Choices

How to Book

 

Pharmacy referrals

By phone, or at reception

Care navigators can arrange appointments for patients  at their pharmacy of choice.

eConsult

Via https://thepeninsulapractice.webgp.com 

An online system allowing you to get a response within 48hrs. You can request medical advice, test results, recurrent sick notes, and self-refer to other services.

EA service

By phone, or at reception 

Early morning appointments are available at The Peninsula Practice, and evening and weekend appointments are available at Wickham Market Medical Centre, Framfield House Surgery and Little St Johns Surgery.

Appointments can be made until 8pm on weekdays and between 9am and 5pm on Saturdays at selected practices.
You will be able to discuss your health concern with a GP, nurse or other health professional and also make routine appointments for vaccinations, health checks and screenings.

Extended hours 

By phone, or at reception 

Peninsula offers extended hours appointments (outside of our main opening Hours of 08.00-18.30) at various times and across all of our sites.

Advance booking

Online, by phone, or at reception

May be booked months, weeks or days in advance. These appointment slots are spread throughout the day to meet your needs.

Booking three days in advance

Online, by phone, or at reception

Additional appointments are released three days in advance for extra availability.

On the day

Online, by phone, or at reception

Further appointments are released each day for consultations that require same-day response.

eConsult

eConsult is available via our website.

To access this service please click on the image above or this link.

This service has been used by many of our patients:

Feedback from one patient included that they were "very satisfied with the service" and would be "extremely likely to recommend the service to friends or family". They were contacted before the end of the next working day and received care for their needs.

Please note that patients can now self refer from eConsult to the following services:

  • Mental Health Service
  • Sexual Health Service
  • Physiotherapy Service

consult promo

Extended Hours Appointments

Peninsula Practice offers extended hours across our branch sites on certain days of the week. These can be booked by calling the surgery or requesting at reception.

 

Day Time Location
Tuesday 7:30am Alderton
Wednesday 7:30am Aldeburgh
7:30am Orford
Thursday 7:30am Alderton
7:30am Aldeburgh

Urgent Appointments

In a serious emergency call 999 or go straight to the nearest A&E department. If after 16.00pm you become ill,  you should contact the surgery and speak to the Care Navigator explaining the nature of the problem. You may then be added to the urgent callback list, a doctor will call you and may offer you an urgent appointment if appropriate. Urgent appointments are not for repeat prescriptions, on-going conditions or the issuing of sick notes.

BLOOD APPOINTMENTS

Opening Times

Please select a site

How to Book An Appointment with GP or Nurse Practitioner

The Peninsula Practice is open from 8.00am to 6.30pm weekdays for you to make an appointment with the Nurse, Health Care Assistant, Physiotherapist etc.

To make a Nurse Practitioner or Doctor (Clinician) appointment please either book an appointment online or telephone the surgery between 8.00am and 6.30pm.

Our Care Navigators will ask you the reason for your call in order for them to direct you to the most appropriate health care professional. 

After 4.00pm our appointment system switches over to URGENT APPOINTMENTS ONLY. Please do not call for a Clinician appointment after this time unless it is a genuine medical urgency that cannot wait until the next day. 

If there are no appointments available at the surgery when you call the Care Naviagitor may offer you an appointment with GP+ our out of hours service.  

 

Trainee GP Appointments

The Peninsula Practice has been approved as a training practice by the East of England Deanery whereby qualified doctors who choose general practice as their speciality will train alongside our GPs.

You may be offered an appointment with trainee GPs who will always be under close supervision of one of our GPs .

Nurse and Health Care Assistant Appointments

Nurse and Health Care Assistant appointments can be booked up to three months ahead of time.

 

GP+ Appointments

Suffolk GP+ is for people who urgently need an appointment or are unable to see their GP during normal GP hours.

Appointments can be made via the practice reception during our usual opening hours. Please note patients cannot refer themselves to this service.

The service is staffed by local Suffolk GPs and Nurse Practitioners in Ipswich, Felixstowe, Stowmarket, Leiston and Wickham Market and is an NHS service delivered by the Suffolk GP Federation. You will receive a booked appointment and will be seen by a local GP or nurse who will have access to your medical records (once consent is given).

Extended Opening Hours

The surgery offers extended hours appointments (outside of our main opening Hours of 08.00-18.30) at various times and surgeries.  Please ask at reception.

Home Visits

If possible please phone the surgery before 10am if you require a home visit.

A doctor or nurse may phone you back as it may be that your problem can be dealt with by telephone advice, or indeed arrange a hospital attendance. House visits are only available for patients who are housebound because of illness or disability. Please remember that several patients can be seen in the practice in the time that it takes to make one home visit. There are also better facilities for examining and treating patients at the surgery premises.

Chaperones

The Peninsula Practice is committed to providing a safe, comfortable environment where patients and staff can be confident that best practice is being followed at all times and the safety of everyone is of paramount importance.

All patients are entitled to have a chaperone present for any consultation, examination or procedure where they consider one is required.

Patients are advised to ask for a chaperone if required, at the time of booking an appointment, so that arrangements can be made and the appointment is not delayed in any way. The Healthcare Professional may also require a chaperone to be present for certain consultations.

If you feel you would like a chaperone present at your consultation please inform the Doctor/Nurse who will be more than happy to arrange this for you.

Telephoning for Test Results

Please be aware that all calls incoming and outgoing may be recorded for training and monitoring

If you are phoning for test results, dispensary enquiries, hospital letters and other enquiries please call the surgery after 11.00am, when reception is less busy and the post has usually been received by then.

If your result comes back as abnormal then you may be asked to book an appointment to speak to a clinician. If there are no appointments available on the day of your call, you will be asked to phone back the following morning to book an appointment.​

 

 

Confidentiality

If you are trying to book an appointment for a sensitive problem it may be more confidential to do so via the telephone as our Care Navigators might have to ask you sensitive and private questions. If you do however have to discuss a sensitive issue at reception please ask to be taken into a private room. 

Transparency Privacy Notice.pdf

Cancel an Appointment

It is important that you inform the reception staff if you are unable to attend your appointment, this will allow that appointment to be offered to another patient. You can also cancel appointments online via our website but before you are able to use this service you must first register for online access. Please complete the attached form and return to reception.

If you fail to notify the Practice that you are unable to attend, you will be sent a letter informing you that you have defaulted from your appointment. Persistent defaulters maybe removed from the surgery list. 

Late For Your Appointment

Please attend your appointment on time, if you are late you may not be seen. If you are not seen you will not be able to rearrange your appointment until the next working day, except in the event of an medical emergency that requires immediate attention.

Interpreter

If you require an interpreter to attend with you when you see your Doctor please notify the receptionist and they will arrange this for you.

Text Reminder Service

We have a texting service which allows you to receive confirmation and reminders about your appointments.

To have this service you will need to register by completing a consent form.

Please remember to update your contact details with us when you change address, telephone numbers and email address.

Care Navigator

What is a Care Navigator?

Deben Health Group South Primary Care Network (DHG South PCN) is a group of four GP practices on the coastal area of Suffolk who work collaboratively together to enhance healthcare services for its patients.
DHG South PCN has been supported by NHS England (NHSE) and the Ipswich and East Suffolk Commissioning Group (IESCCG). They have supported colleagues from a number of local practices to explore different ways of working that will improve how practices provide services, both directly to patients and “behind the scenes".
DHG South PCN has involved ALL receptionists being trained as Care Navigators to be able to have the right conversations with you, so that they can book you in with the best person to help you.  It also means that GP practices have more information about services outside of the surgery which will be able to help some patients with specific needs, perhaps better than people at the surgery can.
Care Navigation provides patients with a first point of contact which directs them to the most appropriate source of help. Care Navigators ensure our patients are booked with the right person the first time.
Care Navigators are trained and have access to a directory of information about services, in order to help them direct patients to the most appropriate source of help or advice. This may include services in the community as well as within the practice. DHG South PCN are currently using Suffolk InfoLink  www.Suffolk.gov.uk/infolink as our local directory for patients.