Appointments

GP services are not equipped to deal with dental problems. If you are registered with a dentist, please contact the service for advice. If you do not have a dentist, please contact NHS 111 by dialling 111 for further advice and information on services available in your area.

For emergency dental issues, please contact your dentist or follow the link: Emergency Dental Service Sussex

Most patients who need to consult a GP will be seen at the surgery but we continue to make a limited number of home visits when this is appropriate. Home visits are reserved for the following groups of patients:

Terminally ill, Housebound patients (any patient who is able to leave home for any reason is not considered to be housebound), and severely ill patients who cannot be mobilised.

In order to optimise quality of care, effectively use finite resources and to benefit the greatest number of patients, home visits are to be offered exceptionally and not routinely. The introduction of the current GP contract in 2004 reaffirmed that it is the doctor’s decision whether or not the patient can reasonably be expected to attend the surgery.

We want to offer the shortest waiting times for our patients to see a doctor so please bear in mind that 4 to 6 patients can typically be seen by a doctor at the surgery in the time it takes to complete a single home visit. Throughout the development of this policy the quality of medical care offered by the GPs to our patients has been of paramount importance. The emphasis is that clinical effectiveness must take precedence over patient convenience.

Requesting a Home Visit

Requests for visits must normally be made before 10.00am. Visiting will normally take place after morning surgery. Please only request home visits if you are incapable of attending the surgery. Whenever possible, we expect patients to come into the surgery as the facilities are far better for examination and treatment. When you call to request a visit please give the reception team information about your symptoms as it helps us to judge the urgency of your condition. Receptionists are trained to do this and all information is treated confidentially. Please also provide a contact number as your visit request will be triaged by a doctor who may wish to call to gather more information in order to get you the care that you need. The doctor will make the assessment and might then arrange a visit, direct your care to a more appropriate care provider, arrange a surgery appointment or conduct a telephone consultation. Visits requested later in the day that are for housebound patients but are not urgent will not be seen that day but instead triaged to a more appropriate time. As long as the GP has made this assessment and offered an appropriate alternative, then the partners of Cowfold Medical Group will support any such decision made by a doctor working at the practice.

Please attend your appointment on time, if you are late you may not be seen. If you are not seen you will not be able to rearrange your appointment until the next working day-except in the event of an medical emergency that requires immediate attention.

We have a texting 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.