The White House Surgery work as part of a primary care network (PCN) which has brought practices together to work at scale and deliver a wider range of services to patients including first contact physiotherapy, minor illness, pharmacists and social prescribing.
This means that when you contact The White House Surgery for an appointment our reception team have a number of different services, they can book you an appointment with. Some are based at The White House Surgery and others in Folkestone, Hythe, Lyminge and Hawkinge.
These practices are, The White House Surgery, Oaklands Health Centre, Hawkinge Health Centre, New Lyminge Surgery, Church Road Surgery Lyminge, Sun Lane Surgery Hythe and Harbour Medical Practice Folkestone.
In order for the receptionist to book you the most appropriate appointment it is important that they ask questions to ascertain the right service for you. The guidance the receptionists use to direct you to a service is based upon the GP’s advice.
We operate a Telephone First access model. This means that all initial appointments with a Clinician, other than the practice nursing team will be via a telephone or online consultation. The Clinician will attempt to call you back, if no answer it will be recorded as a failed encounter and you will need to ring in again to be added to the triage list. If the Clinician feels that a face-to-face appointment is required they will arrange this for you. This system allows for you to receive the care you need in a timely manner, on a day that suits you and has also significantly reduced wasted appointments where patients do not attend for a pre-booked face-to-face appointment.
We can offer flexibility for patients whose job means they are unable to keep their telephone switched on for the call back so please discuss with the receptionist if this applies to you
Patients can book face-to-face appointments with our nursing team directly via reception. We have good availability for the majority of nursing appointments, so please consider phoning later in the day when the phone lines are less busy. The practice may also send you an appointment invitation via text message allowing you to book an appointment online, increasing patient choice and access.
We have GPs, Nurse Practitioners, a Paramedic Practitioner, Practice Nurses and a Health Care Assistant in our clinical team. They are helped by our Pharmacy Team who are able to help patients with medication queries.
Our Care Co-Ordinator underpins the clinical services by co-ordinating patient care. She can signpost patients to services who can help to support them as well as help with queries and concerns that would tie up the reception staff.
We believe that this is an efficient way to deal with today’s work and means that patients can feel reassured that if they need to see a healthcare professional, they will be able to do so on the day they contact the Practice.
In addition, the practice offers online consultations via our practice website using e-Consult between 8:30am and 6:00pm Monday to Friday (excluding Public Holidays)
Need Urgent Medical Help?
- Stop - Stay calm, assess the situation
- Think - What advice or treatment do you need?
- Choose - Choose where to get the right help quickly
Visit stopthinkchoose.co.uk
You can find out more about "Stop Think Choose" via
Twitter: @NHSKMCCG
Facebook: @KMCCG
Instagram: @nhskentmedway
Online Booking of Appointments
Patients can now access Practice Nurse and Healthcare Assistant appointments online. This service also allows patients to order their repeat medication online and to view their medical records. To sign up for this service please contact the surgery.
Sign in to Patient Access.
Cancellations
If you cannot attend an appointment for any reason please inform us as soon as possible in order for us to give the slot to someone else.
If you need help when we are closed
Try the NHS App
You can now use the NHS App, a simple and secure way to access a range of NHS services and your GP account on your smartphone or tablet.
You can use the NHS App to check your symptoms and get instant advice, order repeat prescriptions, view your GP medical record and more.
If you already use online access you can continue to use it. You can use the NHS App as well.
For more information go to www.nhs.uk/nhsapp
Home Visits
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 10:00am a Clinician will then triage you and decide if a visit is necessary.
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.