Appointments

At each of the three Health Centres, the Practice offers routine pre-bookable appointments as well as a number of 'book on the day' appointments for urgent medical problems. You will normally see your 'usual doctor' unless he or she is not available, when you will be offered an appointment with another doctor at the Practice (this may be a locum if a doctor is on leave). All of the doctors at each of the Health Centres will be able to deal with any of your problems as they will have full access to your medical records.

Please remember when booking appointments that we have three surgeries and the doctors normally work at each of the sites as follows:

Hurstpierpoint 

• Dr Cook; Dr Wilson; Dr Thomson; Dr Graham

Hassocks

• Dr Purwar; Dr Lewis; Dr Lynch; Dr Hancock; Dr Seyoum

Ditchling

• Dr Toynbee; Dr Nelson

Appointments can be made for all three surgeries by telephoning 01273 834388, by calling in to your surgery, or by booking online.

In order to provide a better service to our patients and improve your options, if an appointment is not available with the doctor of your choice, you may be offered an appointment with a doctor at any of our three surgeries.

Appointments with the doctors are for 10 minutes.  We are happy to deal with more than one problem in this session but may ask you to book another appointment if more time is required. Please make separate appointments if more than one member of the family needs to be seen.

If you cannot keep your appointment for any reason, please let us know as soon as possible so that it can be offered to another patient and thus avoid a wasted appointment.

Our Surgeries have access for the disabled.

Telephone Advice

The doctors and nurses are happy to give advice over the telephone for problems which do not require an appointment or visit. It is helpful to let the receptionist know your details. The receptionist will ask for a contact telephone number where the doctor can ring you back when available. Please note that reception staff are, for the most part, not medically qualified and are unable to give you medical advice. Please do not phone before 8.30am or after 6.00pm if your call is not urgent.

Travel Vaccination Appointments

Please see important information under 'Travel Vaccinations'.

Minor Illness Clinic

In order to improve access to health care for patients with minor ailments, we operate an express Minor Illness Clinic which is run by our Nurse Practitioner. This is held on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday from 11.00am-12.00pm. The nurse will be able to deal with the following conditions:

Coughs, Colds and Flu, Sinusitis, Ear ache, Sore Throat, Fever, Rashes, Eye soreness/infection, Diarrhoea/vomiting, Cystitis, Eczema, Hay fever, Boils, Insect bites/stings, Skin infections, Styes, Vaginal discharge/Thrush, Emergency contraception, Ingrowing toenails, Head lice.

Unfortunately, the Nurse is unable to see patients with Chest pain, Abdominal pain, Back pain or Babies/Children under 5.

The Aim of the Clinic is to provide more choice for patients seeking treatment for minor illness. She will be able to provide patients with prescriptions and also refer to a GP immediately if further medical advice is needed there and then.

The Receptionist may ask the nature of your illness to ensure you see the appropriate health professional. You should also be able to book an Express Clinic appointment online if you have been registered for this service. Please ask at Reception for details.

Reception Staff

The reception staff will assist you in making emergency and routine appointments to see your doctor or a nurse, process repeat prescription requests, answer numerous and varied questions and offer help and assistance at all times. It is a legal requirement that confidentiality of patient records is maintained at the highest level by all staff and a copy of our Confidentiality Policy is displayed at each of the Health Centres.

Home Visits

If possible please try to telephone reception before 10:00 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 that it would be more appropriate to send a nurse, 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.

Emergency Appointments

Please try to book all routine appointments at least a few days in advance wherever possible, including those for blood pressure checks, medication checks, HRT checks, appointments for results or for ongoing conditions. We will endeavour in these instances to offer you the doctor of your choice.

If you feel your condition requires urgent medical attention on that day, and all our appointments are taken, you will be offered a telephone appointment with one of the doctors.  The doctor may be able to advise over the telephone, or if he/she feels it is necessary, you will be asked to attend the surgery.

If an emergency appointment is necessary, we will obviously not be able to give you a choice of doctor and you may have to wait to be seen.

Please note that these appointments are only for consultations with a doctor, or for the Minor Illness Clinic. All appointments for blood tests, dressings, procedures, implants, coil fits, etc. are either done by a nurse, or require a nurse to be present, and must be booked by telephone or at the surgery in order to ensure that you are given an appointment with the correct staff member.

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• Click here to book an appointment online via SystmOnline if you are an existing user.
  In order to use this service you must have previously obtained the necessary security access codes. Please call at Reception for details. Please bring photo I.D with you.
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