Appointments

Ways to book

• Request an appointment online
• Telephone: 01732 849980

Telephone consultations can be a good means of communication with a patient to supplement the traditional surgery consultation. They are often a much quicker method of dealing with basic issues and for the GP they represent the means by which a consultation may be quick and concise. Not all conditions or queries are suitable for telephone advice and these may be limited to the instances set out below.

The following are suitable for telephone consultations:

• Follow-up discussions or advice relating to previously seen or existing conditions.
• Medication reviews where the existing prescriptions are straightforward.
• Discussion of test results.
• Discussions re the suitability of, or reactions to medication.
• Discussions of an administrative nature such as Choice of provider or clinical procedure.
• Instances where the doctor or nurse has suggested a telephone call as being suitable.

The following circumstances would indicate that a telephone consultation may not be appropriate:

• Where the patient is not known personally to the doctor.
• Where the doctor considers that an examination should be made.
• Where the doctor considers that there is a degree of risk involved in a remote consultation.
• Where the patient is abroad. This effectively would be a consultation in another country where the doctor may not be licensed to practise, and where he / she may not be insured. Patients should be advised in these circumstances to seek help locally and through their travel or health insurer.
• Where the doctor’s ability to monitor or provide follow-up care is compromised.
• Where the doctor is aware that the patient may have communication difficulties (e.g. deafness or speech problems) or where there is reason to believe that the patient may have difficulty in understanding.
• Where the use of telephone or other remote means may be insensitive to the emotional or similar needs of the patient.

How to book

• Request an appointment online

Telephone Triage

Once all routine appointments have been taken for the day, we operate a triage system so that we are able to categorise clinical urgency as follows:

• Same day or future telephone advice required with a clinician
• Same day or future appointment required with a clinician

Triage is normally via our online triage system but if appropriate may be via telephone triage. 

If you need a home visit please telephone the surgery between 8am to 10:30am if possible.

• Telephone: 01732 849980

This will help the doctors and district nurses to plan their rounds and avoid unnecessary delays.

Only patients too frail to visit the surgery, the physically handicapped, or those confined to bed, shall be visited at home. Home visits can only be justified on medical not social, weather, transportation, or financial grounds. Misuse of the service inevitably results in delays to urgent cases.

Please don’t be offended if you are asked what the problem is when you ring to book an appointment. This is called Care Navigation and it’s about helping you get to the service you need!

About Care Navigation

The receptionist will ask for a brief outline of your problem when you telephone the surgery.

This is called 'Care Navigation'. Our receptionists and clerical staff have been trained to help patients by identifying the most appropriate place for their care

Through this specialist training, our practice team will be able to direct you to the most appropriate health clinician for your needs first.

Receptionists will never offer clinical advice or triage; this new way of working is about offering you the choice to see more appropriate professionals in the practice team or even somewhere else. If they can deal with the problem directly, it will often be quicker and means you may not need to see the GP at all. 

By working this way, it helps to free up time for GPs to care for patients with complex or serious health conditions that can only be managed by the GP. More importantly though, it means people are seen first by the clinician that is best placed to manage their clinical problem.

The choice is always yours though and you will never be refused a GP appointment but we hope next time you contact your GP and speak with the receptionist you will see the value of seeing another health professional if they are able to help.

If you would like someone to explain this to you in person, a member of our practice team will be happy to help.

The Care Navigator might suggest other professionals that could help you better such as:

• Wellbeing Service
• Pharmacy
• Psychological Services
• Nurse
• Support Groups

You must give your employer a doctor's 'fit note' (sometimes called a 'sick note') if you've been ill for more than 7 days in a row and have taken sick leave. This includes non-working days, such as weekends and bank holidays.

Visit our Sickness Certificates page

Information and advice for travelling abroad.

Visit our Travel Information page

Evenings/Weekends

Enhanced Access is currently provided by the Malling Primary Care Network (PCN). You can now see a GP or other healthcare professional during:

• weekday evenings between 6.30pm and 8.00pm
• Saturdays and Sundays/Bank Holidays

These appointments offered could be:

• At your registered practice, Thornhills Medical Practice
• At another local GP practice who is part of the Malling PCN (Phoenix Medical Practice, Snodland Medical Practice, Wateringbury Surgery, West Malling Group Practice)
• At the Malling PCN base located within Larkfield Health Centre
• At another local NHS service - such as a General Practice Hub

What type of appointments will be available?

Evening appointments between 6.30pm to 8pm Monday to Friday will be offered by the Malling PCN. These appointments will be offered by a range of clinical professionals. 

On Saturdays, a clinical professional from the Malling PCN will be available between 8.00am to 12.00pm at a practice in your local area (times may vary).

On Sundays and Bank Holidays a GP will be available between 9.00am to 12.30pm at a hub in Tonbridge or Maidstone.

Who can book these appointments?

Enchanced Access appointments are available for all patients registered at Practices who are members  of the Malling PCN. This means that patients can be seen by a clinical professional 7 days a week, 52 weeks of the year. It will be unlikely that you will be seen by your normal GP and you may have to go to a different surgery to your registered practice for these appointments.

How can I book an appointment? 

In order to book these appointments, you contact your surgery reception staff as normal. You will not be able to phone the reception staff on Saturdays, Sundays / Bank Holidays or between 6.30 pm to 8.00 pm Monday to Friday.