Appointments
Practice Appointments During Covid-19 Pandemic
Following guidance from NHS England and to protect our patients and staff face covering are required if attending any of our surgeries.
We have face to face appointments bookable through your online booking app or via our reception team.
Can we please ask that patients think before attending. Do I have possible Covid symptoms? If so DO NOT ATTEND.
We are relying on your help to keep our patients and staff safe and will only be able to keep face to face appointments bookable if patients think before attending the surgery. If you develop covid symptoms between booking and appointment, please cancel and rearrange.
Our reception team can book you directly at the Covid Red Site if you need to be seen by a GP and have Covid symptoms.
Appointments System
There are three ways in which you can make an appointment:
- Telephone 016977 2551 between the hours of 08.00 and 18:30.
- Call in at the reception desk at 4 Market Place or the White Lion, Brampton.
- Access the online appointment system via the link at the top of this page. To register for this service please speak to our reception team who will ask a couple verification questions. A notification email will be sent to you within 48 hours with online access. The email will offer you a range of website for you to choose from providing access our online appointments.
Pre bookable appointments can be made up to 3 weeks ahead at any time of the day. See below for more detail.
Knowing How Long To Book
Generally the doctors routine appointments are for 10 minutes. If you feel you require longer than the routine time allocated, or you have more than one problem/procedure to be dealt with, then please tell the receptionist when booking the appointment.
Nurse appointments are of differing lengths depending on the procedure and their own qualifications. Our receptionist will ask you the general nature of the appointment to ensure you are given the correct length of time with the right nurse. If you are at the reception desk and prefer not to say please ask to write it down or for a private space to speak to the receptionist.
Please note that all fitness medicals and post natal and paediatric checks require a 30 minute appointment. If you have not informed the receptionist you need a 30 minutes then you may have to re-arrange the appointment.
Same Day and Urgent Appointments
We have listened to feedback from our patients who tell us that the system of ringing each day at 8:00am is not helpful. We also know from experience that not all patients need to be seen by a GP and their problem can be dealt with by telephone or by another member of our team.
We have therefore supplemented our appointments with a system of triage by qualified Nurse Practitioners who are highly skilled nurses who are able to prescribe. If you would like an appointment on the same day and there are none available to pre-book you will be offered a telephone call with one of our Nurse Practitioners. They are able to discuss your problem and the offer advice or an appointment with one of our clinical team. This includes GP's, Nurses, Nurse Practitioners and healthcare assistants. For urgent cases you can also be seen by our duty doctor.
If you do need to see a GP we will try to give you an appointment with the doctor of your choice but are not able to guarantee this.
Routine Appointments
You can book up to three weeks ahead for a routine appointment. Wherever possible the receptionists will book you into the next available appointment that is convenient to you.Some specific clinics like the Warfarin clinic and chronic disease clinics are available to be booked further in advance.
Telephone Advice
We offer a telephone advice service with either a nurse. To access this you can ring the surgery and leave your details with the receptionist.
The receptionist will need to know the following details in order to ensure the doctor or nurse has enough information to be able to contact you.
- Your name
- Your date of birth
- Your contact telephone number. This needs to be the number that you will actually be on during the day as we cannot give you an actual time that the doctor or nurse may call you back.
- Some idea of the reason for the call. This is necessary so that the doctor or nurse can prioritise the calls that come in.
You can request this service between the hours of 09:00 and 16:00.
Extended Hours
Our current Out of Hours Provider Cumbria Health on Call (CHoC) are providing an extended access service on weekends and bank holidays which will be known as Cumbria Health Extended Access (CHEA).
These appointments can be booked via the practice and will be delivered by GP's and Nurses at the CHoC centre at the Cumberland Infirmary in Carlisle.
Home Visits
Whilst we encourage our patients to come to the surgery, where we have the proper equipment and facilities available, we do appreciate this is not always possible. In this respect, if you do need a home visit, you can help us by calling reception before 10:00.
You may only request a home visit if you are housebound or are too ill to visit the practice. Your GP will only visit you at home if they think that your medical condition requires it and will also decide how urgently a visit is needed. Please bear this in mind and be prepared to provide suitable details to enable the doctor to schedule house calls
You can also be visited at home by a community nurse if you are referred by your GP. You should also be visited at home by a health visitor if you have recently had a baby or if you are newly registered with a GP and have a child under five years.
Cancel an Appointment
It is important that you inform the reception staff if you are unable to attend your appointment, this will allow that appointment to be offered to another patient. If you fail to notify the Practice that you are unable to attend, you will be sent a letter informing you that you have defaulted from your appointment. Persistent defaulters maybe removed from the list.
You can also complete our appointment cancellation notification request form. This can only be used if your appointment has been arranged for more than 24 hours in advance. (excluding weekends and public holidays). You can also text to cancel your appointment.
Text Reminder Service
We have a texting service which allows you to receive confirmation and reminders about your appointments.
To have this service you will need to register by completing a consent form.
Please remember to update your contact details with us when you change address, telephone numbers and email address.
Opening Times
Training Practice
A number of our Doctors are involved in training future GPs (GP registrars), FY2s (trainee hospital doctors) and medical students.
GP registrars train for a period of 3 years. During this time they will be in General Practice on two occasions generally at the start and end of their training. Whilst they are at Brampton they are fully supervised by their GP trainers and are able to see patients for consultations.
As part of their training they have to video record some of their consultations and you may be asked if you would be happy to take part. At any time you are able to say "no" and this will not prejudice the way your consultation is viewed or handled in any way. If you are happy to be videotaped the receptionist will ask you to read a letter about the process and to sign a consent form. At the end of your consultation, if you don't wish the tape to be used, you can state this and the tape will be erased.
Medical students are usually here for a period of 2 weeks. During this time they sit in with a GP to gain an understanding of the GP's role, disease processes and most importantly how to communicate effectively with the patient. As part of their learning the GP may ask them to examine or take a medical history from a patient. At all times the GP will ensure that they are supervised.
At any time if you do not wish to have a trainee GP or medical student observing at your consultation please feel free to bring this to the attention of the receptionist or GP. At no time will this decision prejudice your care with us.