BEFORE YOU CONTACT US
We receive a very high volume of appointment requests on a daily basis. We ask that before you contact us, you carefully consider the following options which may meet your needs.
All these options are available without the need for a GP appointment
Do you have a MINOR INJURY or ILLNESS which needs a SAME DAY review?
The following are a list of other services which can help with minor injury / illnesses. This includes cough, colds, sore throat, ear infections, urine infections, skin infections, diarrhoea / vomiting, rashes, cuts, wounds or burns.
Walk-in Centre – Open 7am-9pm seven days / week. Their website includes the current average wait time.
The 111 team can advise you on managing your symptoms, if you’re not sure what to do. They can also provide emergency supplies of prescribed medications.
NHS A-Z directory – This is a very useful list of medical ailments and provides some well written information, including when you should see a GP
Pharmacist – Experts in medicines who can help you with minor health concerns. Most pharmacies have a private consultation room where you can discuss issues with pharmacy staff without being overheard.
Do you have an URGENT EYE problem?
This includes red eyes or eyelids, sore / gritty / painful eyes, sticky discharge, flashes or floaters, sudden loss of vision or foreign body in the eye.
Community Urgent Eyecare Service (CUES) is available to all patients to self refer to. You will be put in contact with a local optician commissioned to provide an urgent eyecare assessment. They will be able to examine you with specialist tools not available to GPs. They can also refer onto the specialist services if further input is needed. You can click on the link to find a local participating optician or call 0300 303 4922.
Are you looking for an NHS HEARING AID or HEARING TEST?
Norfolk NHS Audiology Service – If you are over 50, you can self refer without the need for a GP referral
Are you looking for NHS PHYSIOTHERAPY?
Physiotherapists help to restore movement and function when someone is affected by injury, illness or disability. This includes dealing with back ache, hip pain, shoulder pain, knee pain, women’s health physiotherapy and much more. Generally the NHS doesn’t offer referrals to orthopaedics unless someone has tried physiotherapy first.
You can self refer for NHS physiotherapy via the Integrated Therapy Partnership. Their website also has lots of useful self help leaflets.
Are you looking for help with ANXIETY and DEPRESSION?
The Wellbeing Team is our local service which you are able to self refer to. We often encourage patients to contact the wellbeing team who can provide various talking therapies including cognitive behavioural therapy. Their website also has lots of very useful self help material.
Are you an adult looking for an AUTISM ASSESSMENT?
Adults (18+) can self refer for an NHS autism assessment via Autism Service Norfolk. You do not need a GP appointment to access this service and the details on how to refer are outlined on their website. It does mention that if you self refer you should inform your GP. You can do this by either speaking to one of our reception team or using our online consultation tool PATCHS.
Are you looking for advice on your CHILDS HEALTH?
Early Help – If you have difficulties in your family or are worried about your children, there are people who can offer help and support. Early Help is for children of any age (0-17) and their family. It’s about getting information, advice and guidance to prevent family worries escalating into bigger issues. You can phone the service on 0344 800 8020. You can self refer directly using this link.
Just One Norfolk is the local service for accessing child health resources. This includes child developmental advice, healthy lifestyle advice, speech and language information, emotional health and much more. You can access them using the link or calling 0300 300 0123.
Solihull Parenting Course ‘Understanding Your Child’ is a free online course available for everyone who cares for children aged 0-18 years. It’s there to help you recognise emotions in yourself and your child, and helps you to see how these emotions can impact on behaviour.
Supporting Smiles (formally Point-1) offers professional mental health support to any child or young person, aged 4 – 14 years, living in Norfolk or Waveney or registered with a Norfolk or Waveney GP. You can self refer via their website.
Family Lives has a confidential helpline you can call to discuss a wide variety of issues including parenting advice, behavioural issue, child mental health problems and much more. They also provide “live chat” and e-mail communication.
This May Help has very useful information on a number of child mental health issues including anxiety, depression, self harm, online activity, teenager safety, eating disorders and school avoidance.
Do you need help with ALCOHOL / DRUGS or STOPPING SMOKING?
If you are concerned about alcohol and/or drugs you can self refer to Change Grow Live which is our local drugs and alcohol team. Their services include medical treatment, including substitute prescribing or medication that helps prevent relapse.
You can also contact Alcoholics Anonymous via their website or national helpline free on 0800 9177 650 and talk directly to someone who has overcome their own issues with alcohol, alternatively, you can email [email protected] for help.
If you are looking to stop smoking you can self refer to smoke free Norfolk
Are you looking for SOCIAL CARE?
You can access the adult social care team here.
Urgent help at home can be accessed via the Norfolk Swift Response Team
Are you looking for PREGNANCY or SEXUAL HEALTH advice or to book with the MIDWIFE?
Just One Norfolk – Has lots of useful information on preparing for pregnancy and the pregnancy journey
British Pregnancy Advisory Service – you can self refer to the BPAS team if you are uncertain about whether you want to continue with a pregnancy.
iCash – if you’re looking for contraception, treatment for sexually transmitted infections, HIV care and treatment or related advice in Norfolk
Midwife Appointment – if you have just found out you are pregnant you can self refer to the midwife team here or you can call 01603 481222. If you are less than 6 weeks pregnant please do this when you are between 6 – 8 weeks. If you are more than 8 weeks pregnant now please do this on the next working day.
Are you looking to LOSE WEIGHT through Slimming World or Your Health Norfolk?
You can self refer to a 12 week weight reduction programme through this link.
To be eligible for the free support you must be:
- Aged 18 or above
- Have a BMI of 30 or above, or if you are Black, Asian or from another minority ethnic group, a BMI of 27.5 of above
- A Norfolk resident, or be registered with a Norfolk GP Practice
The service is not available if:
- You are currently pregnant
- You have attended one of the funded weight management services in the past 12 months
- You have been a paying member of Slimming World in the past three months
An A-Z SELF HELP and MEDICATION guide which may answer your query can be found here
Health A-Z – A complete guide conditions, symptoms and treatments, including when to get help
Medicine A-Z – Find out how your medicine works, how and when to take it, possible side effects and answers to your common questions
If despite this you still feel you need to contact the surgery for an appointment to review your healthcare issue please consider the following:
Is it an URGENT health problem which needs to be seen today or within the next few days?
Please phone us on 01603 977 477
One of our care navigation team will need to get a brief summary of your healthcare issue to ensure you are seen by the most appropriate person or team
Call 999 if you have any of the following
Signs of a heart attack: pain like a very tight band, heavy weight or squeezing in the centre of your chest.
Signs of a stroke: face drooping on one side, can’t hold both arms up, difficulty speaking.
Severe difficulty breathing: gasping, not being able to get words out, choking or lips turning blue.
Heavy bleeding: that won’t stop.
Severe injuries: or deep cuts after a serious accident.
Seizure (fit): someone is shaking or jerking because of a fit, or is unconscious (can’t be woken up).
Is it a ROUTINE health problem which can wait?
You can make a routine appointment using our online consultation service called PATCHS.
Click HERE to access the service.
Using this service means you can request an appointment without having to wait on the phone.
If you are unable to use online services, or PATCHS is unavailable then please contact us by phone on 01603 977 477
Please note PATCHS is for routine health problems only. It may take 72 hours to review a submission and we aim to offer an appointment within 6 weeks.
Do you need a ROUTINE appointment for something else?
We have created a comprehensive guide to all the services we provide at the Humbleyard Practice.
Click Here And Select A Service To Access Our Comprehensive Guide:
Unless specifically mentioned otherwise, you can access any of these listed services using our online consultation service PATCHS. Click HERE to access PATCHS. Once you are logged into PATCHS please select the option “Other” to request the appointment for one of these services.
If you are unable to use online services, or PATCHS is unavailable then please contact us by phone on 01603 977 477
What to do if we have no appointments left to book
Every day we release a certain amount of same day and future bookable appointments. When we have used all our available bookable appointments we alter our phone message to reflect this. In this scenario:
- Please read through the options available at the top of this page which outline services and self help information you can access without a GP appointment. This list is hand picked and regularly reviewed by the doctors at the Humbleyard Practice and provide options and guidance to many of the common ailments which present to us.
- For routine problems you can log onto our online consultation service PATCHS and submit an online form. Please note for safety reasons we do have a cap on the number of forms we are able to receive each day.
- If you feel your issue is still not met by the information above then please do phone and one of our care navigation team will ask you for more information and advise you of the options available.
Why are we so busy?
We understand the frustration in not being able to get an appointment. We have created a dedicated page on our website to help our registered population understand the pressures on the practice and what active measures we have brought in to try and address these.
To access this page please click here
Appointment Frequently Asked Questions
We have collated the most frequent questions we are asked about our appointment system and provided a dedicated page to answer these. To access this page please click here