If you are ill
Deciding whether you need to consult the doctor is not always easy, and many of the common minor illnesses and problems are best dealt with by yourself at home. In the case of any doubt, especially where pregnancy and babies and children are concerned, consult the doctor. At the surgery All consultations (except in an emergency and on Saturday mornings) are by appointment. Phone the appointments number (0118) 972 2745 between 8.30am and 6.00pm (weekdays). The receptionists will try to fit you in at a time convenient to you, but there are one or two points it may be helpful to bear in mind. Routine appointments are usually available from 8.30 to 10.40am and 4.00 to 6.00pm (4.00 to 8.30pm on Wednesdays) except weekends and public holidays. If you feel you need to see a doctor urgently, please make this clear to the receptionist. If your own doctor is fully booked you will be able to see one of the others if you wish. If you, or someone you are bringing to the Health Centre, is vomiting, has a rash or might be infectious, let the receptionist know so that she can put you in a separate room. If you find that you do not need your appointment after all, please phone to cancel it, so that it can be offered to someone else. Please note that because the appointments line (0118) 972 2745 is separate from the main phone system, you can only speak to the appointments receptionist on it. For all other enquiries phone the main number (0118) 972 2188 For Binfield Heath and Shiplake residents We provide a free, private minibus service, every Friday, solely for patients wishing to visit the Health Centre. It runs from Memorial Avenue via The New Inn, leaving at 9.40am. No appointment is necessary for these patients. Transport may also be provided by FISH, a voluntary agency. Ring (0118) 972 3986 allowing an absolute minimum of 48 hours notice. Messages
and requests for medicines (which can be delivered to your home by arrangement) may be left at Binfield Heath
Post Office, by kind permission of the proprietor. The doctors' normal consulting times are as follows:
If you feel that you need to be seen by a doctor or nurse on the same day for an urgent problem, then phone the appointments line (0118) 972 2745 and you will be offered telephone advice, an urgent 5-minute appointment with a doctor or a nurse appointment. If you have a 5-minute appointment, the doctor will only be able to deal with the urgent problem requiring immediate medical attention. If you wish to raise any other matter with the doctor, please book a routine appointment at reception. Sudden illness outside hours IIn the event of sudden illness or emergency which is not
life-threatening Life-threatening problems are an
On weekdays, a qualified nursing sister is available all day at the Health Centre to deal with minor injuries, dressings, ear syringing, injections and general queries. Please phone (0118) 972 2745 to make an appointment in the same way as for doctors. The district nursing sisters visit those patients unable to visit the Health Centre. If you need to see one of them, try to phone as soon after 8.30am as possible, before they leave on their rounds. Alternatively, you can leave a message with the receptionist. Messages received for home visits after 4.00pm will be dealt with the following day. The health visitors give health advice to all age groups and practical support to people in their homes,
particularly mothers with young children, and the elderly and their relatives. They also give family planning
advice. You may contact them between 9.00am and 5.00pm on weekdays, by either calling in at the Health Centre
or by phoning (0118) 972 2188. If they are not available, a message will be left for them to contact you. If you or a relative are too ill or disabled to come to the Health Centre and you would like a home visit,
phone our main number (0118) 972 2188, preferably before 10.00am. There is now a surgery on Saturday mornings from 08.10 -10.15. The majority of the Saturday appointments are pre-bookable with a very small number being reserved for 'walk-ins' on the day. Once these appointments have been used, patients will be advised to contact the out of hours service (on 0845 345 8995) if they consider that they need medical attention over the weekend. The surgery will be staffed by one GP and a receptionist. The services offered during the extended hours surgeries will be limited to the GP. There will be no service from the treatment room, phlebotomist, dispensary or hospital. Sometimes telephone advice from a doctor can save you from having to come into the Health Centre.
If you wish to speak to the doctor about your problem, please ring us on (0118) 972 2188 and let the
telephonist know that you wish to be called back. The doctor will then phone you as soon as possible and
normally before 8.00pm on that day. Prescriptions repeat prescription form Often one of the outcomes of your consultation with the doctor is the prescription of medication. Sonning Common residents are fortunate that there is a pharmacy in the village (Carsons, 196 Wood Lane) which dispenses NHS prescriptions. For details of late duty chemists, click here. For patients who live more than a mile from a pharmacist 'as the crow flies'. we have our own dispensary within the Health Centre. (Unfortunately, under NHS regulations we are not allowed to extend this service to other patients) If we dispense for you, you simply present your prescription at our dispensary. Prescription charges, if applicable, are paid at reception or at the dispensary. At both the pharmacy and the dispensary, the most usual remedies can be dispensed while you wait; the less usual will normally be obtained for you by the following day. If you take regular medication, your prescription will have a tear-off slip at the right-hand side. Please use this in good time to order repeats by clearly marking the item(s) you require and, either placing it in the box in our entrance lobby, or posting it a few days beforehand. You can now order repeat prescriptions online. Just click the navigation button at the (top) left of the screen and take it from there. Repeat prescriptions cannot be ordered by telephone unless the circumstances are exceptional and the medication is required urgently. However, your prescription request may faxed to us on (0118) 972 4633. The prescription can be collected from reception and taken to any pharmacist. Alternatively, we can arrange to send it directly to our local pharmacy (Carsons in Wood Lane). If we receive your request before 9.00am, your prescription will normally be ready for collection from Carsons, after 3.00pm, two working days later. If we dispense for you and we receive your request before 9.00am, the prescription will normally be ready to collect from reception after 3.00pm the next working day. If we do not dispense for you and we receive your request before 9.00am, the medication will be ready to collect from reception after 3.00pm on the same day. Please note and help. A large proportion of our budget goes to provide repeat prescriptions but, occasionally, we find patients have hoards of unused drugs. We are naturally keen to avoid waste of medicines, so we are now trying not to issue repeat prescriptions for regular medication if the computer tells us that patients have more than two weeks' supply left.
After your first visit to the doctor, further treatment or tests may be required, many of them
available at the Health Centre from our own nursing staff or in specialist clinics. We also provide access to
various complementary therapies. Consent - Operations, the Young and Immunisations
CONSENT Can be written or verbal
© 2002 Sonning Common Health Centre |
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