New Online Appointment System Coming Soon
From 28th January 2025 Ashfield Surgery will be changing the way you book appointments with us.
Our new system is easy to use and will ensure you get an appointment with the most appropriate person first time, without the need to call back again and again.
No need to queue up or join the early morning telephone rush. You can submit your requests from 7am each morning and you will be offered an appropriate appointment or signposted to local service.
How it works
Patients call, walk in, or ideally use our online request form and answer some simple questions about your needs. The system will then assess your responses and provide you with appropriate local services, self care, or a clinical appointment where needed.
Can I still call up and book an appointment the old way?
While you can still call and speak to a member of our team. All appointment requests will need to go through the new triage system. Our team can help you with this, but it would be quicker and more convenient for you to use the website yourself if you are able to.
Why can’t I just show up at the practice in the morning like I do now?
Not all patients who need an appointment can get down to the practice in the morning. Our new system aims to make the process for requesting an appointment simple and fair for all patients. Requests for an appointment can be submitted between 7am and 6pm and patients will be offered a range of appointment times and dates, or directed to the most appropriate service depending on their needs.
I don’t have a computer or smartphone, how do I book an appointment.
You can still call the appointment line and a member of our team can complete the form with you over the phone. This will take time to complete and you will need to share information with the call handlers. You can also get family or friends to complete the form on your behalf.
Why are you doing this?
Despite the practice increasing capacity year on year, demand for appointments continues to rise faster. Increasing frustration with long waits on the phone and queues in the morning have shown us that something needed to be done to address this.
Total triage is the term used when all requests for appointments are triaged before an appointment is offered. That means that all patients that request to be seen, are reviewed and appropriate action taken. This could be booking them in for a same day appointment, offering a choice of appointments up to 5 days in advance with an appropriate clinician or directing you to pharmacy first, self care or other services. Routine non-urgent appointments can also be booked up to 4 weeks in advance.
Many practices across the country use total triage models to make better use of their appointments and ensure that more patients get seen faster and with the right clinician first time.
For more information, please watch the following video showing how the new booking system works.
Rapid Health – Patient Explainer on Vimeo
Where do I go to complete the form online?
From 28th January 2025 you can access the form via our website www.ashfieldsurgery.co.uk and select ‘Make an Appointment’ from the list of options.