Consulting Update August 2021

Please call 01440 841 300 and hold to speak to a receptionist. Standard appointments are 10 minutes long, but if you feel you need a longer appointment please discuss with our receptionists. 

Need to be seen urgently but the surgery is closed?

Suffolk GP+ is for people who urgently need a doctor’s appointment or are unable to see their GP during normal GP hours.

Appointments can be made via reception during our usual opening hours. Please note that patients cannot refer themselves to this service.

The service is staffed by local Suffolk GPs and Nurse Practitioners in Bury St Edmunds, Haverhill, Ipswich, Felixstowe, Stowmarket, Leiston and Wickham Market and is an NHS service delivered by the Suffolk GP Federation.

As members of Haverhill PCN, with effect from 1 October 2022, Haverhill Family Practice and Unity Healthcare offer an Enhanced Access Service 6.30pm to 8.00pm Monday to Friday and 9.00am to 5.00pm on a Saturday.  Please note this service is for prebookable appointments only.  If you need to contact either practice during these times, please contact 111 who will be able to assist you.

You will be given a booked appointment and will be seen by a suitable local GP or nurse who will have access to your medical records (once consent is given).

This practice is a teaching practice affiliated to the University of Cambridge Clinical Medical School. We regularly have student doctors on attachment with us. If you do not wish to have a student sitting in during a consultation, please inform the receptionist and your doctor.

In accordance with the General Medical Council and Royal College of General Practitioners guidelines, this practice operates a chaperone policy. This means that whenever your doctor or nurse needs to carry out an intimate examination on any patient regardless of age, sex, gender, or religious beliefs, you will be offered a chaperone. A chaperone is another fully qualified healthcare professional who is there for your benefit and protection. You are free to decline a chaperone if you so wish.

Interpreter 

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

If you cannot attend an appointment for any reason please call 01440 841 300 and follow the instructions.

For many years it has been clear that the vast majority of primary health care should be provided in the setting of a modern, well-equipped surgery in a well-lit, purpose-built environment with rapid access to affiliated services, such as nursing and a pharmacy.

The decision as to whether or not a visit is required should be based on the clinical condition of the patient and should be made by the assessing clinician.

Home visits should be reserved for situations where it has been determined that a face-to-face consultation is necessary and:

• The patient is housebound, or
• The patient is in the later stages of a terminal illness, or
• The patient may be suffering from a medical condition which would be worsened by travelling.

The vast majority of patients are not harmed by car or taxi travel. Therefore, most feverish children, people with abdominal pain, diarrhoea and vomiting, upper respiratory tract infections, injuries and musculoskeletal problems, who are deemed to require a face-to-face consultation, are fit to be transported to the surgery for assessment.

There exists a grey area where there are no clear medical grounds to justify a home visit but where, for social reasons, patients or their carers feel they are unable to accept the invitation to attend the surgery. There is no requirement to provide a home visit in these circumstances, but the clinician may choose to offer a home visit in these cases as a pragmatic compromise.

Occasionally, if a patient clearly requires hospital admission following triage, this can be arranged without the need for a face-to-face contact following the agreement of the admitting hospital Doctor