EMERGENCY APPOINMENTS

We are able to offer appointments with our on call doctor at Probus Surgery for those patients who need to be seen urgently.  This may be a telephone call in the first instance.  However, please be aware that these are emergency appointments and even though you have been given an allotted time, you may be required to wait.

Please give the Receptionist as much information as possible about your condition.  

Home Visits

We would ask that a home visit only be requested by patients who are too ill to travel to the surgery, not only because home visits consume a lot of valuable doctor's time, but also because we have better facilities for examining and treating you in the surgery.

You will be asked the reason for your request and it would be helpful to give the Receptionist as much information as possible. 

Lack of transport is not an acceptable reason for a home visit.

Where possible please phone before 10.30am giving name, address, telephone number and some indication of illness.

If you require urgent medical advice please telephone the usual surgery number 01726 882745. There is always an available Duty Doctor.

Telephone Advice

If you need to speak to a doctor for advice over the telephone it is best to ring Probus Surgery either mid-morning or early afternoon. If it is urgent advice you require and the emergency doctor is not available to take your call they will telephone you back as soon as possible.

Please give as much information as possible to the Receptionist who can pass this information onto the doctor.

If you would like to speak to a specific doctor we can leave a message for them to telephone you after their clinic, however this may not be on the same day.  Please note telephone advice is not always suitable and you may be asked to make an appointment.

Appointments

Routine clinic times are as follows

Please ring either the Probus or Grampound Surgery to arrange an appointment

PLEASE NOTE:

You can now book appointments online. To enable you to book these appointments please visit either Probus or Grampound Surgery and complete an application form providing us with a unique email address, bringing with you some form of identification. We will then set you up to access the system.

To book the online appointments please click: The Waiting Room

These slots are for ROUTINE APPOINTMENTS only. If you feel you will require longer than 10 minutes please phone the surgery on 01726 882745.

We are able to book some appointments up to one month in advance, some a week ahead, others a day ahead and some can only be booked on the day. If you know you need a routine review appointment, please book this in good time - or even before leaving the surgery after your previous appointment. This helps ensure we can offer various day and time options.

We aim to offer everyone an appointment at a time that suits them, and constantly re-evaluate our patients' needs. However, Mondays are always very busy, despite having approximately 120 appointments available, so we would ask you to bear this in mind when you ring.

It is also important to let us know in good time if you no longer require an appointment, so that this slot can be offered to another patient.

The Receptionist team at Probus and Grampound Surgeries can answer in the region of 330 calls a day, the majority of which are patients wishing to make an appointment to see a GP.  Please do not be alarmed if the Receptionist asks the reason for your attendance as this information allows the Receptionist to allocate the most appropriate resource to suit your need.

Weekday late evenings

We rotate between Monday, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, providing at least two late evening clinics per week. Each of our partners work these clinics rotationally and appointments are available from 6.30pm. These appointments are only bookable in advance. 

Improving Access to General Practice

We are participating in a national incentive to offer evening and weekend appointments to make it easier for you to see a doctor, nurse or other healthcare professional at a time more convenient to you between 6.30pm – 8pm Monday to Friday and at the various hours at the weekend. The aim of the national scheme is to help people who may find it difficult to see a healthcare professional during the traditional surgery opening hours of 8.30am-6.30pm Monday to Friday.

We are working in partnership across the local area and appointments are available at several locations across Cornwall where you may not see a clinician from this practice. The clinician will have access to a summary but not your full notes so appointments are better suited to new conditions or single issue enquiries. The practice will receive a full summary of your consultation and any actions resulting from it the next morning.

Once the benefits of this service have been assessed it may result in longer opening hours being available on a more permanent basis.

Please contact us by phone for details on the locations of the clinics and how to book an evening or weekend appointment.

Urgent medical care continues to be provided by NHS 111 during these late clinics in accordance with the wishes of the Primary Care Trust.

Test Results

Test results are usually back at the surgery within 48 hours. The doctor reviews all results and the Receptionist or GP will contact you if any abnormalities are detected which need discussion or a repeat test arranged.

If you have not heard anything you can usually assume that the test results have come back as normal.  However you can telephone our Receptionist staff, if you wish, after two working days to confirm this.

It would be helpful if you could delay such calls until after 2pm on any weekday.