Please click the 'Contact us online' green banner above to submit an online form (including appointment requests). If you are unable to use a computer, then please telephone us and a receptionist will complete this form for you.

All appointment requests and queries are reviewed on the same day by a GP. The GP will advise whether you need an appointment and if so which type. The GP may advise another course of action if more appropriate.

Please keep your phone with you from the point that you submit your request.

Please see more detailed information below:

1. How to request an appointment, or raise a query with a GP

To request an appointment, or raise a query with a GP, please contact us online:

· As described above, please click on the green button (‘contact us online’), follow the steps as instructed to submit a request for an appointment or submit a query. This service is available from 8am to 6.30pm on Monday to Friday.

· Your query will be assessed by a GP within the same working day to offer the most appropriate care for you, based on the nature of your request as follows:

o If deemed to be a medical emergency, you may be advised to attend A&E.

o If medically urgent, you may receive a text or phone call from reception to offer you a same day appointment. Same-day appointments may be offered at the Minor Illness Hub at St Albans City Hospital or at Davenport House Surgery, alternatively you will be directed to your local community pharmacist. This is in line with guidance from the HWE ICB which oversees primary care.

o You may be asked for more information to help us decide on an appropriate course of action or you may be offered an appointment within a very short turnaround time, so please keep your phone with you and ensure that you are available to attend the surgery.

o If the GP has recommended a routine appointment, you will receive a text or phone call to arrange this.

o This online service is available from 8am to 6.30pm on weekdays.

o If your query does not require an appointment, you will receive a non-urgent response from a GP, usually this will be later on the same day. 

Please note:

· If you do not have access to the internet, please contact the surgery by telephone and a receptionist will fill in the form on your behalf.

· Please keep your phone with you from the point that you submit a form (we may contact you within minutes and require a response).

· For urgent issues after 5.30pm, please telephone reception.

· NHS regulations do not allow us to provide medical advice to patients abroad. Please contact us again when you get back to the UK.

2. What to expect when you attend an appointment at Davenport House Surgery

Our practice team now involves several different types of clinicians as follows:

· GPs

· GP Trainees (qualified doctors undertaking specialist training in General Practice)

· Final Year Medical Student

· Paramedics

· Nurses

· Health Care Assistant

· Clinical Pharmacists

· Mental Health Practitioners

· Physician Associates

· Physiotherapists

This has diversified and strengthened our team and is in line with NHS England guidance. Every team member is supervised by a GP.

You will be informed who you will see when the appointment is booked. Appointments will typically be ten minutes in length. We can usually only discuss one problem per appointment.

Notes made by a clinician following your appointment will usually be viewable on your NHS app from the next day. This will include the agreed management plan.

Please contact reception if you need to cancel your appointment so that this can be offered to somebody else. Please arrive on time for your appointment.

If you are unsure whether you need a GP telephone consultation please ask our receptionists for advice. We have a very experienced nursing team who can offer a wide range of medical advice in their specialised clinics:

• Well woman clinics for cytology test, contraceptive and HRT advice and treatment.
• Special clinics for the management of conditions such as asthma, heart disease, diabetes, hypertension.
• Baby immunisations
• Travel Immunisations
• Wound care
• Stitch removal
• Blood pressure monitoring
• Lifestyle advice
• Hearing tests and management of ear wax.

We are unable to provide free car parking at the surgery. There are two council-run car parks adjacent to the surgery which operate pay and display meters. We have a nominated parking bay for our disabled patients at the front of the surgery. We politely ask that this is not used by able bodied patients as a dropping off point.

On arrival, you may choose either to check in at reception, or, for greater speed, use our touch screen booking-in system which can save you waiting at the reception desk. 

Regrettably, if you are more than 10 minutes late for your appointment, we may have to ask you to rebook. If our doctors or nurses are running more than 15 minutes late, reception will let you know on your arrival.

The NHS App gives you a simple and secure way to access a range of NHS services. Download the NHS App on your smartphone or tablet via the Google play or App store.  You can also access the same services in a web browser by logging in through the NHS website.

Please see attached our Did Not Attend (DNA) Policy 

Did Not Attend Policy.pdf

To allow those who find it difficult to attend the surgery during usual opening hours the surgery now opens from 07:00 on some mornings each week.

• Wednesdays
  
  • 07:00 – 08:00 - Dr Katie Nowlan

Within the Harpenden Health PCN, the three Harpenden surgeries offer routine doctor, nurse and other specialist appointments outside of the normal 08:30 to 18:30 day. 

Not all these appointments are at Davenport House or with a Davenport House doctor/nurse/specialist but they are at a surgery within the Harpenden area. 

Appointments are available across the locality between 07:00 – 08:00 and 18:30 – 20:00 Monday to Friday and 08:00 - 17:00 Saturdays.  

Please call to check dates & availability.

We are happy to visit patients who, because of a medical condition, are unable to visit the surgery. We encourage patients to come to surgery wherever possible, because special equipment, facilities and assistance are available if required.

If you require a home visit please contact the surgery as early as possible but before 11.00am to speak to a doctor. 

The receptionist will arrange a telephone consultation so that the doctor can speak to you before visiting. We cannot confirm which doctor may visit you as requests are allocated according to the number and clinical nature of the requests.

We realise that most people would like to see the same doctor or nurse especially if they have an ongoing condition. We will always try to meet your request but if the doctor or nurse is on annual leave or there is a high demand for a particular clinician the wait for a telephone consultation may be longer than usual. 

All clinicians have access to your medical history via our secure computers and you may wish to consider consulting with another clinician if you do not wish to wait.

If you require an interpreter to attend with you when you see your doctor please notify the receptionist who will arrange this for you. 

The service uses interpreters working on a sessional basis, plus agencies and can also provide sign language interpreters.

Click here for more information

It is important that you inform the reception staff if you are unable to attend your appointment, this will allow that appointment to be offered to another patient. If you fail to notify the Practice that you are unable to attend, you will be sent a letter informing you that you have defaulted from your appointment. Persistent defaulters maybe removed from the list.

You can also complete our appointment cancellation notification request form. This can only be used if your appointment has been arranged for more than 24 hours in advance. (excluding weekends and public holidays). You can also text to cancel your appointment.

We have a texting service which allows you to receive confirmation and reminders about your appointments.

To have this service you will need to register by completing a consent form.

Please remember to update your contact details with us when you change address, telephone numbers and email address.

Davenport House Surgery has a long traditional of teaching young doctors aiming to specialise in General Practice. Most doctors will spend a four month period in general practice even if their final chosen career will ultimately be in hospital. This means more junior but fully supervised doctors known as F2 (Foundation year 2) doctors will be increasingly seen by patients at the surgery in the future.

On occasions a registrar may video his/her surgery for training purposes. We will always inform you if a surgery is being videoed and ask your explicit consent prior to the consultation. If you do consent but, following the consultation, wish to withdraw consent pleased let reception know as you leave.