Appointments
Demand for healthcare within all sectors of the NHS is currently exceeding capacity. At Dollar Health Centre we try our best to ensure that people are able to obtain help from our healthcare staff in a timely manner. However, this can be challenging for everyone at times. Please help us by booking the most appropriate appointment for your needs, and by telling us when you no longer need an appointment.
We participate in regular patient surveys examining access to appointments and general satisfaction with services. We have consistently been rated well above the Scottish average for patient access and satisfaction. However we are not complacent and realise that we do not always get this right. Please let us know your experience by emailing FV.DollarHC@nhs.scot.
Practice staff will ask you for some general information to help you to see or speak to the most appropriate person in the practice. This may not always be with a doctor, but with another member of the health care team, pharmacists, mental health nurses, physiotherapists, general practice nurses, or advanced nurse practitioners who may be available to help.Making an AppointmentTo make an appointment at Dollar Health Centre, please phone 01259 742120.
There are many different health professionals working from Dollar health centre, and they offer different types of consultations. To help enable you to get the most appropriate care, our admin team have been asked to enquire about the reason for your appointment. They are bound by confidentiality in the same way as other NHS staff. Please give them as much information as you are able to, in order that they may help you.
Please see below for the types of appointments you can book with us.
Types of Appointment
Extended Hours Appointments
Some of our Gp's have extended hours telephone consultations available, these are 15 minute telephone appointments and are available from 7.30am- 8.15am Thursday and Friday Mornings and also 5.30pm-6.15pm Wednesday evenings. Please note that these are strictly telephone consultations only.
Routine GP and Advanced Nurse Practitioner (ANP) Consultations
It is possible to book a 15-minute appointment with the doctor or nurse of your choice. Availability for a specific doctor or nurse will vary throughout the year, depending on workload and annual leave, but a guide can be found here.
People needing to be seen face-to-face will be offered a suitable appointment by the doctor or nurse.
Joint Specialist Appointments
We have a physiotherapy joint specialist who comes into the practice on a Tuesday pm and All day Wednesday. It is possible to book an appointment directly with our joint specialist without having to see a GP or nurse first.
Mental Health Nurse
We have a mental health nurse who comes into the practice All day Thursday and a Friday Morning . It is possible to book an appointment directly with her without having to see a GP or Nurse first
'On the Day'/Urgent Appointments
General Practice is not an emergency service, like paramedics or the Emergency Department. If you have an urgent problem, life-threatening problem, that needs to be dealt with within a few hours, general practice does not have the capacity, skills or facilities to manage this. Please contact emergency services on 999 or NHS 24 on 111.
There are clearly things which require urgent attention, for which a same day or next day appointment with a GP or ANP is needed. Urgent, on the day appointments will only be given to those with urgent medical problems, otherwise a routine appointment will be provided.
Urgent problems include:
● new chest pain,
● acute illness with a high fever,
● new or severe breathing difficulties,
● infected wounds or cellulitis
● mental health crisis
● small child with an acute illness.
● New or severe abdominal symptoms
Anyone with an urgent problem who is unable to wait for the next routine appointment will be asked to provide additional details through a structured electronic triage form. If you don’t have access to a smart phone or computer you will be helped to complete this over the telephone by the admin team.
Please complete your triage forms with as much detail as possible, so that we can provide the most appropriate appointment that is available. If there is inadequate information, to form a safe decision, we will request that you send in your form again with more detail.
The clinical team will review the information to ensure that any urgent issues are dealt with appropriately. This may be through an urgent appointment with a doctor, nurse, physiotherapist, pharmacist, mental health nurse or healthcare assistant; or by signposting to other local services (eg. Pharmacy, optician, minor injuries, A+E).
With the frequent changes in the availability of local health care services, this process enables people with an urgent health problem to receive care quickly by those that have the correct knowledge and skills to do so.”
Video Appointments/NHS Near Me
Many appointments can be undertaken by video. We use a system called NHS Near Me. This is a web-based system which can be accessed by your phone, tablet or PC. Any device with a camera and a microphone is suitable. If this type of consultation would suit you, please phone reception to book an appointment time.
Once you have a confirmed appointment, please follow this link to have your video consultation. Please do this 10 minutes before your appointment, as you will need to fill in personal details, so that you are ready to call at the beginning of your appointment time.
For more information about NHS Near Me, please speak to a member of staff who would be happy to give more details, or visit the NHS Near Me website. We recommend you do a test call using this link, to check your device is compatible.
GP Specialist Trainee's
We are an approved training practice for GP Specialist Trainees (sometimes known as GP registrars).
The GP Trainee is a fully qualified and experienced doctor near the end of their training to be a GP. We will usually have at least one trainee working with us as they gain experience in general practice.
Trainee doctors do a variety of jobs in hospital before spending their time with us in their GP placements.
The Practice benefits from the doctors experience, having worked in alternative medical environments prior to joining us. In addition, we are able to offer additional appointments and choice of doctor during their time with us.
As part of the doctors' training programme they have to video a certain number of consultations for assessment. You will always be asked in advance for consent.
Dr Gyda Meeten is a designated GP Trainer in the practice. However, all doctors in the Practice have a significant role to play in training our assigned doctors. The doctors are supervised throughout their journey with us whilst they prepare for their GP training exams. The GP Trainers go through extra training for this role, and the Practice is inspected periodically.
We have one medical student for 4 weeks at a time. They are supervised by the GPs but will spend time with all our primary care team. Medical students may be sitting in one of your consultations. When you book in at the desk the patient adviser will tell you there is a student in with the GP or nurse.
We recognise that sometimes patients would rather not have a student present. If this is the case, please don’t worry. Simply inform the admin team if you would prefer to see the doctor or nurse alone.
The medical students see patients and this is a vital part of their education and you will be helping them invaluably by agreeing to see them. After seeing the student you would then have a joint appointment with them and the GP.
We hugely value the role you play in helping us to educate the next generation of doctors.