Appointments

The duration of an appointment with your GP, Nurse Specialist and Practice Nurse is 10 minutes; an appointment with our Healthcare Assistant is 10 minutes.  If you require a double appointment please ask the receptionist.  If your appointment is no longer required, please telephone the receptionist, she may be able to offer it to another patient.

The practice has extended the opening hours to include early morning appointments from 7-8am Tuesday and Wednesday.

Home Visits

Please telephone the surgery prior to 10:30 to request a home visit.  It is very necessary for the receptionist to ask you some clinical details to determine the urgency of your request.  Please remember a doctor can see 3 patients in the surgery in the time it takes to visit 1 patient at home.

Protecting Personal Information

Members of the NHS team looking after you will share your personal information with each other; you will normally meet all of the staff and be introduced to them by name. The team may include nurses, doctors, therapists, pharmacists, laboratory staff, and clerical support staff plus students and trainees in medicine, nursing or other healthcare professionals who are looking after you. All these people are bound by a high standard of confidentiality. Your information will not be available or shared with NHS staff, trainees or students who are not looking after you directly and do not need to know it. This is called “the need to know” principle. 

Every time you attend your doctor’s surgery or your hospital, staff will record details of your medical history, personal life and treatment as part of your routine care.  Staff need this information to care for you properly.  This information is kept in your medical case record or on your computer record.

If you agree, your relatives, friends and carers can also be kept up to date with the progress of your treatment.

 

Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002

The practice has adopted the British Medical Association’s Model Publication Scheme for General Practitioners.  If you require further information, please contact our Practice Manager, Jacky Pitcairn.

Complaints

Please feel free to let us have any constructive criticism or suggestions that you feel could improve our service. We operate a complaints procedure and would ask that in the first instance you make an appointment to speak to Jacky Pitcairn, our Practice Manage, who will be pleased to help you. Details of how to access the complaints procedure is available at the reception desk.

Please follow this link to view our Complaints Procedure.

District Nursing Team

District Nursing Team 0131 455 9849 Pam Stirling Bianca Reid Lyn Sharp Elaine Ross We have a supportive District Nursing Team, all of whom work from our premises. They work in partnership with the GPs, Carers and other agencies to provide individualised total patient care, including assessment, personal care, bowel and bladder management, palliative care, over 75 checks, would dressings, removal of stitches, injections and other clinical procedures for patients in their own homes where they are unable to attend the surgery. Sister Stirling can also give guidance in the use of complimentary therapies. The District Nurses will be available to take your telephone calls between 14:00-15:00.

Health Visiting Team

Health Visiting Team 0131 455 9842 If you are unable to speak to the Health Visiting Team, please leave a message on the answer machine and they will return your call. Zoe Clements Health Visitor Margaret Addo Health Visitor Tammy Barnes Health Care Assistant The Health Visitor/Nursery Nurse can provide information on any of the following: parenting, behavioural problems, infant nutrition, developmental assessment, home safety, healthy lifestyle, child immunisations, postnatal depression, support for carers/parents and child protection. Clinic Times: Baby Clinic Tuesday 10:00-12:00 Drop-In Baby Immunisations Thursday 13:30-16:00 By app’t

Midwifery Team

Ruth Morrison Jane MacDonald The midwives run a clinic and see patients on a weekly basis at the practice. They liaise with the Simpson Centre for Reproductive Medicine and St John's Maternity Unit in Livingston. Our ante-natal clinic is held on a Thursday 13:30 - 16:00 by appointment only. However, patients are free to consult any doctor in the practice for their ante-natal care should they wish to do so.

Private/Non NHS Work

A number of tasks we are asked to complete for patients, solicitors, insurance companies etc are not covered under our contract with the NHS. Therefore, they are completed privately in the GPs own time and a fee is payable for these services. Please speak with our Practice Manager regarding the rates applicable for each service.

Changes to Personal Details

Please advise our Reception Staff should you change your name, address, telephone number or any other personal information that we may wish to record in your medical records. Remember to also inform any support services (i.e. the hospital, physiotherapy service etc) you are attending or are awaiting to attend in the future. If you move house outwith our practice catchment area you should register with a new GP as soon as possible as we are unable to provide medical services outwith this area.

Flu Clinic

If you wish to be vaccinated against the flu bug and you are over 65 years of age or have a chronic illness, please contact the Receptionist to make a suitable appointment. The clinic runs from September to March each year. Swine Flu vaccinations are available in the practice, please contact the Receptionist to ascertain if you are eligible for the vaccine.

Travel Vaccinations

Travel Vaccinations Overseas travel may expose travellers to a range of infectious diseases. All travel advice provided by the practice is free of charge. The NHS provides free access to vaccinations for patients against disease that could pose a public risk if imported into the UK. These are: Ø Hepatitis A Ø Typhoid Ø Poliomyelitis Ø Typhoid/Hepatitis Combination Ø Smallpox Ø Cholera The Practice Nurse will make an informed decision, on what vaccines you require, after seeking information from your medical history along with information provided through TRAVAX. Where you require vaccinations/medication that is not covered within the NHS the practice will provide you with a private prescription within 48 hours. The cost of a private prescription is £20.00 per item. The pharmacy will charge the full cost of the vaccinations/medication prescribed. You will be required to make a further appointment to have the vaccines administered. There is no charge for this service.

Test Results

Test Results are available on 0131 442 8700 between 10.30 - 12.00.