How Do I...
Make An Appointment?

APPOINTMENTS ARE BOOKED AT 12 MINUTE INTERVALS. IF YOU HAVE MORE THAN ONE PROBLEM, PLEASE BOOK A DOUBLE APPOINTMENT. We also offer some 6-minute telephone appointments which enable patients to discuss medical matters with a doctor by telephone from anywhere within the UK. It is important that these telephone consultations are used appropriately and you will therefore be asked to confirm when you book that the matter to be discussed is suitable for a telephone consultation and, specifically, that the doctor does not need to examine you.

Please remember that our appointment system covers both our surgeries. Patients will therefore be offered the next available appointment in the practice as a whole which means that an appointment will be either at the Eynsham Medical Centre or at the Long Hanborough Surgery. In order to see a particular doctor or nurse for a particular appointment or to have an appointment within a given timescale, a patient may have to travel to the surgery which is not the nearest to their home.

Appointment Timescale

Doctor appointments may be booked up to five working days ahead except duty doctor appointments which can only be booked on the day. Appointments beyond five working days ahead are controlled by the doctors so that they are able to ensure that patients who require a review can be seen by them within the appropriate timescale. Appointments with our nurses and phlebotomists do not have these restrictions.

Duty Doctor

We have a duty doctor surgery each morning and afternoon for patients who have an urgent medical need to be seen on the day that they contact the surgery: duty doctor appointments can only therefore be booked on the day. These appointments are 10 minutes long and are allocated in time order on the basis that anyone wanting to be seen urgently on any particular day will make themselves available as soon as an appointment is available. The duty doctor surgeries will be in one of our buildings and may be in a different building in the morning to the afternoon. Patients who have a medical need to be seen on the day that they contact the surgery must be prepared to travel to the surgery building in which the duty doctor is holding his/her clinic.

Please note: our waiting rooms are fitted with induction loops for hearing aid users - please select the 'T' position. Portable induction loop devices are also available at our reception desks; please ask a member of staff if you would like us to use these devices.

Cancelling Appointments

If you have an appointment that you no longer need, please let us know as soon as possible so that we can make it available for someone else. You can cancel an appointment in person at the desk or by telephone on the normal surgery number. You can also leave a message at any time 24 hours a day, all year round on our answering machine: call 01865 880793 and listen to the announcement, then please speak clearly and slowly and give your full name, the date and time of your appointment and the name of the clinician you were due to see (or simply a doctor or nurse if you don't know the name). Taking time to repeat the message will help us too.

Messages will be actioned during normal practice hours so please give us as much notice as possible of your cancellation.

How Do I...
Obtain Telephone Advice And Contact NHS Direct?

Telephone advice can be given. Please note that the doctor or nurse may not be able to return your call for two to three days. Calls assessed as requiring a more immediate response will be dealt with by the duty doctor. Please provide as many contact telephone numbers as possible so that your call can be returned efficiently; very often we encounter answering machines when returning calls.

Patients are reminded that they can obtain general medical advice and specific guidance on medical problems 24 hours a day, all year round, from NHS Direct: telephone 0845 46 47.

How Do I...
Obtain A Home Visit?

We encourage patients to attend the surgery as we can see four patients in the surgery in the time it takes to do one visit to a patient's home. If you feel unable to sit in the waiting room you may wait in a side room while waiting for your appointment.

If you are unable to come to the surgery please phone with your request as early as possible and preferably before 1000. Give some indication of the urgency of the visit and simple details of the problem.

How Do I...
Obtain Blood Tests?

Patients requiring a blood test should make an appointment to see one of our phlebotomists.

How Do I...
Obtain Test Results

Patients contacting the practice to obtain the results of diagnostic tests should call between 1500 and 1800 Monday to Friday.