How and when to request a home visit

Our visiting policy

Home visits are very costly in terms of time. We therefore reserve them for people who are too unwell to attend surgery in a car or taxi. If you are able to attend in a car or taxi but don't feel very well, we can make arrangements to see you as soon as possible when you arrive, so that you don't have to sit around in the waiting room.

Requesting a visit

If feel you need a visit ring as soon as you can in the morning. After 10:45am, unless it is an emergency, you will have to wait until the following day to be seen. Our visiting doctor attends between the hours of 10:45am and 12:45pm, except for emergencies.

When you ring, the receptionist will take your telephone number, and the doctor will ring you back within an hour. The doctor will assess the situation and make a plan of action. This may be a visit, or an appropriate alternative.

If you fear that you, or the person on whose behalf you are ringing, is extremely unwell, then let the receptionist know and the doctor will contact you at the earliest available opportunity.

Please ring 999 if someone has stopped breathing, or is having extreme difficulty breathing, or if they are unconscious and you are unable to rouse them (see Emergencies).

If after you have made a visit request, your condition, or the condition of the person on whose behalf you are ringing, deteriorates, please ring back and let the receptionist know - the visiting doctor will be informed.