Spring Orchard Surgery

The phone lines are open from 0800-1830 daily.

Doctor's Surgery Times:

A doctor's 'open surgery' runs every morning from 9.00am - 10.00am and on Monday, Tuesday and Friday evenings from 5.30pm - 6.30pm. You do not need to telephone in advance.

Always try to come early - and be prepared to wait - you will be seen.

Why come early? It is a common 'tactic' to come a few minutes before the close of surgery in the hope of walking into an empty waiting room. Not only does this rarely happen - but it is far more likely that the GP sits in an empty surgery for half an hour and then has to hurry through a large number of late arrivals before going out on visits and other commitments. PLEASE ALWAYS COME EARLY.

How to see the nurse:

One of our extremely experienced nurses is available without an appointment each morning from 9.00am - 10.00am and at other times until 12.00pm by appointment only. We also have an evening nurse clinic from 5.00pm - 6.15pm on a Tuesday - again no appointments - just turn up.

The nurse can check your blood pressure, look at minor injuries, give travel advice and immunisations, do smear tests and attend to many minor ailments. She can also be seen in surgery times, often more quickly than the GP - just ask at reception.

How to make an appointment:

If you would like to see a doctor outside our standard open surgery hours please telephone the surgery or ask at reception. Some things take longer and are much better suited to an appointment. Minor operations, Insurance or HGV Medicals etc are examples of this. If in doubt, ask a receptionist.

Saturday Surgery:

Dr Hall holds a pre-booked clinic on the 2nd and 4th Saturday morning each month. You must make an appointment to be seen on Saturday morning. Pleas heartandstethoscope

e ask at reception for more details.

Home Visits

Doctor's bag 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 10:00

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

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.

Spring Orchard - Clinics & Services

Women's Services

Our highly experienced practice nurse Angela Bennett has received special training in women's health and do much of the routine cervical cytology examination and testing. We are able to offer a full range of contraceptive advice including the fitting of IUCDs (Coils) and implants.

We also share the care of our pregnant patients with the district midwife and the local hospital.

Minor Surgery

Simple skin lesions, skin cancers, moles, cysts and blemishes, as well as most joint injections, are dealt with routinely in the practice without the need to attend hospital and endure long waiting lists. Thanks to the kindness of our patients, we have a very well equipped treatment room where these services are carried out quickly and efficiently.

Travel Advice

Our practice nurse is highly skilled in this branch of medicine and will happily advise you. Please book an appointment to see her. Some of these jabs, and all antimalarials, are not available on the NHS - so please be aware we may need to make a charge.

Please note, we are not licensed to administer Yellow Fever Vaccines - these may be obtained at Tisbury Surgery.

Non-NHS Services

Some services provided are not covered under our contract with the NHS and therefore attract charges. Examples include the following: health_clipboard

Medicals for pre-employment, sports and driving requirements (HGV, PSV etc.)
Insurance claim forms
Passport signing
Prescriptions for taking medication abroad
Private sick notes
Vaccination certificates

The fees charged are based on the British Medical Association (BMA) suggested scales and our reception staff will be happy to advise you about them along with appointment availability.

Spring Orchard Prescriptions

If you would like to order your Repeat Prescriptions and Appointments Online then please click on the link below. You will first have to obtain a User Name and Password from reception.

If you do not have access to the internet then repeat prescriptions can also be ordered using the prescription counterfoil and either:

post it to us
place it in the labelled box at reception
fax your request to 01722 714702

(Where possible we would prefer patients not to telephone requests. If you cannot use one of the options above then phone your requests (mornings only) to 01722 714789).

Prescriptions will be available in 48hrs or less excluding weekends and bank holidays.

Medication Reviews

Patients on repeat medication will be asked to see a doctor, nurse practitioner or practice nurse at least once a year to review these regular medications and notification should appear on your repeat slip. Please ensure that you book an appropriate appointment to avoid unnecessary delays to further prescriptions.

In all cases patients should allow two full working days for prescriptions to be processed and remember to take weekends and bank holidays into account.

Dispensary:

We are lucky to have our own dispensary within the surgery itself.

If you live more than a mile from a dispensing chemist, we are permitted - if you wish - to supply your medicines ourselves. This is enormously convenient as in most cases we have a stock of what we commonly prescribe, and are able to supply prescribed medications at the time of the consultation without the delay and inconvenience of having to take the prescription to a chemist.

This system also introduces extra levels of safety and sophistication: all prescribing and dispensing is done through our computer which automatically checks that the quantities and doses are correct, that you are not allergic to the drug and that you are not taking any other drugs that might conflict with the new medication.

Disability Awareness:

Please speak to our receptionists if you have any special needs.

We have parking immediately outside the Surgery with a wheelchair ramp. Our front door opens automatically when the button is pressed. The doctor’s consulting room is on the ground floor. The treatment room is on the first floor but there is a stair lift for those patients who cannot manage the stairs.

There is a disabled toilet on the ground floor.