Appointments

Consultations are made by appointment only. Text reminders are available if you have a mobile telephone.

Routine appointments can be booked up to six weeks in advance either by telephoning 01257 514000, in person at the surgery or online using the Patient Access system. Patients are free to consult any doctor in the practice.

Please help us to cut waiting times in the surgery. Routine appointments are 15 minutes long and an on the day urgent appointment is 10 minutes. Appointments are available each day but requests should be made as early as possible. It may not be possible to see a doctor of your choice for emergency appointments which are available everyday either after morning surgery or evening surgery.

Online access

It is possible to check appointment availability and book appointments online. To use this service you will need to register to use the online system, you will then receive a user name and password. Please collect an online access form from reception or email jackie.tuszynski@nhs.net  

On arrival at the surgery for your appointment

Why not book in using our automated arrivals flat screen to the left of the main entrance. This will notify staff of your arrival, tell you approximate waiting times and avoid queues at reception.

Arriving late for your appointment

This of course does happen to us all as much as we try to be on time.  The computer arrivals screen is configured so that anyone arriving 10 or more minutes late are informed to go to the reception area to book in.  Here they will be informed of the surgery policy.

How to make the most of your appointment

If you are seeing a doctor and have more than one problem then please consider writing a list of all problems and give it to your doctor at the beginning of your consultation. This will help the doctor to prioritise appropriately and deal with the most pressing problem first. Please be aware it may not be possible to cover all of your problems in one visit and a second appointment may be required.

Home Visits

These are reserved for people who are physically unable to attend the surgery. Several patients can be seen in the surgery in the time it takes to make a home visit. Requests for home visits should be made before 10.30 am and may be screened by the doctor on call.

Telephone Advice

If you need to contact the doctor for advice or if he has asked you to telephone, the most convenient time is normally 11.45–12 noon, after morning surgery.

Extended Access Service

West Lancashire now has an Extended Access service running 7 days a week from 18:30 -20:00 Monday –Friday, 10:00 – 16:00 on Saturdays and 10:00 – 14:00 on Sundays.

The service runs from various locations on weeknights and from 3 hubs in West Lancs on the weekend:

• Burscough Health Centre
• Ormskirk Medical Practice
• Sandy Lane Health Centre

The service offers pre-bookable and same-day primary care appointments with a range of clinicians including GPs, Nurses and Health Care Assistants. Appointments are available to all patients that are registered in West Lancs and can be booked via Parbold surgery reception.

Please be aware that this is NOT a walk-in service – you must have an appointment. Should you need to cancel your appointment please contact the Extended Access service directly on 01695 736053.

Who's who? A simple guide to who you should book your appointment with.

Doctors including GP registrars

Deal with: diagnosis of new problems, adjusting medications, referrals and complex cases.

Practice nurse

Deals with: smears, diabetic checks, asthma checks, HRT/pill checks, travel vaccination advice/injections, baby immunisations, warfarin clinic, adjusting medications for chronic diseases eg. diabetes, high blood pressure and asthma.

Healthcare assistants

Deal with: new patient checks, health checks, blood tests (including chronic disease monitoring bloods), blood pressure checks, flu and pneumonia vaccinations, B12 injections, warfarin clinics, diabetic foot checks, spirometry clinic.

Blood clinic

Deals with: blood tests only

If you have received a letter from the surgery requesting you book an appointment then please give the reference code printed on the letter to reception and they will be able to book your appointment with the relevant staff member.

Still unsure who to book with? Please contact reception who will be happy to help.