Appointments

If you have suspected chicken pox, measles, a rash, diarrhoea, vomiting or anything potentially contagious, to protect other patients, call us and reception will be able to assist, do not book online or visit the practice.

Physician Associate and GP appointments are book on the day and cannot be booked online.

Patients who feel they need to see a Physican Associate or GP will need to phone at 8am. This is to ensure that the Physician Associate/GP appointments are reserved for the patients that need them the most.

The practice reserves the right to decline a patient request to be booked with a GP where there is an appointment available with another appropriately trained healthcare professional who has the skills and training to address that clinical need.

Please be advised that throughout the opening hours of the surgery, there is a GP on duty who will answer any queries from the healthcare team and arrange prescriptions as necessary if the healthcare professional you see is trained to diagnose and treat the relevant condition but does not have a prescribing qualification.

A GP can only deal with one problem in a standard 10 minute appointment. If a patient needs to discuss more than 1 problem they should book a double appointment to allow time for this. If there are no double appointments available, you may have to book 2 separate appointments.

The practice has provisions in place for vulnerable patients who are unable to book appointments in the normal way. These patients should contact the practice so the reception team can assist them.

Patients with minor illnesses will be offered an appointment with an appropriately trained clinician. This will be either a Paramedic, Pharmacist or Physician Associate or may be referred to a community pharmacist under the Pharmacy First service. GP appointments are reserved for those who need them the most.

Antibiotics are no longer routinely used to treat infections because:

Many infections are caused by viruses, so antibiotics are not effective.
Antibiotics are often unlikely to speed up the healing process and can cause side effects.
The more antibiotics are used to treat trivial conditions, the more likely they are to become ineffective for treating more serious conditions.
 
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Whether you experience a sudden deterioration of an existing mental health problem, or are experiencing problems for the first time, you’ll need expert assessment to identify the best cause of action and stop you getting worse. At the practice we now offer appointments with Patronela, a Specialist Mental Health Practitioner. 

Patronela will be working alongside our clinicians to provide a first point of contact for patients. She will be on hand for patients to book in with to give guidance advice and treatment for patients with mental health symptoms such as low mood, anxiety and depression and complete an assessment as part of her consultation. 

The purpose of an assessment is to build an accurate picture of your needs, discuss options and referrals to other Mental Health Services. 

Book online or by calling the practice on 0118 9874551 Monday to Friday. 

What a Specialist Mental Health Practitioner does not offer: 

• Therapy
• Counselling
• Prescribing medication 

Mental health crisis or emergency 

A mental health crisis often means that you no longer feel able to cope or be in control of your situation. You may feel great emotional distress or anxiety, can’t cope with day-to-day life or work, think about suicide or self-harm, have a plan to end your life or experience hallucinations and hearing voices. 

A crisis can also be the result of an underlying medical condition, such as confusion or delusions caused by an infection, overdose, chronic disease, pain, illicit drugs or intoxication with alcohol. Confusion may also be associated with Dementia. 

If you are dealing with a mental health crisis or emergency, ring the Crisis Team on 0800 129 9999.

Appointments for blood tests requested by a clinician are available to book online at the University Medical Practice Monday to Friday plus regular Saturday morning blood clinics too.  There is a waiting time of approximately 3 weeks for a routine blood test at the surgery.  

Patients can also book blood tests appointments online at the Royal Berkshire and West Berkshire Hospitals. We would encourage you to use this service for all blood tests requested by the hospital. The details to book can be found here: Royal Berkshire Hospital blood tests or to book a blood test at West Berkshire Hospital.

The practice Pharmacy Team do the following: 

• Repeat medication reviews – Book online
• New patient consultation reviews to set up medicines
• Chronic disease reviews such as hypertension and diabetes

If you are requesting an urgent appointment, please call us on 0118 9874551 before 11am as we cannot guarantee a same day response after this time.

We ask you not to arrive unannounced at the health centre unless the matter is extremely urgent.

The NHS 111 service is staffed by a team of fully trained advisers, supported by experienced nurses and paramedics for when we are out of hours.

NHS 111

However you choose to contact us, we may offer you a consultation:

• by phone
• face to face at the surgery
• on a video call

Telephone appointments are arranged in a 2 hour window from the booked time slot. If you need an appointment at a set time, please book a face to face appointment.

If you cannot attend an appointment for any reason please inform us at least 24 hours before your appointment time in order for us to give the slot to someone else.

To cancel your appointment:

• use your NHS account (through the NHS website or NHS App)
• phone us on 0118 9874551, Monday to Friday from 8am to 6.30pm. 
• reply CANCEL to your appointment reminder text message up to one hour before the appointment time.

If you have a Saturday appointment, the phone lines are not open on a Saturday so please ensure you attend these appointments. 

Face to face appointments at the practice are available to book online on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday evenings at the University Health Centre with our in-house physiotherapy service provided by First Point Physio for patients aged 16 and over. 

Musculoskeletal self-referral Physiotheraphy services

Musculoskeletal (MSK) physiotherapists assess and treat problems with  muscle, bone and joints that may cause pain, stiffness and/or disability.

They provide specialist assessment followed by expert advice and treatment for a wide range of service for any joint and muscular related problems including rehabilitation after orthopaedic surgery, sports injury rehabilitation and women's health physiotherapy advice and treatment. 

All eligible patients can now directly access NHS physiotherapy services  at a participating physiotherapist through a new self-referral service without needing to go via their GP. 

Patients under the age of 16 years will need a clinical referral. 

Please click here for the staywell-bob website to access information on the self-referral eligibility criteria and details of how to self-refer in the area you are registered with a GP.

If you need medical help now, use NHS 111 online or Call 111.

NHS 111 online is for people aged 5 and over. Call 111 if you need help for a child under 5.

Call 999 in a medical or mental health emergency. This is when someone is seriously ill or injured and their life is at risk.

Please tell us:

• if you would prefer to consult with the doctor or nurse by phone, face-to-face, by video call
• if you need an interpreter
• if you have any other access or communication needs

If possible please try to telephone reception before 10am if you require a home visit.

You may only request a home visit if you are housebound or are too ill to visit the practice.

The Urgent Care Team will arrange a visit if they think that your medical condition requires it and will also decide how urgently a visit is needed.  You may be visited by the Practice Paramedic, GP or GP trainee, depending on your symptoms.  

You can be visited at home by a community nurse if you are referred by your GP. 

University of Reading Medical Practice

• Monday to Thursday evenings until 8:00 PM
• Saturday mornings 8:00 AM to 12:00 PM

Please do not attend the Practice during extended hours unless you have a pre-booked appointment as these may be subject to change.

Important information for consultations during extended hours

If your appointment/telephone appointment is after 6.30pm Monday to Friday or on a Saturday morning and you are running late or miss the call, you will not be able to phone the practice to let us know as switchboard is closed during our extended opening hours.

Therefore, please ensure you arrive in good time and are available to take the phone call.