS 111

NHS 111 can help if you have an urgent medical problem and you are not sure what to do.

To get help from NHS 111, you can:

  • go to 111.nhs.uk (for people aged 5 and over only)
  • call 111

NHS 111 is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

If you have difficulties communicating or hearing, you can:

Adults – call 999 or go to A&E now for any of these:

  • signs of a heart attack
    chest pain, pressure, heaviness, tightness or squeezing across the chest
  • signs of a stroke
    face dropping on one side, cannot hold both arms up, difficulty speaking
  • sudden confusion (delirium)
    cannot be sure of own name or age
  • suicide attempt
    by taking something or self-harming
  • severe difficulty breathing
    not being able to get words out, choking or gasping
  • choking
    on liquids or solids right now
  • heavy bleeding
    spraying, pouring or enough to make a puddle
  • severe injuries
    after a serious accident or assault
  • seizure (fit)
    shaking or jerking because of a fit, or unconscious (cannot be woken up)
  • sudden, rapid swelling
    of the lips, mouth, throat or tongue

British Sign Language (BSL) speakers can make a BSL video call to 999.

Deaf people can use 18000 to contact 999 using text relay.

Find your nearest A&E

Children – call 999 or take your child to A&E now for any of these:

  • seizure (fit)
    shaking or jerking because of a fit, or unconscious (cannot be woken up)
  • choking
    on liquids or solids right now
  • difficulty breathing
    making grunting noises or sucking their stomach in under their ribcage
  • unable to stay awake
    cannot keep their eyes open for more than a few seconds
  • blue, grey, pale or blotchy skin, tongue or lips
    on brown or black skin, grey or blue palms or soles of the feet
  • limp and floppy
    their head falls to the side, backwards or forwards
  • heavy bleeding
    spraying, pouring or enough to make a puddle
  • severe injuries
    after a serious accident or assault
  • signs of a stroke
    face dropping on one side, cannot hold both arms up, difficulty speaking
  • sudden rapid swelling
    of the lips, mouth, throat or tongue
  • sudden confusion
    agitation, odd behaviour or non-stop crying

British Sign Language (BSL) speakers can make a BSL video call to 999.

Deaf people can use 18000 to contact 999 using text relay.

Find your nearest A&E

If you need help with your appointment

Please tell us:

  • if there’s a specific doctor, nurse or other health professional you would prefer to respond
  • if you would prefer to consult with the doctor or nurse by phone, face-to-face, by video call or by text or email
  • if you need an interpreter
  • if you have any other access or communication needs

Chaperones

If you feel you would like a chaperone present during your consultation or examination, please inform the Reception staff, Doctor or Nurse, who will happily arrange this for you.

All our Chaperones are trained and are DBS checked.

Please be aware that our policy allows the clinician you are seeing to also request a chaperone be present during your consultation but this would be discussed with you prior to any examination.

Home visits

If you or your relative is housebound and would like to request medical care, please phone us on 01757 703933 or discuss with a receptionist on site. Requests for home visits received before midday will generally be assessed on the same day. Visits requested after this time will be triaged and if deemed urgent will be actioned by the on call team that day.