Appointments

Doctors appointments

At Mere Surgery we hope to accommodate both people wishing for an appointment at short notice and those wishing to plan ahead. We therefore run two different appointment systems:

Pre-booked appointments

We encourage people to plan and book routine appointments ahead so maintaining continuity of care between doctor and patient. This can be done up to 3 months in advance.

Duty doctor appointments

We appreciate that at times you will need to be seen that day, often in the case of emergency or frequently because your busy diaries allow a visit only at certain times. If you wish for a same day appointment, unfortunately we cannot often offer your specified doctor but the duty the doctor for that day.

If you phone reception between 8.30 and 9.30 for a morning appointment and 2-3pm for an afternoon appointment then the duty doctor will phone you back to arrange a time to be seen.

We operate a phoning back system as many questions and problems are satisfied by telephone advice saving you time.

Please bear in mind that both Dr McBride and Dr Andrews work part time and are only available on two days a week.

Practice Nurse appointments

A Practice Nurse or Health Care Assistant will be available each day and have pre-bookable appointments only. Unfortunately nurse appointments are not available to book online as some nurse procedures take more than the normal 10 minute appointment time. It is therefore extremely useful if you inform the receptionist of the reason for your appointment so that they can book out the correct amount of time for you.

Phlebotomist

We usually have a phlebotomist available on Monday, Tuesday,Wednesday and Friday morning. Blood tests have to be completed before 12 noon as a courier comes to the surgery each day at this time to take the samples to the laboratory.

Please make it your responsibility to ensure you know the results of any investigations that you have had. (see Results Page)

Home Visits

If possible please try to telephone reception before 10am if you require a home visit.

A doctor or nurse may phone you back as it may be that your problem can be dealt with by telephone advice, or that it would be more appropriate to send a nurse, or indeed arrange a hospital attendance.

House visits are only available for patients who are housebound because of illness or disability.

Please remember that several patients can be seen in the practice in the time that it takes to make one home visit. There are also better facilities for examining and treating patients at the Health Centre.