02/09/2026
PLEASE BE KIND TO OUR TEAM โ WE ARE CURRENTLY UNDER SIGNIFICANT PRESSURE
We are currently experiencing a particularly challenging period due to staff absence across both our clinical and administrative teams, while at the same time continuing to manage very high levels of patient demand.
We are doing everything we can to maintain our services, but we need your help and understanding.
Please treat our reception and administrative staff with kindness and respect. They are working extremely hard, often under considerable pressure, and they do not make the rules around appointment availability, prescription processing times or clinical priorities. Becoming angry or rude with a member of staff because the answer is not the one you hoped for will not change what appointments or services are available.
We need to look after the staff we have so that they can continue looking after you.
Prescription requests take up to 72 working hours to process. Weekends and public holidays are not working days. For example, if you submit a prescription request on a Friday, please do not expect it to be ready over the weekend. Please order medication in plenty of time and allow the full processing period before contacting the Practice.
We also appreciate that patients can sometimes look at a quiet waiting room and wonder why an appointment is not immediately available. An empty waiting room does not mean our GPs or clinical staff are not busy.
Throughout the working day our clinicians may be:
โข consulting with patients behind closed doors or by telephone
โข carrying out home visits
โข dealing with urgent clinical problems
โข reviewing blood tests, scans and other investigation results
โข reviewing hospital correspondence and discharge information
โข liaising with District Nurses, Social Work, Occupational Therapy, Pharmacy and other healthcare professionals
โข making referrals and responding to clinical correspondence
โข following up patients whose care requires further action
Much of modern General Practice happens out of sight of the waiting room.
We would also ask everyone to consider whether the Practice is the most appropriate service for their problem. Community pharmacies can provide advice and treatment for many minor illnesses and injuries, and NHS inform and NHS 24 are also available when appropriate.
Our GPs, nurses and administrative staff are people too. They have working hours, families and responsibilities outside the Practice, and we have a responsibility to protect their health and wellbeing while maintaining a safe service for our patients.
If current pressures increase further, we may have to temporarily prioritise urgent and essential clinical work and reduce non-urgent activity in order to continue providing care safely. We very much hope to avoid this.
Please help us to help you: use the right service, allow appropriate processing times, and above all, please be kind to the people who are doing their best to help you.
Thank you for your patience and understanding.
