Appointments

Routine doctor and nurse appointments are usually a maximum of 10 minutes apart which includes the administration time for your visit, however if you have complex needs or more than one issue to be discussed then please tell the receptionist who will allocate you a longer appointment, so that your own visit does not impact on other patients.

By all means do bring "a list" but please be mindful of the needs of other patients if your list could cause you to overrun the appointment length that you have actually booked.

Difficulty Getting an Appointment? Click here

Unwanted Appointments

Its EASY to cancel an appointment that you have booked but no longer need, you can

• cancel online (click on the Online Services tab at the top of this page)

• phone either of the phone numbers the top of this page

• come to either surgery and speak to reception

SMS Messages

To help you remember the details of your appointment, and to reduce the number of missed appointments for the benefit of all of our patients, we offer a free text messaging service.

This is available to all patients aged 16 or over who

• provide an up to date mobile phone number
• and consent to receiving the messages

Parents and guardians of children below the age of 13 may elect to receive text messages on their behalf.

That system will automatically deactivate when a child reaches the age of 13.

Arrangements for children aged 13 - 16 will depend on individual circumstances.

Online Booking

In order to book online you will first need to register in person. This is for your safety and confidentiality and ensures that it is YOU that is gaining access to YOUR medical records.

Online registration is available to all patients aged 16 or over.

Chaperones

We are committed to providing a safe, comfortable environment where patients and staff can be confident that best practice is being followed at all times and the safety of everyone is of paramount importance. 

Chaperones are available for both male and female patients.

If you would like a chaperone present at your consultation please ask, ideally at the time of booking an appointment if possible, so that arrangements can be made and the appointment is not delayed in any way. The doctor or nurse may also require a chaperone to be present for certain consultations. 

All chaperones, both male and female, have undergone CRB checks for their role here within Hughenden Valley and Chequers Drive Surgeries and all have also undergone formal chaperone training. 

Doctors’ Appointments

Standard operating hours are Monday to Friday 08:00 to 13:30 and 14:30 to 18:30

Exact appointment times and availability vary daily for specific doctors.

Pre-Bookable Appointments

Approximately 30% of appointments are available to book in advance. The majority of these are available to book one week ahead but a limited number can be booked up to three weeks ahead.

We have found that increasing the number of pre-bookable appointments significantly increases the number of missed appointments where patients fail to attend without cancelling their appointment.

'Book On The Day' Appointments    

The remaining appointments are released on the day.

We no longer provide a service to book online 'on the day' appointments. We still offer advance booking online, on the day appointments are released at 8:00am when the surgery opens.

As patients cancel unwanted appointments, they immediately become available to be booked throughout the day.

We do not close for lunch, however our clinical staff have other duties such as home visits and telephone consultations between their AM and PM surgeries and so are not available for routine consultations. 

Friday PM appointments

We do not book routine appointments on Friday afternoon, instead we run a duty-doctor service at each surgery to allow those with urgent concerns to access their GP services ahead of the weekend, which in turn relieves pressure on the local emergency services.

Extended Hours Surgeries

We now offer extended hours for pre-booked consultations.

We intend that this will be helpful to our patients who are commuters or have working hours which make it difficult to access GP appointments during our regular hours.

Please be mindful of your fellow patients who may be less able to access other appointments before you book yourself into an extended hours appointment slot.

Subject to availability, extended hours appointments are available Monday through Thursday across the two surgeries. 

Please Note:

With a view to providing continuity of care, appointments at Hughenden Valley Surgery in High Wycombe are generally reserved for patients registered at Hughenden Valley Surgery and appointments at Chequers Drive Surgery in Prestwood are reserved for patients registered at Chequers Drive.

Occasionally you may be requested by the doctor, nurse or receptionist to attend an appointment at the other surgery for example when specific services are located at one but not both sites, or in the event that appointment availability and demand do not match on the day.

Nurse and Healthcare Assistant Appointments

These are available every weekday. Please check with reception for details of availability. 

These appointments can be booked up to one month is advance, depending on the nature of your visit.

Antenatal Appointments with the Midwife

These appointments can be made up to 4 weeks in advance.