There are a variety of ways to book appointments with our clinical staff at Constable Country Medical Practice. How you do so also depends on the type of appointment you are seeking to make.

To speak with a Doctor, Advanced Nurse Practitioner or Paramedic:

• Call our Reception Team on 01206 298272 from 8am, when our phonelines open for an on-the-day triage appointment. You will be asked to outline your symptoms, in order for our Receptionists to add you to the most suitable clinician's triage list. If you are offered a phone call it will be up to the clinician to decide whether a face-to-face appointment is also necessary.
• Pop in to your local surgery and speak with a Receptionist to book an on-the-day triage appointment.
• Complete an online triage request.    For doctor's letters, sick / fit notes, test results, medicals, insurance related matters please select 'I have an admin request'. To speak to a Doctor, Advanced Nurse Practitioner or Paramedic regarding a medical problem you are requiring assistance for, please select 'I have a health problem'.   Online triage requests for I have a health problem will be responded to within 48 hours.    

• If you have been contacted in relation to a doctor wishing to speak with a patient in relation to test results, a letter or something of this nature; our Receptionists will have received a 'task' with a time frame of how soon the doctor would like to follow-up with the patient. Routine means the doctor requires to have spoken to the patient within 4 weeks. Our Receptionists will make pre-bookable follow-up calls sooner, if the doctor has requested this.       

To book an appointment for a blood test with a Phlebotomist, Long Term Condition Check, pill check, cervical smear, injections and other services offered by our Practice Nurses, Nurse Associate, Health Care Assistants:

• Call our Reception Team on 01206 298272. It is usually a good idea to wait until after 10.30am when the initial rush of those wanting on-the-day triage calls has camed down.           
• Our nursing team rotas are available for the following 12 weeks. This enables regular treatments or tests to be booked well ahead.      

To book a medication review with our Clinical Pharmacist or Pharmacy Technician:

• These appointments will usually be requested by our Pharmacy Team via text message or a call from the practice. Please call our Reception Team on 01206 298272, again after 10.30am, to book your medication review. Your text message will have told you whether you need to speak with our Clinical Pharmacist, or if the appointment can be booked with anyone within the Pharmacy Team.
• Most of our medication reviews are carried out as telephone calls. However, if you would rather have a face-to-face appointment, this is possible with our Clinical Pharmacist. Please state when making your appointment if you would like a face-to-face appointment or you're happy with a phone call.

It is important that you inform the reception staff if you are unable to attend your appointment, this will allow that appointment to be offered to another patient. If you fail to notify the Practice that you are unable to attend, you will be contacted, informing you that you have defaulted from your appointment. Persistent defaulters maybe removed from the practice's patient list. Please call us on 01206 298 272 to cancel an appointment.

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 10am, where possible.

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

Our registered housebound patients will receive visits from a member of our nursing staff to administer annual seasonal vaccinations and carry out Long Term Condition checks (formerly known as annual checks). You will be notified of these visits in advance.

You can also be visited at home by a community nurse if you are referred by your GP. You should also be visited at home by a health visitor if you have recently had a baby or if you are newly registered with a GP and have a child under five years.

We have a text message service, which allows you to receive confirmation and reminders about your appointments.

To have this service you will need to register by completing a consent form.

Please remember to update your contact details with us when you change address, telephone numbers and email address.

For any queries regarding this, please speak with our Reception Team.

Evening and weekend appointments are available at Constable Country Medical Practice or an NHS service nearby. Appointments can be made until 8pm on weekdays and between 9am and 5pm on Saturdays with the Suffolk GP+ service.

You will be able to discuss your health concern with a GP, nurse or other health professional and also make routine appointments for vaccinations, health checks and screenings.

These appointments can be booked with our Reception Team, during our surgery opening hours.

Visit the NHS Suffolk and North East Essex website to learn more about the different health care professionals working in GP surgeries:

suffolkandnortheastessex.icb.nhs.uk/gp-roles