Appointments
Routine appointments
Essex Lodge Surgery offer routine appointments with all members of our clinical team.
Patients are seen by appointment only, with each appointment lasting for ten minutes. Each ten minute appointment is for one person only, and one medical problem.
Not all appointments will be made with a Doctor – you may consult with a Practice Nurse, Mental Health Nurse Practitioner, Clinical Pharmacist, Practice Paramedic, Physiotherapist or Healthcare Assistant depending on the nature of your enquiry.
Some requests may be redirected to a local pharmacy via the NHS England Pharmacy First scheme. For more information about this click here.
Ways to make a routine appointment:
- Contact us online by completing an AccuRx form
- Call us on 020 8472 4888 or come to the practice to speak in person with our reception team during our opening times
You may request a chaperone, translator or advocate for any consultation. Please let us know when booking, or the person consulting you if any of these are wanted or needed.
Urgent Appointments
Essex Lodge Surgery ensure some appointments are kept available every day for more urgent matters – particularly for young children, the elderly, the vulnerable and those approaching the end of life.
These can be accessed by calling our reception team on 020 8472 4888 when the practice opens.
Some requests may be redirected to a local pharmacy via the NHS England Pharmacy First scheme. For more information about this click here.
If there are no urgent appointments left for the day, you can call 111 or click here for NHS 111 who will be able to best advise on how to get the care you need.
Additionally, you may call the Newham GP Cooperative when we are closed and you need an urgent appointment. You can contact them on 020 7511 8880.
Cancelling your appointment
If you are unable to keep your appointment, please give us as much notice as possible so that your appointment can be offered to someone else.
If you are cancelling please telephone us on 020 8472 4888 as soon as possible, and at least 30 minutes before your appointment time. This will enable us to offer your appointment to someone else.
Alternatively you can cancel your appointment online using the Patient Access online service or by downloading the NHS App if you are signed up to the service.
Please remember that there may be a shortage of appointments and when you fail to attend you have prevented someone else from being seen in your place. On average about 230 appointments are missed each month
Cancellations notified less than 30 minutes before the appointment time will be recorded as failure to attend (DNA).
Repeated failure to attend booked appointments is a significant waste of NHS resources.
Consult with a Doctor online
You can get Advice or Treatment within 2 – 4 working days depending on the clinical priority of your submission.
You can get access to medical advice without having to pick up the phone or even come in to the practice.
You can avoid long waiting times on the telephone and beat the queues at the front desk.
Your submission will be reviewed by a member of our clinical team who will assess the urgency of your condition / request.
ONLINE SYSTEMS ARE NOT SUITABLE FOR EMERGENCIES – IN AN EMERGENCY PLEASE CALL 999 OR 111 FOR AN URGENT MEDICAL PROBLEM.
Extended Access
Home Visits
We provide home visits for our patients who are totally incapacitated and unable to get to Essex Lodge Surgery for medical reasons.
Please be aware that our GPs will always call to assess the home visit request first.
Wherever possible, it is better to try and come into the practice or have a telephone consultation. The clinician will have live access to your records in both a telephone and face-to-face appointment and there is far more equipment available to hand in a face-to-face appointment, some of which cannot be brought out on a home visit.
If you wish to request a home visit then you must call reception on 020 8472 4888 before 10am if possible.
Please note that all requests will result in a telephone assessment with a clinician prior to a home visit being organised. You may receive a visit by one of the rapid response team following this assessment.
