Home visits are reserved for the housebound, infirm and seriously ill patients. If you do not feel well enough to come to surgery it is often reasonable to rest at home where the problem may be resolved using advice from the pharmacist or NHS 111. Rashes and sore throats, ill children etc will not worsen by coming to the surgery, and you will be seen and be able to start treatment more promptly than would be possible had a home visit been requested.
If you are ill, need to see a doctor, and are unable to come to the surgery please ring Wrafton House giving full details of the problem so that the doctor may judge the urgency of each call for planning their round. All calls are triaged by a doctor.
Routine house calls should be requested before 10.00am by telephoning Wrafton House. House calls requested after 10.00am should be for emergency problems that cannot wait until the following day.
A decision to visit remains at the doctor's discretion and is based on medical necessity. They should never, for example, be used for the routine ordering of repeat prescriptions. A patient without a car should make every effort to attend the surgery by whatever means. It is not always easy to decide whether it is appropriate to ask for a doctor to visit at home or whether the consultation should take place at the surgery - the following guidelines may be of assistance.
GP Visit Recommended:
- The terminally ill
- Truly housebound patients
An Emergency Ambulance - Call 999. GP To Be Informed At A Later Time:
- Heart attack (severe chest pain)
- Severe shortage of breath
- Severe haemorrhage
- Falls severe enough to cause severe pain or immobilisation
- Stroke (FAST: Face – Airway – Smile – Time)
GP Visit Not Usual:
- Common symptoms of childhood - fevers, cold, cough, earache, headache, diarrhoea and cases of abdominal pain
- Adults with common problems - influenza, back pain, abdominal pain unless severe etc.
- Common problems in the elderly - poor mobility, joint pain, general malaise etc.
All of the above can be transported by car to the surgery. Do try to come to the surgery as it saves the doctor a lot of time for other patients and they have more facilities available to assess you properly. Visits for non-emergency illnesses are done usually between 11.00am and 4.00pm.