Appointments

Opening Hours

The Medical Centre is open for routine pre-bookable consultations from 8.30am to 5.30pm, Monday to Friday. Later appointments are available at certain times under the government’s extended hours scheme. If you are unable to attend during normal surgery hours and have a genuine need for these later appointments then please ask our reception staff.

The doctors of Litchdon Medical Centre are on call for emergencies from 8.00am each morning Monday – Friday. Outside of those hours your call will be redirected to Devon Doctors On Call which is the co-operative serving the population of Devon beyond our normal operating times.

Seeing the Doctor

All surgeries and clinics have an appointments system, but in an emergency a doctor will always be available to see you. Routine appointments are offered between 8.30am and 5.30pm; they are normally for 10 minutes, but you may request a longer appointment.

We aim to offer you an appointment with your doctor at a time that is convenient to you, however if that doctor is not available you will be offered an appointment with another doctor. We have a strong belief that a person is best served by a doctor who knows them well and with whom they can develop a long-term beneficial relationship. It is our ethos that this relationship lies at the heart of the very best that general practice has to offer. With this in mind we will always try to offer you an appointment with your own doctor, even if that means waiting a day or two.

If waiting to see your own doctor is not to your liking or if you perceive your situation to be an emergency then we will offer you an earlier appointment with another doctor.

Please be understanding when booking your appointment. We recognise that your medical problem is important to you, but we would ask that you acknowledge that you are one of just over 2,000 patients being looked after by your doctor, who will therefore sometimes get booked up. Our doctors work as hard as is safe to make themselves available for you. They work an average 50 hour week PLUS out of hours sessions for Devon Doctors On Call, and take 6 weeks holiday a year. If your doctor happens to be unavailable at the time you want we would ask you to be understanding towards our reception staff who are there to help you.

Booking an Appointment

If you would like to see the doctor or the nurse please phone the Medical Centre between 8.30am and 6.00pm to make an appointment. Please be aware that there are times in the week when demand outstrips our ability to respond. This can lead to extended waits when trying to telephone reception for which we apologise, but about which there is little we can do. We would ask that when phoning you try to avoid the period 8.30am – 10.00am as this is our time of greatest mismatch.

You can now book and cancel appointments online. Please click on this link to proceed.

In view of the very great demand on our services we are trying to increase our efficiency by responding most appropriately to your request. In order to do this the receptionist will ask you if you are happy to give an outline of your problem. If you are not happy to share this information then that is perfectly acceptable, but doing so may allow us to respond in a more timely manner. Many problems that people come to see us about can actually be dealt with over the telephone, saving you a journey and providing you with an immediate solution. Please do not be offended by our reception staff asking you about your problem.

About 30% of appointments are for things like medicine reviews and certificates, which often do not need a face to face appointment.

Same Day Appointments

With effect from 6th April 2010, all patients requesting any same-day help (consultations, prescriptions or telephone advice), will be dealt with by the Same Day Team.

This Team will operate in a manner similar to a hospital casualty department, which means that people will be prioritised on the basis of need. 

Patients will often be assessed by telephone and invited in for a face-to-face consultation when needed. Alternatively, it may be possible to deal with the problem over the telephone.

The Same Day Team will deal with urgent problems that genuinely require treating that day. It is not designed as a convenient alternative to booking a routine appointment.

People presenting to the Same Day Team with routine problems will be asked to make a normal, routine appointment for another time.

Arriving for your Appointment

We have touch screen computers in the Reception/Waiting Room Entrance area. They are very straightforward and easy to use and require no computer knowledge at all!

Entering information requested on the touch screen identifies your arrival on our computer system which lets the Doctors, Nurses and other healthcare professionals know that you are waiting to see them.

Home Visits

Home visits are reserved only for those patients who, in a doctor’s opinion, are unfit to travel to the Surgery. 

This is because we have access here, at the Surgery, to specialist equipment and investigations and the Surgery is where we are able to provide you with the best care.

If you do think you need a Home Visit, please call the Surgery on 01271 323443 before 11.00am. You will be asked to leave your telephone number so that the Doctor can contact you if necessary.

If you think an urgent visit is required, you will be asked to speak with a Doctor who will assess the problem.

Extended Hours

In line with government policy we offer pre-bookable appointments on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday evenings. These appointments will be after normal surgeries have finished for the day, we will not have other services available such as nurses, blood tests or other tests, but if you require a routine appointment with your doctor and you want to be seen later in the evening please contact your Receptionist who will advise you.

We will be closing the Medical Centre at the normal time and using a video entry phone on our back door for patients attending these appointments.

Cancelling Appointments & Non Attending

If you have booked an appointment with a GP, Practice Nurse or Healthcare Professional and are then unable to attend, PLEASE LET US KNOW EITHER BY TELEPHONE on 01271 323443 or by calling-in to the Reception Help Desk (with a minimum of 60 minutes notice).

Many hundreds of valuable pre-booked appointments are wasted every year. These wasted appointments could, very easily, have been made available for other Patients had we known, in advance, when someone will not be attending.

If a Patient does not attend an appointment and fails to inform us that he/she wishes to cancel on more than two occasions during a 12 month period, we reserve the right to remove the Patient and possibly his/her family from our Patient List.

Outside of Surgery Hours

At night and at weekend all calls are redirected to Devon Doctors On Call. Your emergency call will be taken by a trained telephonist who will take your details and an outline of your problem. A doctor who may not be your usual doctor or from this practice will call you back to find out more about your problem. They may give you advice if that is all that is required, or will invite you to the out of hours Treatment Centre, at the Hospital, if you need to be seen. If you are housebound due to illness then a doctor will visit you.

If you just want some general medical advice at any time please call NHS Direct on 0845 46 47.