A guide to our appointments system
Surgeries are held every day from 8:30am to 11am and between 2pm to 6pm.
Our phone lines are open to book emergency appointments only between 8am and 9:30am. For same day routine appointments (subject to availability) please call at 9:30am. For other routine appointments or queries please call after 9:30am. This allows us to help patients who need urgent medical help as they will be better able to get through via the phone.
To find out about how you can make the best of your appointment please visit the NHS website where they have useful tips to help you.
Urgent appointments
If you need to see a clinician urgently on the day (Urgent meaning it is not regarding regular medication or on-going problems). These are run every day and are only bookable on the day from 8am.
To request an urgent appointment for today:
- phone us on 01761 413155 between 8am and 9:30am
- visit the surgery
When you book the appointment you will be asked for information regarding the nature of your urgent problem. This is so that our duty clinical team, comprising of doctors and prescribing nurse practitioners can triage patients. You will be given a time for an appointment but this is only a guide and there will be a wait due to the nature of the duty emergency list, which can include hospital admissions, urgent home visits and urgent interventions.
Emergency appointments are available everyday between 8:30am and 11am. Please be aware that due to the nature of emergencies you may experience a wait.
If the doctor or nurse feels that a routine appointment may be more appropriate for you they may ask you to re-book.
Routine appointments
We offer routine pre-bookable appointments with our GPs and nurses up to 6 weeks in advance. We will do our very best to offer you an appointment with you usual GP but please note that due to demand this may not always be possible. We have a number of same day appointments available to book at 9:30am.
To request a routine appointment:
- phone us on 01761 413155 at 9:30am for same day routine GP appointments
- phone us on 01761 413155 after 9:30am for all other routine appointments
- use your NHS account (through the NHS website or NHS App) or SystmOnline to book an appointment, screening test or vaccination
When you get in touch, we’ll ask what you need help with.
When you call for an appointment you will be offered the next preferred choice of GP. We offer same day routine appointments which can be booked after 9:30am each morning (while they are available).
We offer double appointments for longer consultations.
Telephone consultations
You can request a telephone appointment with a GP to discuss your care. Telephone appointments are suitable for ongoing problems or when you do not need to be examined.
Annual chronic health appointments
We review all patients with chronic diseases (such as diabetes, asthma, COPD etc) in their birthday month. We will send you a reminder when this is due and this appointment can be booked by calling our reception team on 01761 413155 or booking via the link in the text message.
Arriving late to an appointment
Should anyone arrive late for an appointment it is at the doctor’s or nurse’s discretion whether or not to see that person or ask them to re-book. If you are stuck in traffic or running late for some reason it is courteous to phone ahead to inform the surgery.
- If you fail to attend a further appointment, you may be removed from the practice list and have to find an alternative.
Cancelling or changing an appointment
If you are unable to attend your appointment please cancel it in advance to enable us to give that appointment to someone else.
To cancel your appointment:
- use your NHS account (through the NHS website or NHS App)
- use the GP online system: SystmOnline
- phone us on 01761 413155 during opening times
The practice monitors the number of wasted appointments as it is such a valuable NHS resource. Patients who repeatedly fail to attend may be removed from our Practice list.
Enhanced access
Elm Hayes Surgery offer additional evening and weekend appointments, for patients needing routine, bookable in advance, GP or nurse appointments outside of normal GP surgery opening times. This service is run in conjunction with BaNES Enhanced Medical Services (BEMS), our local GP Federation. Appointments are available between the hours of 6:30pm and 9pm on weekdays, and 9am to 1pm on Saturdays.
This service is located in different practices throughout B&NES and is for non-urgent appointments only. The service operates from sites in Bath, and Midsomer Norton and Radstock area. In the Midsomer Norton and Radstock area, the service runs at Elm Hayes Surgery and Hope House Surgery. In Bath, the service runs from Bathampton Surgery, Combe Down Branch Surgery, Newbridge Surgery and St Michael’s Surgery.
Appointments are booked by via the Elm Hayes Surgery reception team, who can book appointments directly into the this enhanced access service. When booking an appointment, we will ask if you consent for us to share your medical records with this service. Without this consent, the BEMS GPs and nurses will have no access to your medical records.
For more information you can visit the BEMS enhanced access website.
If you need help with your appointment
Please tell us:
- if there’s a specific doctor, nurse or other health professional you would prefer to respond
- if you would prefer to consult with the doctor or nurse by phone or face-to-face
- if you need an interpreter
- if you have any other access or communication needs
Home visits
Visits at home are designed for the truly housebound and terminally ill.
If possible please try to request a home visit by 10:30am as these visits are allocated to the doctors at the end of their morning surgery. You can request a home visit by contacting reception on 01761 413155.
While we do appreciate it is difficult, there are few circumstances where someone is really too unwell to come to the surgery, especially so with children and the elderly. Equipment at the surgery allows us to provide a more thorough examination than at home. Also we are able to see an average of 4 patients at the surgery for each home visit.
To request a home visit from the district nurse, please contact reception on 01761 413155.
We try to call back all patients who request a home visit to gauge the severity of the problem and allocate to the most appropriate service. This may be a GP from another practice who is out on the ground carrying out the earlier home visiting service for people who may require admission to hospital. Alternatively this could be a routine GP home visit from your usual GP which may not happen on the same day as the home visit request (depending on GP availability). All home visit requests triaged as urgent will receive a GP visit the same day.
If you need help when we are closed
If you need medical help now, use NHS 111 online or call 111.
NHS 111 online is for people aged 5 and over. Call 111 if you need help for a child under 5.
Call 999 in a medical or mental health emergency. This is when someone is seriously ill or injured and their life is at risk.