Surgery Opening Hours

The Practice is closed between 12.30 and 1.30pm for training every Wednesday.

We also now offer late evening routine appointments on a Tuesday (6 - 8pm) and for a few hours on Saturday mornings (8.30am - 11am). Please ask specifically  for these if they suit you best, especially if you work long hours during the week.

Please note this additional service is not available for urgent appointments, visits or phone calls - the Out of Hours Service continues to deal with these as usual after 6.30pm on week days and all weekend.

Routine Appointments

A doctor or nurse is available during opening times (8.30am - 6.00pm). 

Consultations are by appointment and are for 10 minutes as a standard but please tell us if you feel you need more time. 

For routine appointments please try to book in good time as all the clinicians have different work patterns. If your usual doctor is on duty for a few days each week, then it can naturally take time to find an appointment convenient to you. See the doctor’s page to find out which days of the week each doctor is in. 

If you require a special examination or report for insurance, driving, or your employment, then please mention this when you book the appointment so that enough time can be allotted.
 
See doctors page to find out which days of the week each doctor is in

Same Day Appointments / Telephone Advice

To give you quick and convenient access to a medical professional for urgent medical problems, we operate a system for same day appointments either at the surgery or over the telephone. Wherever possible we will try to ensure that your usual doctor deals with these urgent issues - naturally if they are not on duty on the day, or are very busy, then another doctor is available. 

Minor Illness / Telephone Advice

One of our specially trained nurses - Lesley Haxworth and Susan McCrae - are available each morning and afternoon to speak to you and deal with minor illness concerns either for yourself or your children. If you have an urgent problem please inform the receptionist. Brief details of the issue help us to prioritise your call. 

For Telephone advice from a Doctor or Nurse please phone the surgery on 01865 761651. 

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Making Appointments

 Appointments can be made by telephoning (01865 761651), calling in to the practice or online. 

We have no restrictions on booking ahead to see your preferred Doctor or any other clinician. 

All of our Doctors have time set aside each day to deal with medically urgent same day requests, either face to face or by telephone. In addition, one Doctor by rotation has most of their morning and afternoon set aside for urgent same day requests –we aim to ensure that all such requests are dealt with within a few hours of the request being made. 

We also aim to have a routine appointment with any Doctor available to you fairly quickly and ideally within 2 working days. If your preferred Doctor is on duty less than 5 days a week, then naturally you will need to allow a bit longer to get the appointment you want with them 

If you cannot attend, or no longer need a booked appointment please let us know so that your appointment can be cancelled and used for another patient. We have a message service to make this more convenient for you. Please also let us know if you think you will be late. Patients more than 10 minutes late will need to make an alternative appointment to come back at a later time. 

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Arriving Late

If you are delayed and can let us know, then the next patient can be seen and the doctor’s session will still run to time. If you arrive more than 10 minutes late without prior warning you will be asked to re-book or wait until the end of surgery if the appointment is an urgent appointment.

Book your next appointment at the Practice online

We have recently launched a new service where you may book your appointments online. It is simple and easy to use, and is especially convenient during those times when the telephone lines are busy or the practice is closed. 

Appointments Online offers simple instructions and prompts to make sure that it is easy for you to book, view or cancel appointments online – regardless of the time of day (or night). 

Using the Internet, you can search for and view a range of available appointments; then just book the one which is most convenient for you! 

Please be aware, this is currently only available for routine doctor appointments. In future it will be possible to book blood and nurse appointments online. 

Guide to accessing appointments online

If you have registered for this service, please click on the link below. 

 Click here to book/cancel your appointment online

Before you can start booking online appointments with the Practice or use any of the other features, you must first REGISTER your details with us, so that you can be provided with a unique login username and password. 

PLEASE NOTE: your personal information is kept safe and secure when using Appointments Online. 

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How do I Register for Appointments Online?

If you would like to register for this service, please either:- 

1. Visit the Practice and ask to register for Appointments Online. The receptionist will give you a unique username and password – along with details of how to gain access to the website. For security reasons you will need to bring proof of identity e.g. driving licence or passport 
2. Or register online by clicking the link below. For security reasons you will need to come into the Practice to collect your username and password (you will need to bring proof of identity e.g. driving licence or passport). 

Please note you cannot register over the telephone due to security reasons. 

We are bound by strict patient confidentiality guidelines, so please only ask for logon details for yourself. We are also unable to offer this service to patients under 16 or their parents/guardians. 

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How to access Appointments online

On your computer, using your internet browser and the URL provided, go to the appointments online website 

https://bury-knowle-health-centre.appointments-online.co.uk/  

Login – using your username and password.
For security reasons if the information is not accurately entered, you will not be allowed access. 

You can now start using Appointments Online! Once logged in, you can book, view and cancel appointments. When you book an appointment this way, you will receive confirmation immediately. There is no need to confirm it by phone or email – just make sure that you arrive promptly on the day! 

Further information
If you have any questions or comments about using Appointments Online, you can contact the reception staff. 

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Other Online Features

Order repeat medication online:
You can make requests for repeat prescriptions - without having to visit the practice. Once the request has been processed (please allow 48hours), you can then call at the practice to pick up the prescription. Or you can arrange to collect your medicines directly from your local chemist, but please allow longer for this because they take time to collect from us first. 

Leave Messages
You can leave a message for us. For example, it may be convenient for you to enquire about flu vaccinations or details of travel clinics or other special clinics. All you have to do is select the option ‘Leave a message’. The message will be made available to the practice via a secure link. 

If your message is sent outside of our opening hours, we will first see it during the next working day – so this option should only be used for NON-URGENT matters. 

If your query is urgent you should contact the practice in person or by phone (01865 761651); if it is out of hours, contact the OXEMS out of hours service (0845 345 8995). 

Change Personal Details
There is also an option to allow you to notify us of changes to things such as your name, address, email and mobile telephone number (for SMS reminders). Changes made in this way are subject to confirmation from us.

Home Visits

If possible please try to telephone reception before 10am if you require a home visit.

A doctor or nurse may phone you back as it may be that your problem can be dealt with by telephone advice, or that it would be more appropriate to send a nurse, or indeed arrange a hospital attendance.

House visits are only available for patients who are housebound because of illness or disability.

Please remember that several patients can be seen in the practice in the time that it takes to make one home visit. There are also better facilities for examining and treating patients at the Health Centre.

Cancelling Appointments

DNAs are ‘did not attends’ or missed appointments. Recently, we have been looking more closely at these as part of our efforts to improve your access to the appointment time and doctor you would prefer. 6 DNAs translates to an hour of wasted doctor or nurse time. On average 300 booked appointments at Bury Knowle are not being used each month because patients do not attend (and don’t let us know beforehand). This translates to 50 hours of wasted doctor and nurse time each month, and means that other patients will be waiting longer than necessary for their appointments. Please help us to reduce this figure.
 
If you cannot keep an appointment please let us know as soon as possible so that your appointment can be offered to another patient. You can phone the surgery on 761651 - Press option 3 and leave a message on the voicemail, which will be checked regularly.