How do I get seen by a doctor?
There are other services available that can give medical advice and help you in an appropriate & timely manner. Sometimes these might allow you to be seen much quicker or might be more convenient so are worth considering before deciding it must be a GP or A&E. These include
- Pharmacies
- Minor injuries units
- NHS 111
- Walk in centre
- Urgent care centre
- Accident and Emergency (A&E) department
- General Practitioner (GP)
- Out of hours service
Pharmacies
Local pharmacies are an underused resource and pharmacists are able to give practical advice on common ailments such as coughs, colds and rashes. Pharmacies can also provide emergency contraception and may be able to provide a small supply of repeat medicines if you run out of medication when your surgery is closed.
Community pharmacists prepare and dispense prescription and non-prescription medicines. They are also able to give you advice about how to use your medicines and highlight any possible side effects.
They offer advice on common problems such as aches and pains, as well as healthy eating and stopping smoking. They can also help you decide whether you need to see a doctor. You can talk to your pharmacist in confidence, even about the most personal symptoms, and you don’t need to make an appointment. It is possible to walk into any community pharmacy and ask to speak with the pharmacist. They may be able to spend some time with you or offer you an appointment for a consultation. All the discussions with your pharmacist can take place in person or by phone.
NHS 111
If you have an urgent medical problem and you’re not sure what to do then NHS 111 can help you.
NHS 111 is free to use and open 24 hours a day, every day. It can be accessed online at 111.nhs.uk or by calling 111 from your mobile phone or landline.
Using 111 will help you get the right care and can save you time, effort and unnecessary journeys.
The service is suitable for patients who are unsure where to go for medical advice or for patients with urgent health conditions that can’t wait until their GP surgery is open and available to help. It identifies the most appropriate service to meet patients’ needs.
More information can be found on the Trafford CCG website here.
Walk in Centre
WIC’s are an alternative option if you are unable to see your GP or your problem isn’t serious enough for A&E. These are often Nurse led, but the Walk-in Centre in Trafford is staffed by Doctors and Nurses. As the name suggests, they require no appointment and can deal with many of the things your GP can, including infections and rashes, blood pressure checks, fractures and lacerations, emergency contraception and advice, stomach aches, vomiting and diarrhoea, insect and animal bites, stitches (sutures), dressing care, cuts and bruises, minor burns and strains, stop smoking support among other problems.
The Trafford Walk-in Centre is based at Entrance 9 of Trafford General Hospital, next to the Outpatients Department .
Trafford Health Centre
Trafford General Hospital
Moorside Road
Davyhulme
Manchester
M41 5SL
Opening Hours: 08:00-20:00 everyday including weekends and bank holidays.
Telephone: 0161 747 4978
Email: traffordhealthcentre@nhs.net
Urgent Care Centre
A UCC provides treatment for adults and children whose needs are not life-threatening but where prompt help, care or advice is required. They do not have emergency surgery facilities but are able to treat a wide range of emergency illnesses and injuries including wounds, burns, bites, sprains, fractures, sports injuries, fevers, infections, rashes and breathing difficulties. They have A&E consultants that can assess you and you do not require an appointment.
The Urgent Care Centre is open daily from 8.00am – 8.00pm and is staffed by a highly skilled team of emergency nurses.
- Manchester Royal Infirmary – Adults
Upper Brook Street
Manchester M13 9WL
Tel: 0161 276 4147
- Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital
Hathersage Road
Manchester M13 9WL
Tel: 0161 701 9101/2
- Wythenshawe Hospital (UHSM)
Southmoor Road
Manchester M23 9LT
Tel: 0161 998 7070
- Salford Royal Hospital
Stott Lane
Salford M6 8HD
Tel: 0161 789 7373
If you are unsure whether you require the services of the Emergency Department please call NHS 111.
Accident & Emergency
A&E departments assess and treat patients with serious injuries or illnesses. Generally, you should visit A&E or call 999 for life-threatening emergencies, such as:
Loss of consciousness, acute confused state and fits that are not stopping, persistent and severe chest pain, breathing difficulties or severe bleeding that cannot be stopped.
If an ambulance is needed, call 999, the emergency phone number in the UK. You can also dial 112, which is the ambulance number throughout the European Union.
Major A&E departments offer access 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, but remember not all hospitals have an A&E department. At A&E a doctor or nurse will assess your condition and decide on further action.
If it is not an immediate emergency, call NHS 111. The service is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and can provide medical advice and advise you on the best local service to offer the care you need.
Less severe injuries can be treated in minor injuries units (MIUs) and NHS walk-in centres (WICs), which can treat patients without an appointment.
For illnesses that are not life-threatening you should first contact your GP surgery. Outside of normal surgery hours you can still phone your GP, but you will usually be directed to an out-of-hours service. The out-of-hours period is from 6.30pm to 8am on weekdays, and all day at weekends and on bank holidays. During out-of-hours periods you can also call NHS 111.
Seeing a GP
When patients see their doctor is the subject of most NHS complaints. Some knowledge and forward planning can ensure that you see the doctor at your convenience.
First, you need to be registered with a GP. If you are not regisitered with one, see below to find out how to register
How to register with a GP practice
When you have found a practice you like, you’ll have to formally register with it as an NHS patient by submitting a registration form to them. The GMS1 form (PDF, 107kb) is available in the practice, or you can download it from this site.*
*Forms may vary slightly and some practices use their own version.
When you have completed and returned the form, your local NHS Commissioning Board Area Team will transfer your medical records to your new practice and write to you to confirm your registration as a patient with that practice.
Parents or guardians can register a baby at a practice by completing and presenting form FP58 (PDF, 34kb), which is issued at the same time as a birth certificate.
A practice cannot refuse you unless it has reasonable grounds for doing so. These must not relate to race, gender, social class, age, religion, sexual orientation, appearance, disability or a medical condition. It must also give you reasons for its decision in writing. However, you may be refused if you are living outside the practice’s catchment area or the practice is generally not accepting new patients at the time because its list is closed. However from January 5 2015, all GP practices in England are free to register new patients who live outside their practice boundary area (to find out more on this click here). Find out if your local GP practice is currently accepting new patients. (On NHS Choices website, opens new window).
You can register with a GP practice as a temporary resident under certain circumstances – when you are in an area for more than 24 hours but less than three months. See below Seeing a GP when you are away from home
Booking an appointment
GP surgeries, although funded by NHS England and CCG’s, are actually independent private businesses and so there is no set way to book appointments for every surgery. However, virtually all of them allow you to make appointments by telephone or in person, with some also using online booking, textphone and other methods.
They should be able to offer you an appointment to see a GP or other healthcare professional quickly if necessary, however waiting times can sometimes be long and are likely to be longer if you want to see a specific GP. You can usually see any doctor within your practice if you want an appointment quicker, which may be appropriate if they do not have to have personal knowledge of your medical history. Many practices operate a system where you can call to arrange an urgent appointment, but what they count as urgent and the availability of same or next day appointments varies widely between surgeries.
Always remember to keep your appointment or, if you are unable to keep your appointment, cancel it and rearrange. This enables someone in need to take your appointment.
Seeing a GP when you are away from home
If you fall ill while away from home, or if you are not registered with a GP practice but you need to see one, you can still contact your nearest practice to ask for treatment.
You can receive emergency treatment for 14 days. After that you will have to register as a temporary resident or permanent patient.
Registration as a temporary resident allows you to be taken on to the practice’s list for up to three months. If you are registered with a practice but are away from your home area, you can register temporarily with a practice near where you are currently staying and still remain a patient of your registered practice.
Try to have the following information available when you attend your appointment for the first time:
Make sure you tell them about any ongoing medical problems or those you have had in the past
Try to take or make note of any medication you are using and let them know of any allergies you have.
Give them the details of your registered surgery.
How to change GP's
If you need to change your GP practice, whether it be because you have moved, no longer on a GPs list or you are unsatisfied with your current GP for any reason, you have the right to change practice. You do not have to give give a reason, but it is best (and courteous) to let your GP know you are leaving.
You can approach another practice and apply to join its list of patients. Find local GP’s in Trafford here. When you are accepted by a new practice, your medical records will be transferred across.
If you are homeless
You are entitled to register with and be seen by a GP even if you are homeless. Some surgeries insist on a home address, but guidance from NHS England says that they can use their own address or one of a local organisation (such as a charity) to register you.
Out of Hours service (OoH)
Outside normal surgery hours you can still phone your GP surgery, but you’ll usually be directed to an out-of-hours service. The out-of-hours period is from 6.30pm to 8.00am on weekdays and all day at weekends and on bank holidays.
If it is not an immediate emergency then you can call NHS 111. NHS 111 is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It can provide medical advice and details of the best local service that can provide care. Telephone consultations and triage (an assessment of how urgent your medical problem is) are an important part of all out-of-hours care.
GPs can choose whether to provide 24-hour care for their patients or to transfer responsibility for out-of-hours services to the relevant NHS England Area Team.
Area Teams are responsible for providing a high-quality service for the local population. Some Area Teams provide care themselves. Others provide care through external organisations. This means different areas can have slightly different services.
