Appointments

For an appointment to see a doctor or nurse you may call into or telephone the surgery at which you are registered:

• Dinnington Surgery - 01909 569456 between 08:00 – 18:00
• North Anston Surgery - 01909 517444 between 08:00 – 18:00  
• Woodsetts Surgery - 01909 567342 between 08:15 – 18:00

Appointments with a Doctor

The appointment system at Dinnington and Anston is now a GP telephone triage system. This means that when you call or phone the surgery you will be asked to give reception staff a phone number that the GP can call you back on. Reception will give you an approximate time the GP will contact you if you are not able to use the phone at certain times during the day please let reception know and the Doctor will try to contact you at times when you are available to talk. The Doctor and you can then decide an appropriate appointment time to most match your needs. This could be a face to face appointment on the same day, an appointment later in the week or the problem could be dealt with over the telephone.

We also offer a limited number of appointments that are available for you to book on line. To use on line facilities you need to register for the service. Please contact reception for more details. You will need some photographic ID.

Appointments with a Nurse

If you need to see a nurse you can either phone or call in to the surgery and book directly with one of the nursing team.

Extended Hours Appointments

These appointments are provided mainly for patients who are unable to attend for GP Appointments during the normal Surgery times shown above and need to be booked in advance. They are provided at Dinnington and North Anston Surgeries only on Mondays as follows: Some of these appointments are available to book on line. If you would like to register for on line appointments please contact reception for more details. You will need some photographic ID.

Evening: 18:30 to 20:00 (minimum of 21 appointments at each surgery)

Saturday Morning Appointments

Currently we are a hub offering a small number of GP Practices in our locality access to GP appointments on Saturday mornings.  These are routine appointments which must be pre-booked.

The Hub will be offering appointments on Saturday 30^th December 2017

From Saturday 13^th January 2018 the Hub will be operating weekly. 

Appointments are available between 8am and 11am

Remember these are routine appointments which must be booked in advance.  If you are a Dinnington Group Practice Patient please contact reception to book an appointment.  If you are a patient from another practice which is being served by the Hub please contact your own practice reception.

The Hub site is

Dinnington Group Practice, New Street, Dinnington, S25 2EZ

Get the Most From Your Appointment

Let us know if more than one person in the family needs to be seen. We can give you a longer appointment if necessary.

Tell us if you want someone to accompany you during an examination or a private room to discuss any matters. Remember that results of tests can only be given to the patient.

Carers

Are you a Carer looking after an infirm, housebound person and unable to access the normal appointment system?

Please inform us when you telephone for an appointment and we will make every effort to make an appointment for you during a convenient time of the day.

Cancellations

If you cannot attend an appointment for any reason please inform us as soon as possible in order for us to give the slot to someone else.

Text Message Reminder

Please click the link below to find out more about our text message service.

HAVE WE GOT AN UP TO DATE MOBILE NUMBER FOR YOU

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. Please do not request a home visit for repeat prescriptions or sick notes.

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.

Specialist & Hospital Care

If your GP believes you need hospital treatment or specialist care elsewhere, they will discuss the details with you. When you and your GP agree that you need an appointment, you can choose which hospital or clinic you go to. You will also be able to choose the date and time of your appointment.

These appointments can be booked by either the GP, our Medical Secretaries or, alternatively, you can take the booking reference details with you and the instructions on how to book your own appointment via the internet, telephone or at Dinnington Resource Centre.

We have a number of local hospitals (Rotherham, Worksop and Sheffield) as well as an NHS-funded private orthopaedic centre at Barlborough, but under the new electronic appointment booking system it is possible to arrange appointments across a far wider range of 'providers'.

Visit the Choose & Book Website

Sickness Certificates

You do not require a doctor's sickness certificate for any illness lasting seven days or less. Your employer may however require you to complete a self-certification form (SC2) which is available from your employer or on the HMRC website.

Evidence that you are sick

If you are sick for more than seven days, your employer can ask you to give them some form of medical evidence to support payment of SSP (statutory sick pay).

It is up to your employer to decide whether you are incapable of work. A medical certificate, now called a 'Statement of Fitness for Work’ (see below) from your doctor is strong evidence that you are sick and would normally be accepted, unless there is evidence to prove otherwise.

You could also provide evidence from someone who is not a medical practitioner, e.g. a dentist. Your employer will decide whether or not this evidence is acceptable. If your employer has any doubts, they may still ask for a medical certificate from your GP.

Statement of Fitness for Work - ’Fit Note'

The 'fit note' was introduced on 6 April 2010. With your employer's support, the note will help you return to work sooner by providing more information about the effects of your illness or injury.

For more information see the DirectGov website (where this information was sourced)

Training Practice

We are a Training Practice for qualified doctors intending to become General Practitioners. A General Practice Registrar in Training is usually here to gain experience of general practice. They may be sitting in with the doctor, nurse or other members of our team here during your consultation: you will be informed if this is the case. As their training progresses they will hold their own surgeries under the supervision of their trainer.If you have any objection to this please let us know.

On occasion surgeries will be video–taped for training purposes but only with the signed consent of the patients involved at the time. To help maintain the high standards expected in this training work the practice will be inspected by other doctors from time to time. This inspection will include looking at some medical records. If you do not wish your records to be used for this purpose please let reception know.

A similar scheme allows hospital doctors (who may or may not go on to become General Practitioners) experience in family medicine – this is called the Foundation Year 2 rotation.

We take Student GPs and Foundation Doctors from Rotherham and North Nottinghamshire.

Missed Appointments

Approximately 250 appointments per month are ‘Did Not Attend’ (DNA), i.e. the patient does not turn up for the appointment and does not contact the surgery in advance to cancel/change the appointment. The effects of these are:

• An increase in the waiting time for appointments
• Frustration for both staff and patients
• A waste of resources
• A potential risk to the health of the patient

Due to the number of patients failing to attend for their appointment, this may mean that you may not be able to see the doctor on the day that you wish to.

In an attempt to try and resolve this, the Practice has developed the following policy:

• If a patient fails to attend two or more appointments with the Doctor or Nurse in a 12 month period without informing us, we will write to them asking if there are any specific problems preventing them from letting us know.
• If a patient repeatedly fails to attend for appointments, it will be discussed with the Management and GP’s and if necessary a formal letter we be sent.
• In extreme circumstances patients that continually fail to attend appointments and inform us that they cannot attend will risk being removed from the Practice list and this would result in the patient having to find an alternative GP Practice.

The Practice recognises that sometimes missed appointments can be a sign that something is wrong, particularly with vulnerable patients. Where ever possible, we will follow up non-attendances with patients to re arrange the appointment to ensure the patients’ health is not at risk. A letter will be sent to the patient confirming the appointment.

Missed Appointments Annual Summary 2016

Missed Appointments Annual Summary 2017