Doctors' Appointments

The practice offers a variety of appointment types to try to accommodate all circumstances.

Routine Doctor Appointments

We offer routine appointments for the doctors up to 4 weeks ahead. If you request an appointment for review of an on-going medical condition you will be offered the first routine appointment with the doctor you usually see. We would advise you to book well in advance.

Appointments are allocated at 15-minute intervals. If you attend an appointment with more than one medical issue, please discuss the most important first as it may not be possible to discuss all issues within the allotted time.  If you feel you need a longer appointment, please discuss this with the receptionist.

48-Hour Access Appointments

We offer all patients with a new medical problem either an appointment or a telephone consultation within 48 hours of contacting the surgery. 

Guide to 48 Hour Access Appointments

Telephone Consultations

For non-urgent advice we offer telephone consultations. Please phone the receptionists and they will arrange a time for someone to call you back. It is helpful if you can give as much information about your call.

Eyecare Ayrshire - do you have an eye problem?

If you have an eye problem, did you know the opticians in Ayrshire can see you on the same day under the Eyecare Ayrshire scheme.  Your optician is an expert in eyesore and so is ably placed to assess, diagnose and treat a whole range of eye problems.  

For more information and a list of opticians who have signed up to this scheme, please click Here

Dental Access

If you are suffering from dental complaints eg dental abscess, you should visit your Dentist who can assess, diagnose and treat your condition.  They are experts in their field and are ably placed to deal with all dental complaints.  If you need to register with a dentist, click here for the most up to date list of Dental Practices taking on new patients.

Practice Nurse Appointments

Appointments are available with a member of the nursing team for a variety of preventative and on-going treatments, including: cervical smears, breast examination, contraceptive advice and family planning, dressings, stitch removal, routine injections, ear syringing, blood pressure management, dietary and smoking advice, breath testing, blood sampling, Warfarin management, chronic disease monitoring and general health information.

We offer appointments up to 12 weeks ahead and would ask you to book appointments for routine matters well in advance.

Minor Illness Telephone Consultations

We offer nurse telephone consultations for advice and treatment of minor illnesses. Patients requesting a house call or appointment for that day may have details taken by the nurse practitioner who will advise on the best course of action to be taken. The practice nurse can also discuss test results at this time. The receptionists can tell you if test results are normal, but are not allowed to give further details.

The nurse practitioners have undergone significant training to be able to assess each patient's need and ensure appropriate follow-up. An Advanced Nurse Practitioner is available for urgent telephone consultation every day between 8.30am and 1pm.

Interpreter Services

The practice is able to arrange interpreter services. Please let us know at the time of booking and this can be arranged in advance.

Cancellations

If you cannot attend an appointment for any reason please inform us as soon as possible in order for us to give the slot to someone else. To make the best use of consulting time available, the practice has adopted a strict policy for removing patients who persistently fail to attend or fail to cancel appointments. If there are reasons why you have missed an appointment, please let us know.

Access & Parking

We are able to offer disabled access. All patient facilities are on the ground floor with wheelchair access and a disabled toilet. The patient call system in the waiting room has a loop system for the hard of hearing.

Unfortunately the site has no parking facilities for patients. There are two large car parks nearby and on-street parking also.

If you need assistance during your visit to the Practice please let us know.

Failure to attend appointments

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 before 09:30.

You may only request a home visit if you are housebound or are too ill to visit the practice. The clinician 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 clinician to schedule house calls.

Please note we do not automatically visit patients on discharge from hospital.

Home Visit Leaflet

You can also be visited at home by a community nurse if you are referred by the Practice Clinician or Hospital. 

Our Midwifery and Health Visiting team will also plan home visits with you during ante natal and post natal care.  

Sickness Certificates

You do not require a doctor's sickness certificate for any illness lasting seven days or less. Your employer may however require you to complete a self-certification form (SC2) which is available from your employer or on the HMRC website.

Evidence that you are sick

If you require a letter confirming your illness eg school or college etc there may be a fee for this service.

If you are sick for more than seven days, your employer can ask you to give them some form of medical evidence to support payment of SSP (statutory sick pay).

It is up to your employer to decide whether you are incapable of work. A medical certificate, now called a 'Statement of Fitness for Work’ (see below) from your doctor is strong evidence that you are sick and would normally be accepted, unless there is evidence to prove otherwise.

You could also provide evidence from someone who is not a medical practitioner, e.g. a dentist. Your employer will decide whether or not this evidence is acceptable. If your employer has any doubts, they may still ask for a medical certificate from your GP.

Statement of Fitness for Work - ’Fit Note'

The 'fit note' was introduced on 6 April 2010. With your employer's support, the note will help you return to work sooner by providing more information about the effects of your illness or injury.

For more information see the DirectGov website (where this information was sourced)

Training Practice

The practice is an accredited training practice by University of Glasgow.  

As part of the GP training programme, the Practice undertakes the training of GP Registrars.  These doctors are fully qualified and experienced in hospital medicine, and are starting their career in general practice. 

As part of this training programme, the practice will normally accommodate two trainee GPs at different levels of their training programme.  They will work with the practice for a period of 6 months - 1 year to gain experience in the sort of medical problems encountered in general practice. 

We also assist in the training of medical students at all levels on a regular basis.

As a total Training Practice we provide training for nursing students, and those wishing to develop their career; and administrative students who are wishing to gain experience in the workplace or want to establish a career in General Practice.

If you are interested in any of our training opportunities, please contact Jan McCulloch, Management Partner at clinical_practice_barnsmedicalpractice_80081@aapct.Scot.nhs.uk