Requests for a home visit should be made before 10.00am unless an emergency arises later in the day. Please also remember that they will not be carried out during Extended Hours periods.
Home visits cannot be pre-booked and, since they are shared between the available doctors, it is not possible for you to choose the doctor who will undertake a visit. Please not that sometimes visit are carried out by a Home Visiting team on our behalf.
You are able to book home visit by telephoning the surgery only. The receptionist will need as much information as possible to enable the doctor to prioritise requests.A decision to visit remains at the doctor's discretion and is based on their assessment of medical necessity. On some occasions we may provide a telephone consultation/advice as an alternative.
A patient without his or her own means of transport should make every effort to attend the surgery by whatever means as transport problems are not an acceptable reason for requesting a home visit.
We understand that it is not always easy to decide whether it is appropriate to ask for a doctor to visit at home or whether the consultation should take place at the surgery - the following guidelines may be of assistance:
GP visit recommended
- The terminally ill
- Truly bed-bound patients.
GP to be immediately informed, a visit considered, and/or an emergency ambulance called
- Severe chest pain
- Severe shortage of breath
- Severe haemorrhage
GP visit not usual
- Common symptoms of childhood - fevers, cold, cough, earache, headache, diarrhoea and most cases of abdominal pain
- Adults with common problems - influenza, back pain, abdominal pain etc.
- Common problems in the elderly - poor mobility, joint pain, general malaise etc.