GPs are on your side
A message for patients in England | British Medical Association
RSV Vaccinations
From September 2024, a new vaccine for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) will be available to older adults aged 75-79 years old, and to pregnant women (from 28 weeks) to protect their baby. If you are eligible we will offer this vaccine to you in due course.
Welcome to Bideford Medical Centre
In January 2023, we changed the way in which we operate and book appointments at the practice. All our patients needing to see or speak to a clinician are asked to submit a medical request, either by completing the form via the ‘submit a request’ button below or by telephoning the practice and asking a receptionist to complete this form on their behalf.
Please consider which of the two options below best describes your medical issue and follow the guidance.
I have a medical issue that I feel is urgent for today
If you have a medical issue that you feel is urgent or needs to be dealt with today, please submit a request via the button below, or telephone the practice on 01237 476363 – a receptionist will complete the form on your behalf. Patients that fall into this category will be contacted by our nurse led acute care team (ACT) within 24 hours of submitting their request. A clinician will review your request and either contact you directly to discuss your issue, or a receptionist will contact you offering an appointment with a clinician. Please provide as much information as possible, this helps the team assess how quickly a clinician needs to contact you. If this online service is closed, but your medical issue is urgent for today, please telephone the practice on 01237 476363 – a receptionist will complete the form on your behalf. Please click the link below for a list of medical issues that are deemed to be clinically urgent for today.
I have a medical issue that is not clinically urgent and/or is ongoing
For continuity purposes we encourage routine medical issues to be dealt with by your registered GP. Please check your GP’s availability below, their availability should be visible for the current week plus the following week. On a day that your GP is listed as being available and that you are available to either speak to them over the telephone, or potentially attend an appointment, please submit a request (or telephone the practice on 01237 476363 and a receptionist will complete the form on your behalf). We kindly ask that you do this as early as possible in the day. As with any appointment booking system, there is a limited amount of capacity. Our navigation team will process your request and forward it to the most appropriate clinician. We want to ensure that patients get the advice they need by the right person, at the right time and first time, therefore your request may not be forwarded to a GP.
What do I do if I have something else I need help with?
Our telephone lines are open from 8:30am until 6pm (closed for lunch between 1pm and 2pm) with receptionists available to help our patients, however you can request the following by clicking the ‘submit request’ button and selecting the ‘Admin query’ option: Doctors Letters - Private, insurance, educational letters etc. Sick Notes (Med3s) – Please note that by law our GPs cannot post date sick notes, please do not request a new one until the date that your existing one has expired. Referral Follow-up - Check the status of a referral being submitted by one of our GPs. Please note that once our GPs have sent referrals, we cannot provide any further information as to when you will receive an appointment/further information from the department you have been referred to. Repeat Prescriptions – Request medication that you have on repeat. If you are requesting medication that you have not had prescribed by your GP before, you may be asked to submit a medical request to discuss this with your GP. Test Results - If you have recently had tests done at the practice or tests elsewhere that were requested by a clinician at the practice, you will be contacted if the GP feels that they need a follow up with you (where appropriate, your GP may contact you regarding your test results via text message). If you do not hear from us regarding your results, this is because the GP feels that no further action is required. If you have had recent tests and not heard from us, but feel that you need a further discussion with your GP, please submit a medical request following the guidance under the 'I have a medical issue that is not clinically urgent and/or is ongoing' option above. Something Else – Please DO NOT submit medical requests via this option. This option can be used for queries that you would usually telephone and speak to a receptionist about e.g. updating your address or contact details, checking the date/time of an appointment. There are a small number of appointments that our patients can book themselves via a text message link, these appointments include smears, blood tests (that have been requested by a clinician here at the practice) and child immunisations. If you are wanting a link to book any of these appointments, please use this option to request one (please note you must request this under the name of the patient you are booking the appointment for). For all other appointments, please telephone the surgery or book these via our reception desk.
How our system works
GP Availability - W/C 7th October 2024
Prescription Requests
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To avoid the risk of error, we are unable to accept routine prescription requests over the telephone. Our reception team will ask you to place any routine request in writing.
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We do not respond via phone or text to routine medication requests when a prescription has been issued or rejected.
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We cannot advise when your prescription will be ready to collect from the pharmacy – only when we have issued the prescription.
GP Availability - W/C 14th October 2024
Dr Bardner - Mon
Dr Bond - Mon AM, Fri
Dr Brown - Tues AM
Dr Chan - Mon, Weds AM, Thurs
Dr Clarke - Mon AM, Weds, Thurs
Dr Davies - Mon, Tues PM, Weds PM
Dr Down - Next available 22nd Oct
Dr El-Badawy - Next available 21st Oct
Dr James - Tues, Fri
Dr Lloyd-Jones - Weds, Thurs
Dr O'Brien - Tues, Thurs PM
Dr Relph - Tues, Weds
Dr Thornton - Mon
Dr Bardner - Mon AM, Thurs
Dr Bond - Mon, Weds AM, Fri
Dr Brown - Tues AM, Thurs AM
Dr Chan - Weds AM, Thurs
Dr Clarke - Mon, Weds AM, Thurs
Dr Davies - Tues, Weds AM
Dr Down - Next available 22nd Oct
Dr El-Badawy - Mon
Dr James - Tues, Fri
Dr Lloyd-Jones - Mon, Thurs AM
Dr O'Brien - Tues, Thurs PM, Fri
Dr Relph - Tues AM, Fri
Dr Thornton - Mon, Weds AM
The Cost of Living Crisis - for anybody needing guidance the website below contains details of advice, information and services on a National, Regional and Local level.
The Cost Of Living Crisis
Please also see leaflet (in pdf format) for The Cost of Living Signposting & Support Service
This national GP patient survey (NHS England) assesses patients’ experiences of healthcare services provided by GP practices, including experience of access to GP practices, contacting the practice, the quality of care received from healthcare professionals, experience of services when their GP practice is closed and patients’ experiences of NHS. Click the 'GP Patient Survey 2024' button above to view statistics for Bideford Medical Centre and for further information.