The receptionist will ask you how she can help. It is her job to direct
you to the most suitable practice member, whether it be a doctor, nurse or
other. She will need to ask you in general terms what the problem is.
Doctor appointments
Please ring the Practice for an appointment.
As we are fully computerised, you can ring any one of the 3 surgeries. Any receptionist can make appointments in any of the 3 surgeries for any of the doctors or nurses. This is useful as the phone at Channel View, Teignmouth can get busy.
You will probably want to see your registered or favourite doctor. If he or she is not available, you can see any doctor.
You will generally want to see the doctor in your usual surgery. As our notes are computerised, you can see the doctor at any of our 3 surgeries. You may wish to do this if appointments for your doctor are tight at your usual surgery or if you can only see him/her at a particular time.
The same applies to our Practice Nurses.
Appointments are for 10 minutes - and for one problem only! If you are quite sure you need longer, you may request a double appointment.
If the doctor or nurse is asking you to come back for a special appointment, such as a diabetic clinic or minor operation, you may be asked to book for a double or treble appointment.
Sometimes we are very busy, so please be considerate to other patients with requests for appointments. If we are fully booked, you may be asked to wait longer than you may wish for an appointment. If this is the case, we apologise. There are alternatives to seeing the doctor. See below.
If you cannot attend an appointment, PLEASE CONTACT US TO CANCEL.
Doctor telephone consultations
You can speak to your usual doctor on the phone, any week day. Please ask any receptionist and she will make an appointment for the doctor to ring you back later. Please restrict this service to problems you feel the doctor will be able to deal with without seeing you.
The Practice Nurses also carry out telephone consultations.
Practice Nurse consultations
Our nurses deal with all urgent requests for appointments and visits. This will free up the doctors to have more time for more difficult cases and more appointments will be offered overall. The nurses will often see urgent but minor cases such as skin rashes, minor injuries and minor illnesses. They will refer to a doctor if a prescription is needed.
The Practice Nurses carry out chronic disease monitoring for diabetes, hypertension, asthma, chronic lung disease, contraception, HRT. They perform most of the smears.
The following appointment lengths are needed -
Diabetes clinics - annual review - triple
Asthma, chronic lung disease clinic - double
Hypertension - single
Contraception - single
Smear tests - double
HRT - single
Holiday vaccinations - double
If you cannot attend an appointment, PLEASE CONTACT US TO CANCEL.
Healthcare Assistant and Nursing Assistant
Our Healthcare Assistant and/or our Nursing Assistant take all our blood tests. They also carries out ECGs and test urine.
The following appointment lengths are needed -
Blood test - single.
ECG - double.
If you cannot attend an appointment, PLEASE CONTACT US TO CANCEL.
District Nurse
Generally, if you need a District Nurse, the doctor will request one to visit. If you feel you need nursing care at home, please ask the receptionist.
Health Visitor
We have two health visitors covering the whole practice. They hold walk-in clinics as below. Please contact them via reception or via Teignmouth Hospital 772161.
Teignmouth - Wednesday 14:00
Bishopsteignton - Monday 14:00 - 15:00.
Chudleigh - Monday 09:00
Midwife
The practice is served by two groups of midwives -
Teignmouth and Bishopsteignton - Estuary
Midwifery Team
Chudleigh - Moorland Group Practice
They can be contacted for antenatal clinics via reception.
Counsellor
If you feel you need to see the counsellor, see your doctor, who can refer you if necessary.