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Appointments
Book or cancel an appointment at our GP surgery.
Pharmacy and Self Care
See a Pharmacist
Many conditions can be treated without the need to see your GP.
Who to see?
Advice
Please make a selection to reveal who's best to deal with your condition.
Self-Care
Help and support available from many National and Local Organisations
Book an Appointment
Our practice offers a variety of appointments with a wide range of healthcare professionals. Our team includes Doctors, Nurses, Paramedic practitioners, Healthcare Assistants, First Contact Physiotherapist, Pharmacist, Mental health nurse, social prescriber, Care co-ordinator and Podiatrist. We would like to direct you to the right professional to provide you the best care possible. Therefore, we are changing our appointment system to triaging by GP Assistants supported by a triaging GP. A GP is now a part of our highly trained reception team, ensuring the correct care is provided for each and every patient and that appointments are made efficiently. The care offered may consist of advice from a GP or an appointment with an appropriate health care professional. Therefore, you will be asked to provide more information which takes time as well.
Book a GP appointment
Ways to book
- Request an urgent appointment online
- Telephone: 01622 756 721
- Visit the surgery and speak with a receptionist when we are open.
Book a nurse appointment
Ways to book
- Request an appointment online
- Telephone: 01622 756 721
- Visit the surgery and speak with a receptionist when we are open.
General queries
When you get in touch, we’ll ask what you need help with.
We will use the information you give us to choose the most appropriate clinical or non-clinical staff to help you.
Ways to query:
- Send an administrative request online. We respond to your admin request within 5 working days (a few requests may take up to 28 days).
- Telephone: 01622 756 721.
- Visit the surgery and speak with a receptionist when we are open.
Sickness Certificates (Fit Notes)
You must give your employer a doctor's 'fit note' (sometimes called a 'sick note') if you've been ill for more than 7 days in a row and have taken sick leave. This includes non-working days, such as weekends and bank holidays.
Travel Vaccinations
Information and advice for travelling abroad.
Home Visits
Please telephone Bower Mount Medical Practice before 10:30am if you are requesting a home visit. Patients are usually telephoned by their doctor prior to the visit to make an assessment as to the suitability and requirements during their visit.
Home visit confirmations will be given through iPlato, Anima, or telephone.
Home visits are only for housebound patients who are too ill or frail to attend the surgery. Transport responsibility remains with the patient.
Reasons For A Home Visit
- Bedbound
- Terminally ill
- Would come to serious harm if moved
Unsuitable
- No transport or money
- Children, young people and anyone who is mobile
- Social reasons or for convenience
The Small Print
- Patients do not have an automatic right to a home visit
- Under their terms of working, doctors are required to consider home visits for medical reasons only
- If you think you qualify for a home visit, please ring before 10:30am
- All visit requests will be medically assessed to check if appropriate
- Other help more appropriate
Life Threatening - Go to A&E
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.
Appointment Notification
The practice will send you a text or email via Anima confirming your appointment. Please always remember to inform us of any changes to your contact number.
Care Navigation
Please don’t be offended if you are asked what the problem is when you ring to book an appointment or telephone call.
This is about helping you get to the service you need!
Learn more about care navigation
You will notice your receptionist will ask for an outline of your problem when you ring to book an appointment, this is so you can be directed to the most appropriate service we are operating a triage system and the reception staff will ask for extra information from patients to ensure you are treated as efficiently as possible, this is discussed with a doctor.
This new way of working is about offering you the choice to see more appropriate professionals in the practice team or even somewhere else. If they can deal with the problem directly, it will often be quicker and means you may not need to see the GP at all.
By working this way, it helps to free up time for GPs to care for patients with complex or serious health conditions that can only be managed by the GP. More importantly though, it means people are seen first by the clinician that is best placed to manage their clinical problem.
Change or Cancel an Appointment
Please give us as much notice as possible so we can offer your appointment to someone else.
To cancel your appointment:
- Cancel your appointment online
- Phone us on 01622 756 721
Out of Hours
Enhanced Services
Evenings/Weekends
You can now see a GP or other healthcare professional during:
- weekday evenings between 6:30pm and 8pm (some practices offer early morning appointments)
- Saturdays and Sundays/Bank Holidays
These appointments offered could be:
- At your registered practice
- At another local GP practices
- At another local NHS service - such as a General Practice Hub
Appointments will be both bookable in advance, up to 14 days.
A mix of services will be available within these additional hours with access to the range of health professionals working in the primary care team, including, but not limited to, GP Appointments, Practice Nurse, Screening Appointments, Physiotherapist Appointments and Vaccinations.
What type of appointments will be available?
Evening appointments between 6:30pm to 8pm Monday to Friday will be offered by a practice in your local area. These appointments will be offered by a range of clinical professionals. Some practices in your local area may offer early morning appointments.
On Saturdays, a clinical professional will be available between 8am to 12pm at a practice in your local area (times may vary).
On Sundays and Bank Holidays a GP will be available between 9am to 12:30pm at a hub in Tonbridge or Maidstone.
Who can book these appointments?
Improved Access appointments are available for all patients in west Kent, regardless of where they are located. This means that patients can be seen by a clinical professional 7 days a week, 52 weeks of the year. It will be unlikely that you will be seen by your normal GP and it is likely that you will have to go to a different surgery to your registered practice for these appointments.
How can I book an appointment?
In order to book these appointments, you contact your surgery reception staff as normal. You will not be able to phone the reception staff on Saturdays, Sundays/Bank Holidays or between 6:30pm to 8pm Monday to Friday.
Sevenoaks Urgent Treatment Centre
Sevenoaks Urgent Treatment Centre, based at Sevenoaks Hospital is open 8am to 8pm, 7 days a week 365 days a year and has two GPs stationed there throughout the day.
The service is suitable for patients for same day appointments that cannot wait 24 hours to be seen.
Patients can be seen by a GP in the UTC either by obtaining an appointment through NHS 111 by asking for a booked appointment, or alternatively signposted to attend as a walk-in.
Life Threatening
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.
Urgent But Not Life Threatening
Visit an urgent care centre if:
- You have an urgent medical issue requiring on the day attention
Non-urgent
In the event of an emergency outside of normal working hours between 6pm and 6:30pm, patients are advised to telephone Integrated Care 24 (IC24) - 0300 5555252.
After 6:30pm dial 111 a new NHS 111 service which is also given on the practice answer phone service when the surgery is closed.
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.
Chaperones
There are occasions when patients need to be examined by a doctor which may involve intimate examinations.
This practice is committed to putting patients at ease whenever possible, and if you wish a trained chaperone to be present during your examination please do not hesitate to ask the doctor.
It may not be possible for such a chaperone to be provided immediately and you may have to return for the examination to be carried out at a mutually convenient time.
Trust is important in the relationship between general practitioner and patient and we would, at all times, wish you to feel able to ask for a chaperone, should you require it.
Top tips for visiting your GP
Is your issue urgent? Do you need to see a specific GP?
Is it important you are seen quickly or would you rather wait for an appointment with a particular GP? If you have a long-term illness would you benefit from seeing a GP who knows your history personally?
Take notes to help you
Before you see your GP, be clear in your own mind what you want to say. Make a note of your symptoms, worries and any questions that you would like to ask.
Take a list of your medicines – prescribed or otherwise
Bring a list of any medication you are taking, including over-the-counter and/or alternative medicines, or anything prescribed after a hospital visit. This includes tablets, liquids or creams. Your GP needs to know about everything you are taking.
Discuss important things first and stick to the point
Make sure you tell the doctor about the important things first and try to get to the point. Do not feel you have to justify being there or leave your main concern to the end.
Not clear on treatment plan? Ask again
Make sure you fully understand the next steps before you leave the room. If you do not understand, then do not be afraid to ask your GP to go through the plan again.
Ask who to contact if you have any more questions
You may think of questions that you would like to ask after your appointment. Find out who you can contact to ask questions, as well as any support groups that can provide reliable information.
If you need support, take a relative, carer or friend
If you feel your situation needs it, take a relative or friend for support. They can help you understand or explain.
Armed Forces veteranfriendly accredited
GP practice
Safe Surgeries
Providing NHS Services
Contact
Bower Mount Medical Practice
1 Bower Mount Road
Maidstone
Kent
ME16 8AX
Telephone: 01622 756 721