Appointments

Appointments System

When you call for an appointment the Patient Services Adminsitrator will ask if you are willing to give them a brief outline of your symptoms to be able to direct you towards the right service which could be the Doctor, Nurse Practitioner, Paramedic, Nursing team or your local Pharmacist.

We would appreciate your co-operation towards our reception team. If you do not want to tell the Patient Services Adminsitrator what your symptoms are, it is perfectly acceptable to say that it is a private matter.

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How to make an appointment

  • You can ring us on 01323 502200
  • You can book at our reception desk
  • Book online via the NHS app (not currently available).
    You can download the NHS App if you are aged 16+. Once registered this will allow you to book appointments. For more information and to download the App  Click here.
  • Book online via Patient Access (not currently available).
    You can register for a Patient Access account if you are aged 16+. To register for a Patient Access account please Click here.

Telephone consultations

If you feel that your problem could be dealt with over the telephone please ask the Patient Services Administrator to book you a telephone consultation with a clinician.

We would like to inform our patients that we record, store, and may monitor or use any incoming and outgoing calls, email or any other communication with you for training purposes and to improve the quality of our services. Calls are stored on a standalone recording system and are not accessed unless there is a training or monitoring need.  Calls are automatically deleted after 6 months.  Should you wish a telephone call to be deleted before the 6 month period, please contact the practice to request this from a member of the management team.

Video consultations

During the current Covid-19 pandemic, we are offering video consultations where appropriate.

** Important information regarding images sent by email. Please note that any digital image submitted as part of an online consultation / prior to a consultation will be stored within your clinical notes.**

Pre-bookable appointments

A limited number of appointments can be booked up to 6 weeks in advance with the remaining appointments released on the day.

Further information about appointments

  • Usual appointments times are 10 minutes. 
  • If more than one family member needs to be seen, each patient must be allocated a separate appointment.
  • Please let us know if you would like a member of the practice team to accompany you during your consultation.

Engage Consult

Engage Consult is an online platform that allows you to contact the Practice via the link below.

You can use this service to request medical advice, as an alternative to a telephone consultation. Please note our local GP Federation, South Downs Health and Care (SDHC) provide this dedicated service on our behalf. This means a local GP, but one who is not necessarily part of the Park Practice team, will conduct your online consultation.

The SDHC GP will have full access to your medical records - you will have the opportunity to decline or consent to this when making your request on Engage Consult. Please note that declining consent will mean you will be unable to use Engage Consult, and will need to contact Park Practice by telephone and book a telephone consultation with one of our GPs via the usual method.

Please ensure you complete all questions presented to you prior to submitting the consultation, to avoid having to resubmit information to us. We require this level of detail to be able to help you safely.

The opening times of this service will be presented to you prior to starting an online request, with confirmation emailed to you once your request has been submitted.

You can also contact our admin team with administrative queries and our own staff will deal with these in-house.

To sign up for Engage Consult, click the link below:

https://wsp.psf-live.co.uk/8868/#/portal

Cancel an Appointment

It is important that you inform the reception staff if you are unable to attend your appointment, this will allow that appointment to be offered to another patient. If you fail to notify the Practice that you are unable to attend, you will be sent a letter informing you that you have defaulted from your appointment. Persistent defaulters maybe removed from the list.

Late For Your Appointment

Please attend your appointment on time, if you are late you may not be seen. If you are not seen you will not be able to rearrange your appointment until the next working day-except in the event of an medical emergency that requires immediate attention.

Interpreter

If you require an interpreter to attend with you when you see your Doctor please notify the Patient Services Administrator and they will arrange this for you.

EAS Clinic - Evening and Weekend Appointments

A new service has been launched by South Downs Health and Care (SDHC) known as the Extended Access Service. The clinics are run by GP's from the local area.

Appointments are available Monday to Friday - 18.30 - 20.30. Saturday - 08.00 - 12.00. Sunday 09.00 - 12.00. The clinics are held at 5 sites in East Sussex: Park Practice Eastbourne, Harbour Medical Practice Eastbourne, Quintin Medical Centre Hailsham, Sea Road Surgery Bexhill and Old School Surgery Seaford.

This is not a walk in service and Park Practice patients must book an appointment by calling our appointment line. In order to book an appointment, permission has to be given to the clinician who sees you to have access to your GP records to ensure the highest safety and continuity possible. The reception staff will ask for your consent at the time of booking.

If you need to cancel an Extended Access Appointment, please call 07540 745730

Community Pharmacists

Pharmacists are highly trained and therefore equipped to deal with medication needs and are often a quicker alternative than ringing the Surgery.

111 Service

NHS 111 can help you if you need urgent medical advice or if you have an urgent medical problem and are not sure what to do.  The NHS 111 service is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

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 as early in the day as possible.

You may only request a home visit if you are housebound or are too ill to visit the practice. 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.

Training Practice

The Partners are delighted to announce that Dr Harvey has gained accreditation to train doctors to become GPs.

GP Registrars

GP Registrars are fully qualified and must have done at least two year's hospital medicine before they can start their General Practice Training. They are known as GP Specialist Registrars and the training lasts three years, most of the first two years takes place in Hospital but at least one year (including all of their final year) takes place in General practice.

The whole practice is involved in training, although Dr. Harvey is the trainer responsible for the Registrars. We all benefit greatly from having these young doctors in the practice. Learning and teaching is a two way process and the Registrars help to keep us all up to date.

Registrars provide extra appointments in the practice which helps us to cope with our workload and hopefully makes it easier for you to see a doctor when you need to. They often have longer to talk to you than your own doctor would have. If they are not sure what is wrong with you they can call for help.

Part of their training and successful completion of their course involves videoing their consultations. These videos are viewed afterwards by the registrars themselves and probably their trainer. Occasionally, they are viewed by other registrars as part of the training process, and they may be viewed by examiners (who are all GP Trainers) as part of the final assessment that ensures that all doctors are competent to practise unsupervised. We would ask you not to lightly refuse permission for your consultation to be videoed. You can always ask the doctor not to use the video if you don't like the way the consultation went. We always ask you to sign your permission beforehand and then again afterwards. If you change your mind we won't view the video!

We feel that teaching helps to keep the practice up to the highest standards.

FY2 Doctors

Following recent modernisation of the training and career structure of doctors in the NHS, the first two years after qualifying as doctors are now known as Foundation Year 1 (FY1) and Foundation Year 2 (FY2). One of the changes introduced as part of this modernisation is the idea that as many doctors as possible should experience a period of time in general practice regardless of their eventual chosen career in medicine. We in general practice support this wholeheartedly and are convinced that, regardless of the specialty they eventually choose, all doctors will benefit from an insight into the workings of general practice. Therefore, our practice now accommodates FY2 doctors for periods of four months as part of their training. They work closely with us and are under supervision throughout their time with us. We are sure that this arrangement will benefit patient care in the future.