How Do I?

GET TO SEE THE DOCTOR ?

Please ring 652056 or call at reception. The practice encourages you to see your own doctor whenever possible. If, however, your own doctor is not available, you will be offered an appointment with another doctor. Urgent matters and emergencies will be seen on the same day - please tell the receptionist if you think the matter is urgent. All weekday consultations at Chesterton Lane are by appointment. Patient appointments are made at 10 minute intervals. Please tell the receptionist if you need longer.

Surgeries held at South Cerney and Kemble are also by appointment. Please call the surgery at which you are registered (01285 862112 - South Cerney and 01285 770640 - Kemble) to make an appointment. If a branch surgery is closed it is possible to make an appointment by phoning the main surgery on 01285 652056. Please tell the receptionist at which branch surgery you wish to be seen.

We do not take bookings for appointments to see your doctor for more than one month in advance. This allows us to monitor the demand for appointments and make adjustments to surgeries if required.

You are able to book ahead for practice nurse appointments, medicals, diabetic checks and minor operations.

REQUEST A HOME VISIT ?

Please ring 652056. We are happy to do home visits when the patient is too ill to attend surgery or is housebound. It is a great help in planning the doctor's day if you can ring by 10.00am. Where possible the patient's own doctor will attend.

Please try to give us a contact phone number if you do not have a phone yourself. Tell us if you think there is a life-threatening emergency or the matter is urgent.

ORGANISE MY REPEAT PRESCRIPTIONS ?

How Can I Obtain Repeat Prescriptions?

You do this by ticking the appropriate box for the required medication on the Right Hand Side of your prescription. Think ahead and order what you will need in the next month rather than every 2-3 days.

The Right Hand Side Of Your Prescription

This becomes your passport to repeat prescriptions. Listed on here are all the medications that you and your doctor have decided you need on repeat prescription. You should work with your doctor to ensure that this is accurate and any items no longer required should be removed from this list.

How Does My Repeat Prescription Request Get To The Surgery?

Post

the easiest way is to post this to the surgery using the postal service, or
put your request in the repeat prescription box in the reception area, or
post through the letterbox if the surgery is closed.

The Chemist

Boots, Chesterton, Hortons and The Laurels are happy to bring your prescription requests to the surgery on a daily basis. Simply leave your completed request at the chemist.
The forum and Lloyds chemists currently pick up prescriptions from the surgery, but not on a daily basis, and are unable to offer this service at the moment.

REQUESTING FROM OUR WEBSITE

You can order your repeat prescription using Emis Access (this also offers you the facility to book an appointment with your doctor online).

You can request to join Emis Access on the website (click here) or by asking at the surgery. It is open to anybody 16 years or over. For our younger patients we offer an alternative service, which is also on the website, using the emailing system.

Fax

You can fax your repeat prescription request to us on 01285 641562

If you find that you are running short of your medication and you are not well enough to use any of the above methods to request your repeat prescription, please contact the surgery and tell us about it. We are here to help you and we do not want any patient to run out of their medication because of a temporary difficulty.

Collection of Prescriptions

What Do I Do If I Need A Medication Which Is Not On My Repeat Prescription List?

This is uncommon but we can deal with written requests if full details of medication are supplied including proper drug name and dosage. This information is available from the packaging of your last medication items. Forms for a written request are available at the surgery.

We will require your name and date of birth or your surgery computer number if you know it (this is on the top right hand corner of your treatment sheet).

GENERIC PRESCRIBING

Medicines can be prescribed by "generic" or "trade" names. The Medicines Controls Agency ensures that generic medicines are of equal quality. Generic prescribing is often cheaper and therefore we will usually choose to use these names when writing prescriptions.

DISPENSING

There is a pharmacy 150 yards from the Chesterton Lane surgery. Also, there are daily collections of prescriptions by all the pharmacies in the town. Several pharmacies will deliver if asked. There is a pharmacy within 25 yards of the South Cerney surgery (early closing Saturday afternoon). We dispense at the Kemble surgery and most patients who attend there may collect their prescriptions at the time of their consultation - please ask the receptionist. No dispensary is available at the College, the nearest pharmacy is in Chesterton Lane.