GP talkng to a woman

If you have an illness or injury that won’t go away but that isn’t life threatening, contact your GP surgery. They provide a range of services by appointment and when absolutely essential can make home visits.

Core opening hours are Monday to Friday 8am to 6.30pm. Many GPs now offer extended opening hours including evenings and weekends. Please contact your practice for details.

If you need to see a doctor urgently outside opening hours, telephone your usual surgery number. Your call will be redirected to the GP Out of Hours service. If you are not registered with a GP then please phone NHS 111. If you need to be seen, you will be given an appointment and told where to attend.

The NHS 111 service is Typetalk friendly (Typetalk is the national telephone relay service for people with communication difficulties) and NHS 111 call advisers have been trained to deal with callers using Typetalk.

How to register with a GP

To register with a GP practice you need to live within their practice boundary and they must be willing to accept you.

Everyone living permanently in Great Britain has a right to be registered with and receive services from a GP. Some practices may not be able to take on new patients if they are temporarily closed to new patient registrations. If your local practice is accepting new patients, you should take your medical card to the surgery and tell the receptionist you wish to register. If you do not have a medical card, you will need to fill in a form to trace your medical records. For advice on registering with a local GP practice, contact HealthWatch Nottingham on 0115 859 9511 or visit their website www.healthwatchnottingham.co.uk

You have the right to register with a new GP practice at any time and you do not need to tell your current practice. Your GP practice also has the right to remove you from its list but they would normally give you at least eight days' notice to find another practice and during this time they are still responsible for your care. However, this only happens in exceptional circumstances.

Repeat prescriptions

Please ensure that you request repeat prescriptions from your GP in plenty of time so you don’t run out of your essential medication. The Accident and Emergency department at the hospital and NHS Walk-in Centres should not be used to obtain repeat prescriptions.