Appointments

Pharmacy

Pharmacists are qualified healthcare professionals who can offer clinical advice, over the counter medicines to effectively and safely manage a range of minor health concerns. They can also help you to decide whether you'll need to see a doctor. You don't need an appointment and you won't even be asked to make a purchase. Every pharmacy also has a private consultation area for you to talk about your symptoms in private if you prefer.

Locate your local pharmacy

Self-Care

Help and support available from many National and Local Organisations

Visit our Self Help Zone

Reception is open on weekdays from 8am to 6.30pm.

Appointments may be booked in advance, but each day some slots are reserved for emergency consultations only. Acute / urgent issues on the day are generally seen by the Advanced Nurse Practitioner.

The phone line is closed between 1.15pm and 2.15pm for administrative purposes.

Ways To Book

1. Request an appointment online
2. Via the NHS App
3. Telephone: 01892 530329

Please don’t be offended if you are asked what the problem is when you ring to book an appointment. This is called Care Navigation and it’s about helping you get to the service you need! Find out more about Care Navigation 

Make a list of what you want to ask the GP
Write a list of things that you want to discuss with the GP in order of your priority. When you go into your consultation show the list to him/her so that he can decide what is important to deal with on this visit and to judge if any of your problems may be related to each other. Please bear in mind that it is not normally possible for your doctor to deal with more than two problems during one visit and that he may ask you to make another appointment to discuss anything not covered. Another reason for writing a list is that perhaps you find some problems embarrassing and private and therefore leave them until last, at which point time has run out.

Make sure you understand what the doctor is telling you
It’s a good idea to make notes if you think you might not remember what the doctor is telling you and ask him to explain clearly if there is something you don’t understand. If you need blood tests make a note of what they are – you can check more about blood tests if you have access to the internet on www.labtestsonline.com. If you telephone the surgery to book a test or to get a result it helps the receptionist if you can tell her what tests you are asking about.

Dress appropriately
If you might need to undress for an examination or roll up your sleeve for an injection or blood pressure test, please wear suitable clothing so that valuable time isn’t wasted while you undo elaborate zips, buttons and fastenings.

Take responsibility for your own health
Please telephone the surgery for results of any tests and if you need regular blood tests try to remember to book an appointment well in advance. Try to take your medication as advised by your doctor. If you have stopped taking any medication, please do not stockpile it – tell your pharmacist or GP why you no longer need it and ask them to remove it from your repeat prescription list. Wasted drugs cost the NHS huge amounts of money every year.

And finally … please be patient and nice to our extremely dedicated receptionists!

Guidance if you have been offered a video consultation

This animation will help you if you have been offered a video consultation. This is where you speak to a doctor, nurse or other healthcare professional using the video camera on your smartphone, tablet or computer.

The animation is available in Arabic, Bengali, Bulgarian, Italian, Polish, Punjabi, Romanian, Urdu and British Sign Language. 

You must give your employer a doctor's 'fit note' (sometimes called a 'sick note') if you've been ill for more than 7 days in a row and have taken sick leave. This includes non-working days, such as weekends and bank holidays.

Visit our Sickness Certificates page

Information and advice for travelling abroad.

Visit our Travel Information page

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 10am.

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 housebound. 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. 

Evenings/Weekends
On the 1st October 2018 Improved Access was launched nationwide. You can now see a GP or other healthcare professional during:

• weekday evenings between 6.30pm and 8.00pm (some practices offer early morning appointments)
• Saturdays and Sundays/Bank Holidays

These appointments offered could be:

• At your registered practice
• At another local GP practices
• At another local NHS service - such as a General Practice Hub

What type of appointments will be available?
Evening appointments between 6.30pm to 8pm Monday to Friday will be offered by a practice in your local area. These appointments will be offered by a range of clinical professionals. Some practices in your local area may offer early morning appointments. 

On Saturdays, a clinical professional will be available between 8.00am to 12.00pm at a practice in your local area (times may vary).

On Sundays and Bank Holidays a GP will be available between 9.00am to 12.30pm at a hub in Tonbridge or Maidstone.

Who can book these appointments?
Improved Access appointments are available for all patients in west Kent, regardless of where they are located. This means that patients can be seen by a clinical professional 7 days a week, 52 weeks of the year. It will be unlikely that you will be seen by your normal GP and it is likely that you will have to go to a different surgery to your registered practice for these appointments.

How can I book an appointment? 
In order to book these appointments, you contact your surgery reception staff as normal. You will not be able to phone the reception staff on Saturdays, Sundays / Bank Holidays or between 6.30 pm to 8.00 pm Monday to Friday.

Based at Sevenoaks Hospital  the service is open 8am to 8pm, 7 days a week 365 days a year, and has two GPs stationed there throughout the day.

The service is suitable for patients for same day appointments, who cannot wait 24hrs to be seen.

Patients can be seen by a GP in the UTC by obtaining an appointment through NHS 111.