The Grove Medical Group Appointment System:

We would like to advise our patients of our appointment system, given changes we have made to manage the unprecedented demand for appointments we have seen since the summer.

At The Grove we have over 12,500 registered patients. We have 14 GPs working at the surgery, and 2 GP trainees. Each week, we offer on average 600 routine GP appointments, and see around 300 patients in urgent appointments.

As a partnership and practice we pride ourselves on being able to deliver continuity of care, and of building good relationships between our patients and their GP, which is why we encourage all patients to try and see one GP for routine appointments if possible.

Routine GP Appointment:

• Prebookable in advance.
• Monday-Friday 8am-6pm (with some early morning clinics starting at 7am)
• Patient choice for a telephone appointment or face to face appointment.
• Reasons for routine appointments would include: any ongoing chronic condition, test results, medication reviews, new non-emergency medical issues.

Urgent (Same Day) GP Appointment:

• All requests triaged by the designated emergency GP by telephone, which allows us to deal with more patients.
• The GP may be able to sort your problem over the phone, but if needed they will ask you to come down to the surgery to be seen face to face.
• Please note that the GP will only be able to deal with your urgent issue, you will need to book a routine appointment with your usual GP to discuss any other issues.
• Reasons for urgent appointments would include: unwell children, breathing problems, new severe abdominal pain, severe mental health concerns.

This winter, we have seen a huge increase in demand for urgent appointments. We are struggling to accommodate these requests in house in a safe manner. The emergency GP has at times had to deal with 45 urgent patients in the morning alone. So we ask that patients take up the following appointments when offered to them:

• Walk in Centre Appointments- provided by Newcastle GPs/ Allied Health Professionals.
• Extended Access Appointments at 200 Osborne Road (Jesmond Health Partnership)- extra GP appointments currently provided by Grove GPs between 4-8pm.
• Same Day Access Appointments at 200 Osborne Road (Jesmond Health Partnership)- extra appointments provided by Jesmond Lower Gosforth Primary Care Network.

Home Visits:

Home visits are strictly for palliative care patients and those who are housebound.

All home visit requests will be triaged by the emergency GP who will ascertain if a visit is needed. Please call before 11am so this can be accommodated as visits are generally carried out at lunchtime.

Home visits are carried out by Grove GPs or by the Home Visiting Service from the Jesmond Lower Gosforth Primary Care Network.

Other clinics provided by Grove GPs:

• Weekly Care Home Rounds
• Minor Surgery
• Contraceptive coil fittings
• Baby Clinic
• Tutorials for GPs in training
• Tutorials for Medical Students from Newcastle University

We appreciate the frustration our patients feel waiting for appointments, and we share this. We have seen unprecedented demand for appointments over the last 6 months, despite increasing the number of appointments that we are offering and we would ask patients to be considerate and mindful of the pressures we are facing in primary care. Since implementing this new appointment system, we have managed to reduce the wait for routine GP appointments, and this remains under regular scrutiny and review.