How Do I?

The practice has worked collaboratively with the Patient Participation Group (PPG) to provide you with this page. It lists information and procedures for our patients most frequently asked questions.

We hope you find this page useful, but if there are any improvements or other information that you feel other patients may find useful, please do let us know.

Register with the practice

  • We are welcoming new patients.  If you would like to register with us please complete the online form here
  • Please ensure that you upload the relevant ID this is required for all patients.
  • Please also ensure you have a copy of your medication list and enough medication to last you for at least 1 month before completing this form.

New Patient Registrations can take up to 15 working days to process, until we have processed your form you will still be registered at your old GP surgery.


Register for online access

  • Registering for online access will allow you to book, view and cancel GP appointments online.
  • You can also order medication and view your medical summary.  
  • For more information click here

Change my contact details

Please complete our change of details form that can be found here.


Set up my Electronic Prescription Services

Newton Drive Health Centre now offers the Electronic Prescription Services (EPS). Working in partnership with local pharmacies, we can now send your prescriptions to a pharmacy of your choice. This means you no longer have to pick up your prescription slip from the practice before going to a pharmacy to collect your medication.

Please note, that all future prescriptions will be sent to your ‘nominated’ pharmacy unless you state otherwise.


Request a prescription

For information on prescription ordering please click here


Request a same day URGENT Appointment

  • Triage is the name we give to our same day phone call service with our doctors.
  • Each week day one of our GP’s is assigned to be on-call.  This means they are available for URGENT on the day requests.
  • This is for sudden onset illness e.g. severe abdominal pain, headache.

Our triage runs from 08:30 – 11:30 and 14:00 – 16:30.  If you feel that you need to speak to a doctor urgently about a medical condition, please contact reception. They will ask you questions about your condition to ensure you are placed with the most appropriate clinician for your problem.


Book a routine appointment

  • Most of our appointments are opened 24 – 48 hours in advance.
  • We have limited access for routine appointments any further in advance.
  • We do need to maintain our appointment diary in this way to ensure there is always a plentiful supply of appointments for everyone.

Request a fit to work note (previously called a ‘sick note’)

  • In all instances of sickness, you must self certify for the first 7 consecutive days (including non working days) – this means that your employer must take your word for your sickness and they cannot ask you for a fit note.
  • If you require a fit to work note please complete our online triage form that can be found here. Please make sure to complete the request with as much information as possible, ensuring you include the date you would like the not to start and end and the dates you self-certified for.
  • Fit notes are processed daily and your request will be booked for the next available day.
  • For continuation of previous fit note, we are only able to start a new note the day after the previous one has ended.
  • We are able to back date fit notes but cannot process one for a future date.
  • Once your request has been processed, you will recieve a text message advising you when to contact the surgery to arrnage collection.
  • If you have any questions you can contact reception to discuss your needs.
  • For more information: Taking Sick Leave – GOV.UK

Request a Medical Report

  • If you would like to request a medical report you will most likely be assisted by an insurance company or solicitor, who will provide you with a form to complete. 
  • In the event of an insurance company report you will be contacted directly by the practice and asked to sign an additional consent form.

The list of letters and private reports the doctors can complete is listed here along with the charges. – Fees for Non-NHS Services


Request my medical record

  • If you would like to request a copy of your medical records, please complete the Data Access Request Form below and email it to; [email protected].

Access to Medical Records Patient Information Leaflet

Data Access Request Form


Appoint a patient representative

  • If you feel that your healthcare needs could be supported by nominating another person to be able to deal with them, on your behalf, and you would like to give that person permission to speak to us, about your health and your medical record, then please complete the form below. 
  • This could be a friend, relative or carer. 
  • It’s important that we have your signed consent so we can be sure that you are happy for the nominated person to have access to your personal information.

Patient Representative Consent Form

If you would like further information then please contact the surgery.


Get a blood test

  • If you require a blood test one of our doctors or nurses will recommend this to you. The test will help us find out more information about your condition.
  • Appointments for a blood test are commonly known as either the blood clinic, phlebotomy or venepuncture.
  • You will be given or requested to collect a blood form.  You should bring this form with you to your appointment.

The results will come back to the requesting doctor and reported on within 5 working days. 

If your results are normal you will not be contacted.  If you are required to see the doctor, or prescribed medication the practice will contact you to inform you of the outcome and what to do next.


Find information about my condition

  • There is a lot of information on the internet and when you aren’t feeling well its very easy to put your symptoms into a search engine!
  • Sometimes this is not the best thing to do as the information you find may not be particularly relevant or from a credible source.
  • If you are looking for reliable information about particular medical conditions please try some of the following website.

NHS Choices – Health Information

If you are unsure about your condition or symptoms please contact the reception team at the practice.


Get my test results

  • For test results patients are advised to ring the surgery after 14:30, 5-7 days later from when the test was taken.
  • This time allows the test to be processed by the Pathology Department and then for the results to be reviewed by a GP at the practice.

Please note that X-Ray results may take up to 2 weeks to return.

  • If you do require test results you can ring the reception team, or come into the surgery and a receptionist at the front desk will give you the appropriate information.
  • If you require privacy, we can provide your information in a private room and discuss your results with confidentiality.
  • If the patient is over 16 years of age, the patient themselves are required to call or come in to the surgery for results, as we cannot give information to any other person without the patients’ express consent.
  • If the tests were requested by Secondary Care (such as a Consultant at the Hospital) your results will go back to them, not all results are sent to your GP, please check with the person who requested these tests first.

If you do not understand your results or unsure about your ongoing care following your results please book an appointment with a GP.


Deal with missing or being late for an appointment

  • We understand that plans can change, but if you think you are going to be late or miss your appointment please do let us know, we can do our best to rearrange it or we can use your appointment for someone else.
  • If you received a text message regarding your appointment, you can cancel by clicking the link in the message.
  • If you are late for your appointment, unfortunately we will have to ask you to re-book.

Request a rectification of a Health Record

We as your healthcare providers are committed to ensuring the integrity and accuracy of our patient data. You, as the patient, have the right to query the accuracy of the data held about you within your health record and request for it to be corrected, removed, or amended. This is known as the ‘right to rectification’.

For more information, please click here.


Make a suggestion or comment

We are always keen to hear what our patients think of our services.  We have made several changes in recent years because of feedback from our patients.  There are several ways to make comments about the services.

  • You can complete a Friends and Family Test comments form either in reception (and place it in our Blue Box) or online here – Online Friends and Family Test
  • You can contact us via Facebook too – check out our Facebook page and send us a message!
  • You can also contact the Patient Participation Group who are patients themselves and work in conjunction with the practice to monitor and improve services.  If you would like to get in touch with them please write to the Practice Manager.
  • Our formal complaints procedure can be found here.