Appointments with the doctor and practice nurses are made via the telephone or online or by visiting the practice. You can also use our online consultation tool available via our home page. Please be aware that your appointment request may be triaged by a clinician to ensure the appointment offered best suits your needs.
Please remember for your convenience you are able to book appointments via our online service. Please ask a member of our team on how you can register for this. Our surgeries are held between 08:30 - 12:00 and 14:30 - 18:30 Monday to Friday.
A separate appointment is needed for each patient.
For your convenience, the practice also offers evening and weekend appointments at its primary Care network site in Buckhurst Hill. These can be telephone or face to face appointments. Please ask one of our team for more information.
Appointments are bookable at 10-15 minute intervals and we would encourage you to book an additional appointment if extra problems need to be addressed. Revised November 2016 to allow for emergency access, a number of appointments are held for each GP and released on the day. Also we keep emergency appointments specifically for children.
There is a duty doctor system in operation each day for patients who have urgent problems that need to be dealt with on the day when all routine appointments have been booked.
This session is run with 10 minute appointments and must not be used for matters that are non-urgent and can wait for regular surgery hours.
In case of emergency, please ring 0208 502 5000 for advice giving full details of name, address, telephone number and the patient's registered GP and their problem. At night our answer phone will supply you with Out of Hours contact details.
If you are experiencing chest pains you must call an ambulance and go to hospital immediately.
We have a long established record of both graduate and post graduate teaching at Loughton Health Centre, having been involved in the undergraduate and post graduate teaching process for over 10 years. We are involved in the undergraduate teaching of medical students from several London medical schools including Barts and Royal London and UCL.
On occasions there may be doctors or other professionals in training who will be "sitting in" on consultations. You will be advised if this is the case and if you object to such a person being present, please do not hesitate to advise the doctor or receptionist.
As a training practice we accommodate a GP registrar who is a fully qualified doctor under going a one year training period, prior to entering general practice. He/She is under full supervision of the trainer in the practice. For training purposes some consultations need to be recorded with the prior permission of the patients, although there is no obligation. The tapes are kept completely confidential between the GP Registrar and the Partners of the practice.
We have recently updated our automated system that allows patients to check themselves in for any booked appointment whether with the doctor or the nurses.
It is very user friendly and has on screen instructions. It will ask your gender, the month you were born and then the day of the month. The final screen will ask you to confirm the entry is correct and it will then search the appointment system and confirm you are booked in with the doctor or nurse.
Our hope is that this will not only reduce the need for queuing but also release the receptionists to answer the phones and queries at the desk.
Whilst we encourage our patients to come to the surgery, where we have the proper equipment and facilities available, we do appreciate this is not always possible. In this respect, if you do need a home visit, you can help us by calling reception before 10:00.
You may only request a home visit if you are housebound or are too ill to visit the practice. Your GP will only visit you at home if they think that your medical condition requires it and will also decide how urgently a visit is needed. Please bear this in mind and be prepared to provide suitable details to enable the doctor to schedule house calls.
You can also be visited at home by a community nurse if you are referred by your GP. You should also be visited at home by a health visitor if you have recently had a baby or if you are newly registered with a GP and have a child under five years.
You do not require a doctor's sickness certificate for any illness lasting seven days or less. Your employer may however require you to complete a self-certification form (SC2) which is available from your employer or on the HMRC website.
Evidence that you are sick - If you are sick for more than seven days, your employer can ask you to give them some form of medical evidence to support payment of SSP (statutory sick pay).
It is up to your employer to decide whether you are incapable of work. A medical certificate, now called a 'Statement of Fitness for Work’ (see below) from your doctor is strong evidence that you are sick and would normally be accepted, unless there is evidence to prove otherwise.
You could also provide evidence from someone who is not a medical practitioner, e.g. a dentist. Your employer will decide whether or not this evidence is acceptable. If your employer has any doubts, they may still ask for a medical certificate from your GP.
Statement of Fitness for Work - ’Fit Note' - The 'fit note' was introduced on 6 April 2010. With your employer's support, the note will help you return to work sooner by providing more information about the effects of your illness or injury.
For more information see the DirectGov website (where this information was sourced)