As of 1st April 2023, due to changes imposed by the Government to our GP contract we have changed the way that appointments are booked. If you need to see a GP please complete an eConsult which will be assessed and reviewed at first contact and you will be signposted to the appropriate appointment.

Thank you all for your patience and kindness to our staff in these busy times.

If you require a routine appointment to see a doctor please complete an eConsult.  Nurse appointments can be pre-booked up to 12 weeks in advance.

If your condition is urgent please highlight this within your eConsult.

If you require an appointment with our practice nurse or health care assistant you will be asked what type of appointment you need. This will enable the receptionist to make your appointment with the appropriate clinician and to ensure enough time is allowed to carry out your procedure.

We are working to improve access to appointments for our patients, in particular at evenings and weekends. If you would like to be offered one of these appointments, please ask. These appointments may be at a different site e.g. Dorset County Hospital.

We offer an Extended Opening Surgery on alternate Saturdays within the month at Atrium Health Centre and Crossways Surgery (however this may be subject to alteration).

The surgery is open for nurse and HCA appointments which can be booked via our reception team.

Please note patients will not be able to request or collect repeat prescriptions during this time.

We know people forget things, cancelling GP appointments being one of them. Remember to cancel your appointment if you don't need it.

How to Cancel an Appointment

If you are unable to keep your appointment, please give us as much notice as possible so that your appointment can be offered to someone else.

If you are cancelling please telephone us as soon as possible, and at least 30 minutes before your appointment time. This will enable us to offer your appointment to someone else.

Alternatively you can cancel your appointment online using our online form, SystmOnline, Airmid or The NHS App if you are signed up to the service.

Please remember that there may be a shortage of appointments and when you fail to attend you have prevented someone else from being seen in your place. On average about 230 appointments are missed each month

Cancellations notified less than 30 minutes before the appointment time will be recorded as failure to attend (DNA).

Repeated failure to attend booked appointments is a significant waste of NHS resources

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. Our Paramedic or GP will only visit you at home if they think that your medical condition requires it and may telephone you first to determine the necessity of a visit. They 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.

You can now register to receive information by text message on your phone regarding appointments and health care.

If you wish to register for this messaging service please fill out the consent form.

If you have provided us with your mobile number, this will be stored on your medical records. When you make an appointment to be seen at the surgery, you will automatically be sent a text message to remind you to attend, although you can opt out of this if you advise us to do so. You will receive a text message at the time of booking your appointment and also two days before the date of your appointment.

In order for this to work efficiently, please ensure that you have provided us with your up-to-date mobile number and let us know if you change your number so that the text message will be sent to the correct person.

Please attend your appointment on time, if you are late you may not be seen. If you are not seen you will not be able to rearrange your appointment until the next working day-except in the event of an medical emergency that requires immediate attention.

If you require an interpreter to attend with you when you see your Doctor please notify the receptionist and they will arrange this for you.

A chaperone is a person who is present during a consultation between a healthcare professional and a patient who acts as a witness for both people during a medical examination or procedure. This safeguards both the patient and the clinician.

All patients are entitled to have a chaperone present for any consultation, examination or procedure where they feel one is required. This chaperone will be a member of the practice staff as a family member or friend cannot act as a chaperone (however they may remain in the room with your permission).

If you feel that you would prefer to have a chaperone present during your consultation, please inform your Doctor or Nurse who will be able to arrange this for you. Alternatively, you can request a chaperone when you book your appointment. Your Doctor or Nurse may also request a chaperone to be present during certain consultations.

Click here to read our patient policy.

The following table shows which site (Atrium Health Centre or Crossways Surgery) each GP works at during the week.

SSG: Dr Sian Griffiths

LM: Dr Laura Morgan

TR: Dr Tom Riddington 

This policy is to provide information to patients on the process used by clinicians when a telephone call is requested\provided and what the process for call-backs by clinicians is if the requested telephone call is missed by you.

When a telephone call is arranged the receptionist will ask you to stay near your phone (whether it is landline or mobile) as the clinician will only try to call twice should you not pick up. A time frame for calls is between 8:30am and 1:30pm for AM calls and 3:00pm and 6:30pm for PM calls.

The clinician will then attempt to call you a maximum of twice. If you do not answer on the second attempt (where possible) an answerphone message will be left by the clinician stating that this is the second attempt to call you and for you to call the surgery within the next 30 minutes to speak to the clinician or rebook for the next available routine appointment. A text may also be sent (where possible) stating the same information.

Should you call the surgery back within the next 30 minutes then the reception team will check if the clinician is available to speak to you. If yes they will transfer you across, or if not they will make a note on the clinician’s screen for them to call you back asap.

If you are unable to contact the surgery within the 30-minute time frame then you will be offered the next available routine appointment.