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Surgery Appointments

Doctors' surgeries run at various times but are generally from 8.30am until 12 noon and from 2.00 until 6.00pm. The practice also provides evening surgeries on Tuesday and Thursday evenings from 6.30pm to 8.00pm. The evening surgeries are run on a pre-bookable basis only and the surgery is not open for anything other than pre-booked appointments at those times.

We have recently changed our appointment structure with the aim of improving overall availability and avoiding the early morning rush that many patients found frustrating. We try to make it as easy as possible to see the doctors by offering a range of options including open surgery sessions, pre-booked appointments and evening surgeries. The receptionists will always do their best to make a convenient appointment for you - appointments can be made up to two weeks in advance with the doctors and usually four weeks ahead with the nurses. A large proportion of GP appointments can also be booked 2-14 days ahead via our website www.phoenixsurgery.com

If you consider your consultation to be urgent but find that appointments for that day have already been taken by other patients, please ask to be seen as an “extra”. This will be a short (5 minute) appointment to discuss the urgent matter only, but you will be seen that day. Please try to ring as early as possible in the day so that we can organise our workload efficiently. We are also currently trialing a nurse triage service in order to improve patient access - please see the 'Latest Practice News' page of our website for more information.

Should you just wish to discuss your medical condition with the doctor and feel you do not need to see a doctor face to face then phone consultations are available with all the doctors during their surgeries and you will be given an approximate time when the doctor will be able to phone you back.

Additionally, the practice holds 'open surgeries' on Monday and Thursday mornings. Monday's open surgery is normally held by Dr Swinyard whilst the one on Thursday is usually held by Dr Lehmkuhl (although these may sometimes change due to periods of annual leave and training requirements). On these two days patients may arrive between 8.30 and 10.00am without an appointment and will be seen. However, patients should be aware that these surgeries are popular and there may be a considerable wait - patients with routine problems may therefore prefer to make an appointment for some other time. Open surgeries are also usually held on the morning following a bank holiday.

Nurses' appointments are bookable in advance only. These are available daily from 8.30am until 1.00pm and afternoon surgeries are available on most weekdays. Extra clinics are added for flu immunisatons during the autumn.

Dr Swinyard runs a maternity clinic on Mondays from 2.00pm until 3.15pm by appointment only.

Dr Bassanino runs child health clinics on Wednesdays from 2:00pm to 3:00pm by appointment only.

If you have any difficulty obtaining appointments, please discuss this with our Customer Services Manager who would be delighted to hear your suggestions

This service, called EMISAccess, offers a convenient 24 hour facility which will allow you to book, view or cancel GP appointments in your own time day or night. In order to use the facility patients will first need to pre-register with the surgery and will then be provided with the appropriate log-in details to enable them to open an EMIS account. For a registration form please click here. Over 500 patients have already registered and the number continues to grow daily. 

All information that is sent to the surgery via EMIS Access is secure. All personal details are encrypted and protected using the highest standards of internet security so that they cannot be intercepted.

Home Visits

If possible please try to telephone reception before 10am if you require a home visit.

A doctor or nurse may phone you back as it may be that your problem can be dealt with by telephone advice, or that it would be more appropriate to send a nurse, or indeed arrange a hospital attendance.

House visits are only available for patients who are housebound because of illness or disability.

Please remember that several patients can be seen in the practice in the time that it takes to make one home visit. There are also better facilities for examining and treating patients at the surgery.