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Appointments

For non-urgent issues, please follow the guidelines below and choose the right service. An appointment may not be necessary.

Pharmacy and self care

Many conditions can be treated without the need to see your GP.

Sinusitis
Who to see?

Community pharmacist

Advice

Suitable for patients aged 12 years and over.

If you are not within these age ranges, a pharmacist can still offer advice, but may need you to see a GP for treatment.

A pharmacist will offer you advice, treatment or refer you to a GP or other healthcare professional if needed.

Learn more about how pharmacies can help.

Sore throats
Who to see?

Community pharmacist

Advice

Suitable for patients aged 5 years and over.

If you are not within these age ranges, a pharmacist can still offer advice, but may need you to see a GP for treatment.

A pharmacist will offer you advice, treatment or refer you to a GP or other healthcare professional if needed.

Learn more about how pharmacies can help.

Earaches
Who to see?

Community pharmacist

Advice

Suitable for patients aged 1 to 17 years.

If you are not within these age ranges, a pharmacist can still offer advice, but may need you to see a GP for treatment.

A pharmacist will offer you advice, treatment or refer you to a GP or other healthcare professional if needed.

Learn more about how pharmacies can help.

Infected insect bites
Who to see?

Community pharmacist

Advice

Suitable for patients aged 1 year and over.

If you are not within these age ranges, a pharmacist can still offer advice, but may need you to see a GP for treatment.

A pharmacist will offer you advice, treatment or refer you to a GP or other healthcare professional if needed.

Learn more about how pharmacies can help.

Impetigo
Who to see?

Community pharmacist

Advice

Suitable for patients aged 1 year and over.

If you are not within these age ranges, a pharmacist can still offer advice, but may need you to see a GP for treatment.

A pharmacist will offer you advice, treatment or refer you to a GP or other healthcare professional if needed.

Learn more about how pharmacies can help.

Shingles
Who to see?

Community pharmacist

Advice

Suitable for patients aged 18 years and over.

If you are not within these age ranges, a pharmacist can still offer advice, but may need you to see a GP for treatment.

A pharmacist will offer you advice, treatment or refer you to a GP or other healthcare professional if needed.

Learn more about how pharmacies can help.

Urinary tract infections or UTI
Who to see?

Community pharmacist

Advice

Suitable for female patients aged 16 to 64 years.

If you are not within these age ranges, a pharmacist can still offer advice, but may need you to see a GP for treatment.

A pharmacist will offer you advice, treatment or refer you to a GP or other healthcare professional if needed.

Learn more about how pharmacies can help.

Additional support from Pharmacies
Minor ailments

Pharmacists can help with a variety of everyday health issues such as colds, flu, aches, pains, rashes, and cystitis. They can also assist with emergency contraception, pregnancy tests, and needle exchange services. No appointment is needed, and they will refer you to a doctor if necessary.

Medication advice

Pharmacists are experts in safely using medicines. If you have questions about your prescriptions or over-the-counter drugs, they can provide guidance. For new long-term medications, the New Medicine Service offers ongoing support. If you take multiple medicines, the Medicines Use Review (MUR) can help ensure you’re using them correctly.

Repeat prescriptions

Pharmacists can manage your repeat prescriptions, saving you a visit to the GP if your condition is stable. If any issues arise with your medication, your pharmacist can consult with your GP on your behalf.

Healthy living advice

Pharmacies can support your overall health by offering advice on diet, exercise, smoking cessation and blood pressure monitoring. They provide nicotine replacement therapies and regular check-ins to help you quit smoking and stay healthy.

Contraception advice

Some pharmacies can also support you with oral contraceptive checks and emergency contraception.

Pharmacy First is here to make getting the care you need simpler and faster.

Self care

Help and support available from many national and local organisations.

Visit our self help zone

Book an appointment

Do you need an interpreter?

  • Language interpreting – we are able to arrange either telephone or face-to-face foreign language interpretation for your consultation
  • Deaf interpreting – we are able to arrange for a sign language interpreter for either video or face to face appointments

As we need advance notice to arrange interpreters, if you need an interpreter, please do not use our online booking tool to make your appointment. Please call or pop in and see our Reception team who will be able to help you and advise us at the time of booking an appointment that you require assistance/ interpreter services.

Book an appointment

Where appropriate we offer both telephone and face to face appointments and you will be given the option to choose. In some cases, you will need to be examined by a clinician and will not be given the option of a telephone appointment.

Ways to book
Online

Where possible please use our online booking tool Rapid Health:

You will be asked to complete a short questionnaire which will be assessed to match you with the correct clinician for your needs. If we see that you need an urgent appointment with us today, you will be able to book immediately online.

If you have a simple query (e.g. about medication, test results, or follow-ups), you can use the “Questions and Admin” option via Rapid Health.

Phone
  • Please call 01452 543 000 if you are unable to request an appointment online. our reception team is here to help you.

Please be aware that the receptionist will need to ask you a series of questions from a proforma template, for all GP or urgent care and physiotherapy appointments for them to submit a Rapid Health form on your behalf.

Cancel an appointment

If you’re unable to attend your booked appointment, please cancel giving as much notice as possible so that we can offer the appointment to another patient.

You can cancel by:

  • use your NHS account (through the NHS website or NHS App)
  • using our online Rapid Health booking link
  • phone us on 01452 505 256 during opening times
  • reply to your appointment reminder text message using the link provided
Home visits

Please phone the surgery before 11:30am, so that we can arrange for you to be visited by the most appropriate member of the practice team.

Home visits are at the discretion of the practice who will determine if the visit is clinically necessary. Visits are reserved for patients who are genuinely housebound, including those in nursing and residential homes, and terminally ill patients.

Usually, our on-call doctor will contact you if you have requested a home visit. It is helpful if you can indicate the nature and urgency of your call to the receptionist, as sometimes patients require urgent assessment. The receptionist may therefore advise you to call an ambulance using our emergency protocol.

Appointment reminder service

Please ensure with have up to date contact details for you so we can send you an appointment reminder for pre-booked appointments.

This also allows us to contact you about annual review reminders, changes to your appointment, and updating medical records.

We are increasingly using email rather than text message to contact patients as it allows us to send attachments and more information and because we no longer receive funding for text messages which are a significant cost for the practice.

Change contact details

Chaperones

If you are attending alone but would like to have a chaperone during your consultation, please let our reception team know when booking your appointment or you can request a chaperone on arrival.

Out of hours: if you need help when we are closed

Life threatening

Important: Call 999 or go to A&E now if:

– you or someone you know needs immediate help
– you have seriously harmed yourself – for example, by taking a drug overdose

A mental health emergency should be taken as seriously as a medical emergency.

Find your nearest A&E.

Non-urgent

NHS 111

Use NHS 111 if:

  • you need help now, but it’s not an emergency

There will be someone to provide you with advice and to direct you to a clinician if it is necessary.

Visit NHS 111 online.

NHS 111 online is for people aged 5 and over. Call 111 if you need help for a child under 5.

Related information

Health A to Z

Sick notes

Test results

Page published: 15 September 2025
Last updated: 15 September 2025