Appointments

Consultations are by appointment only and are usually for 15  minutes.  Sometimes an appointment may not be required and a telephone discussion with the doctor or nurse may be appropriate. Patients requiring urgent care will be seen as appropriate.

Please cancel your appointment if you no longer require it or cannot attend.

The nurse or doctor can only see one patient per appointment unless special arrangements have been made in advance. As a general rule, children under 14 should be accompanied by an adult.

Patients may make appointments with the doctors or practice nurses at either surgery. However, if you usually attend one surgery to see the doctor but collect your repeat medication from the other, it is important that you advise the dispensary staff.

Urgent Appointments

Urgent problems will be assessed the same day although it may not be with your usual doctor. Please give the receptionist an idea of your issues, and your request will be triaged for appropriate actions.

Please phone as early as possible, if you make contact after 12:00pm, there may not be availability to accommodate your request on the same day. You may be asked to phone back next day, contact NHS 24, attend A+E or book routine appointment as appropriate.

Sick Children

Infants will always be seen as soon as possible if brought to the surgery.

If you are unsure as to bringing you child, please phone the surgery for advice first.

Home Visits

Routine home visits are offered for the truly housebound only. Sometimes the District Nurse will perform health checks for the Practice.
Urgent home visits are strictly for patients too ill to come into the Surgery.

Please come to the surgery if possible as we can care for several people in the time it takes to do one home visit.

Extended Hours

The practice offers routine pre-bookable appointments, made in advance, for convenience of those struggling with an appointment during the normal working week.

They can be utilised for discussing tests or routine problems and reviews. Both clinicians offer a fortnightly surgery on a Monday evening from 17:30-18:30.

Please note these are not for any urgent or emergency care or enquiries. For same day or urgent concerns between 6pm-8am, please contact out of hours (111). To enquire or book appointments, please contact the practice reception team during normal opening times.

Emergencies

In the case of emergencies, such as suspected heart attack or stroke, please phone 999.

When the Practice is closed, dial 999 rather than calling NHS 24. 

If you think you have a fracture you should go directly to Accident & Emergency at Caithness General Hospital, where there is x-ray facilities.