Bloomfield Medical Centre is part of the South-Central Primary Care Network (PCN), and as a result of this we are able to work together to provide evening and weekend appointments with doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals based within the GP-Led Urgent Treatment Centre (formally known as Whitegate Walk-in Centre). This allows our patients to access healthcare outside of the practices opening hours, ideal for those in full-time work or those with younger children.

This service is appointment only and not done on a walk-in basis. To book or manage your evening or weekend appointment, please contact the practice on 01253 344 544 or 01253 951 952. If the surgery is closed, please contact 01253 952950.

Appointments available within the Enhanced Access include, but are not limited to:

• Routine doctors appointments (routine referrals and sick notes are not available within this service).
• Asthma & COPD reviews.
• Diabetic checks / reviews with insulin trained nurses.
• Contraception reviews (including Depo-Provera injections).
• Hypertension reviews.
• HRT reviews.
• NHS Health Checks & Enhanced Health Checks.
• Cervical screenings.
• Sexual Health advice and screening.
• Coil checks.

And so much more!

Our practice offers a triage service for patients requiring urgent, same day consultations with a clinician. This is provided by our on-call doctors and Advanced Nurse Practitioners. Our fully trained reception team will ask you a series of questions to ensure your request for triage is appropriate, and to ensure we direct you to the most appropriate care. In some cases, you may be requested to send photographs to us prior to calling – you will be sent a text message with instructions explaining how to do this.

Urgent appointments are for:

• A new health problem causing major disruption to your ability to do things you would normally be able to do.
• A new health problem that is significantly worsening despite you following advice on how to look after it (e.g. from your care plan, a local pharmacist, or following a consultation with a clinician at the practice).
• A health problem you have previously been advised required urgent response.
• A health problem that, if left untreated, will cause or risk significant harm to your health.

This service can not be demanded for non-urgent or ongoing problems. If you require same day help with a health condition that is non-urgent and not appropriate for our triage service, please contact NHS 111 or visit your nearest Urgent Treatment Centre.

You will then receive a telephone call from a clinician regarding your health condition. Most problems are resolved over the phone, however, you may be invited into the either surgery for a same day face-to-face consultation with a clinician.

We are unable to provide wait times for this service.

If you fail to answer our same day call or face-to-face appointments following your request for urgent triage, it is not always possible to organise another appointment for you, therefore it is important you do not miss these urgent appointments. However, if you do miss these urgent triage appointments, you may be redirected to the NHS 111 service or a nearby Urgent Treatment Centre. Click here to find your nearest UTC.

Home visits are intended for the housebound or for those too ill to travel. If you require a visit please phone 01253 344 544 or 01253 951 952 before 11.00am. The receptionists will ask you for brief details of the problem to assess the degree of urgency of your request. The doctor will decide if a visit is necessary by contacting you by telephone.

Please ensure your contact details are up to date. You can do this by completing the form and emailing us back. Alternatively you can fill in a form at reception.

In November 2023, 8650 appointments were made available to patients. 4153 of these appointments were face-to-face consultations. Sadly, 354 of these face-to-face appointments were wasted due to patients not attending for their appointment!

Unfortunately many appointments are wasted when patients do not attend, which limits the number of available appointments for other patients who need them.  If you are unable to make your appointment time, it is important that you cancel it as soon as possible. You can cancel you appointment by:

• Calling 01253 344 544 and leaving a voicemail message.
• Speaking to a member of reception in person or over the phone.
• Using online services (such as the NHS app).
• Replying to the text reminder of your upcoming appointment sent the day before.
• Emailing [email protected].

Every year, approximately £216,000,000 is wasted within the NHS on appointments for patients who failed to show up, on top of the disruption for staff and fellow patients. You can read more on the damaging effects that wasted appointments have on the NHS by clicking here.