Urgent appointments
You can request an urgent appointment for today or tomorrow (Monday to Friday).
We will respond to requests within 4 hours during opening times.
You can also:
- phone us on Victoria Medical Centre 020 8477 8760 or Five Elms Medical Practice 0208 517 1175
When you get in touch, we’ll ask what you need help with.
We will use your answers to choose the most suitable doctor, nurse or healthcare professional to help you.
Routine appointments
You can request a routine appointment in advance.
We will respond to requests within 4 hours during opening times.
You can also:
- phone us on Victoria Medical Centre 020 8477 8760 or Five Elms Medical Practice 0208 517 1175
- 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.
We will use your answers to choose the most suitable doctor, nurse or healthcare professional to help you.
Telephone appointments
Should a telephone appointment be required, you will be called either immediately, later on the same day or by the next day at the latest depending on the nature of the problem.
Face to face appointments
Should a face to face appointment be required, our dedicated admin team will call you to arrange a time and day that is convenient for you. This will usually be the same or next day. Where possible and requested, this will be with the clinician of your choice.
Other appointments available
Our staff are highly qualified and experienced, often with an extra diploma or masters degree and well equipped to help patients in a variety of areas.
Interpreter
If you require an interpreter either call or come into the surgery and we will be happy to arrange the service. The service covers a large range of languages, but you must inform us at least three days before your appointment.
Your appointment
However you choose to contact us, we may offer you a consultation:
- by phone
- face to face at the surgery
- on a video call
- by text or email
Appointments by phone, video call or by text or email can be more flexible and often means you get help sooner.
Cancelling or changing an appointment
Please be on time for your appointment, this helps us to run on schedule and to give you the maximum amount of time available. Importantly, please let us know as soon as possible if you no longer require your appointment. We can then offer the appointment to someone else. Please see our policy regarding missed appointments.
To cancel your appointment:
- use your NHS account (through the NHS website or NHS App)
- using the GP online system: SystmOnline
- phone us on Victoria Medical Centre 020 8477 8760 or Five Elms Medical Practice 0208 517 1175 during opening times
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.
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, face-to-face, by video call or by text or email
- if you need an interpreter
- if you have any other access or communication needs
Home visits
Please help us to help you and our other patients. Our doctors are able to see several patients in the surgery in the time it takes to do a single home visit. For this reason, we ask our patients to come to the surgery where required, and we also offer video and telephone consultations where appropriate.
However, we can visit you at home if you are:
- terminally ill
- housebound
- severely ill and cannot be mobilised
We want to see patients as quickly as possible, and the best way is often to encourage them to come to the surgery, because your GP will have access to all your medical records, including those held on computer. There are also better facilities for examining and treating patients at the surgery.
Babies and small children should be brought to the surgery where we will do our best to see them promptly. If our reception staff are made aware that your child is particularly unwell, they will do everything they can to ensure that you are not kept waiting unnecessarily to see the GP.
Transport/social problems
We cannot undertake home visits for reasons of convenience or lack of transport .We will be happy to provide you with details of local taxi firms. From experience we find that relatives, neighbours or friends are often willing to help out.
Our responsibility to you is to resolve the medical problem you have; your responsibility is to take all the reasonable steps you are able to, to enable us to do that.
Please request visits before 10am whenever possible as this allows the GP to plan their day accordingly. Late requests often lead to disruption of the appointment system and excessive waiting times for others.
A doctor/nurse will call you back on most occasions to assess your problem. This is to enable the GP to prioritise visits.
It may be that your problem can be dealt with by telephone advice, or that it would be more appropriate to send a nurse or indeed arrange a hospital attendance. It also prepares the GP to collect some information required as necessary for the visit
The GP may ask you to come to the surgery, where you will be seen as soon as possible. We would like to stress that no patient in serious and definite need of a home visit will be refused.
In the past, GPs were able to routinely follow up home visits. Sadly, pressures of time and more patients needing attention means this is usually no longer possible.
Some problems such as severe chest pains or shortness of breath are medical emergencies and you will be advised to dial 999.