We offer home visits to patients who are housebound or who are acutely unwell, preventing them from being able to come into the practice.
We cover a wide area and we have a system for assessing when a home visit is appropriate.
It is always safer for a patient to come to the practice where we have suitable facilities and equipment for examinations and can supply treatment if it immediately necessary.
Requests for home visits should be made BEFORE 1200 . The duty GP will review the request and determine if a home visit is appropriate. He/she may instead phone the patient or suggest an alternative action.
The doctors are unable to make home visits when a request is made AFTER 1200 .
If the patient is acutely unwell requiring immediate intervention, and needing a visit at home, they should contact 999.
Otherwise, the patient can be advised to contact the practice the following day to request a visit, or can be appointed as a telephone consultation with the on-call GP that afternoon.
Occasionally, housebound patients may request routine home visits for non-urgent problems. In these cases, the GP will assess the request and contact the patient (if needed) and arrange to visit at a convenient time.