Dear Patient,

GPs and their practice teams provide the vast majority of NHS care outside of hospitals, supporting you and your family throughout your lives. In a perfect world, we want to be able to offer every patient:

Safety – prompt access to a GP or practice nurse you trust, with well-staffed surgeries and enough resource so that no patient feels left behind.

Stability – a family doctor who knows you, your medical history, and your community – without the stress and difficulty of finding it difficult to get an appointment.

Hope for the future – care that focuses on keeping you well, not just treating illness. We want more time for meaningful consultations, joined-up support closer to your home, from modern GP surgery premises with safe and effective technology to make this possible.

The government talks of “bringing back the family doctor” but what politicians promise is often not planned properly or funded fairly to be able to be delivered in reality. 

We aim to respond to all appointment and advice requests promptly, prioritising those most in need. Sometimes we may need to offer you an appointment on another day or direct you to another suitable service. 

For safety reasons, urgent medical requests cannot be accepted via our online system. For something urgent, pick up the phone or walk in to our reception.

The need to prioritise urgent cases to keep patients safe can result in longer waiting times for routine/non-urgent appointments. 

The new requirement to allow patients unlimited online access for non- urgent medical requests, throughout core hours, makes it more likely that we will have no choice but to create hospital-style waiting lists to meet patient need. 

We want to guide you through the NHS, co-ordinate your care, and support you to stay healthy. We want every patient to feel safe and confident in their GP practice – now and in the future. 

GPs are on your side.

The Challenges Your Practice Faces

Rising demand, fewer GPs – GPs care for 17% more patients than in 2015, but with fewer GPs. Funding has not kept pace, so many patients find it hard to see their GP quickly, leading to the stressful scramble to secure an appointment. 

Practice closures – Around 2,000 practices have been lost since 2010, that’s one in four surgeries, leaving fewer local practices and longer waits or travel for patients.

Funding pressures – Practices receive just 31p per patient per day to provide unlimited consultations with our doctors and nurses, making it hard to employ enough staff and sustain services.

Workforce challenges – More GPs are leaving the NHS than joining. While our staff work tirelessly, system pressures and patient frustration can affect everyone’s morale and wellbeing. We have unemployed GPs now – and practices lack funds to hire them.

Unsafe workloads – Many GPs see far more than the accepted safe limit of patients per day, often working over 60 hours a week. Recent government changes risk making this worse.

Ageing buildings – One in five GP surgeries is now over 75 years old – older than the NHS itself which started in 1948. There is very little investment to provide modern facilities fit for today’s needs.

Access versus continuity – Government policy means speed of an appointment comes before choice. This lack of continuity of care, means patients often don’t get to see a familiar face who knows them well. 

Demand management – We always aim to respond to all appointment and advice requests promptly, prioritising those most in need. Sometimes we may need to offer you an appointment on another day or direct you to another suitable service. 

For safety reasons, urgent medical requests cannot always be accepted via our online system. For something urgent, pick up the telephone or walk in to our surgery.

The need to prioritise urgent cases to keep patients safe can result in longer waiting times for routine/non-urgent appointments.

The new requirement to allow patients unlimited online access for non-urgent requests, throughout core hours, makes it more likely that we will have no choice but to create hospital style waiting lists to meet demand.

We may unfortunately sometimes face challenges beyond our control:

• Difficulties with accessing services at the local hospitals and long waiting listsworkforce challenges – not enough GPs to look after you
  the need to provide our teams with compulsory NHS training and educationunforeseen events
• NHS IT challenges with old and slow equipment
• Lack of investment in practice buildings and development 
• Public health emergencies
• Our core contract hours are Monday – Friday, 8am– 630pm.
• Our consulting times are between these hours.
• Please note at certain times, e.g. lunch or the ends of the day, a clinician may not be present in the building (e.g. out on home visits).
• In any emergency, please dial 999 for an ambulance or attend the nearest – Accident & Emergency department.

We believe patients deserve more 

• At present, GPs and their teams are under huge pressure – caring for more people with fewer resources.
• Without proper investment, the safety, stability and continuity of care that patients value most are at risk.
• As your GP practice, we will always do what we can to deliver the best service possible for you and your family. With the right resources and support, we could expand our services, employ more staff, and deliver the safe, timely, and personalised care you deserve.
• Please remember that our current GP contract funds patient care on average at 31p per day per patient, which is not enough to meet rising demand and to provide the care you and your family deserve.

So please bear with us – and thank you for your support as we try our best for you and your family.

SOURCE BRITISH MEDICAL ASSOCIATION - SEPT 2025

Our aims are to offer the highest standard of health care and advice to our patients, with the resources available to us.

Our priorities and values are to provide a high standard of health care to all our patients whilst maintaining a caring, safe and passionate environment for all. We have a team approach to patient care and endeavour to monitor the service provided to patients, to ensure that it meets current standards of excellence. We are dedicated to ensuring that Practice staff and Doctors are trained to the highest level and to provide a stimulating and rewarding environment in which to work.

Patient’s Rights to

General Medical Services

• You will be asked to complete a registration and health information form on joining a doctor’s list for the first time.
• To have appropriate drugs and medicine prescribed.
• We aim to offer a non-urgent appointment with a doctor within 2 working days.
• To be referred to a Consultant acceptable to them when they and their GP thinks it is necessary, and to be referred for a second opinion if they and their GP think it is advisable.
• To have access to their health records, subject to any limitations of the law, and to know that those working for the NHS are under a legal duty to keep those records confidential.
• To choose whether to take part in research or medical student training.
• To receive a copy of their doctors practice leaflet, setting out the services that he or she provides.
• To receive a full and prompt reply to any complaints they make about the care they receive at Bowling Highfield Medical Practice.

Our Practice Charter

• All patients will be treated equally. We do not discriminate on the grounds of gender, gender identity, race, disability, sexual orientation, religion or age.
• Our premises will be clean and comfortable and have facilities for the disabled.
• All patients will be greeted in a friendly manner and be treated with courtesy by everyone in the practice.
• Patient confidentiality may be expected at all times.
• Requests for repeat prescriptions will be dealt within 2 working days. Please hand in your prescription request to the surgery.
• We ask that patients attend their appointments at the arranged time. If they cannot attend, they will inform the surgery immediately.
• Patients are responsible for their own health and the health of their children and should cooperate with the practice in endeavouring to keep themselves healthy.
• All comments and suggestions about the service are welcome.
• If you have a complaint, please speak to any member of staff. Your complaint will be dealt with in a professional and efficient manner.
• We wish to make the Bowling Highfield Medical Practice as accessible as possible. If you have hearing, visual or physical difficulties please let the receptionist know so that we can enable you to fully use our services.

 Patient’s Responsibilities

• If you are unable to attend for an appointment please let us know so that we can offer it to someone else. If you are late for your appointment you may be asked to rebook at another time.
• All did not attends are monitored and letters are sent out.
• A home visit should only be requested for those who are unable to come to the surgery because of serious illness or infirmity. Please ring the surgery before 10:30am if at all possible.
• Many problems can be solved by advice alone, therefore patients should not always expect a prescription at every consultation.
• An urgent appointment is for an urgent medical problem. Please submit an online request or speak to the Patient Services Team if you require a sick note or repeat prescription.
• We would ask you to be patient if the Doctor is running late. This is often due to unforeseeable emergencies but please ask for an explanation from the Receptionist.
• Make a separate appointment for each patient that needs to be seen. This allows the Doctor enough time to treat each patient with the time that they deserve.
• Please act in a responsible and courteous manner whilst on the Practice premises for the safety and comfort of others.
• Please treat all surgery staff, fellow patients, carers and visitors politely and with respect. The Practice works on a Zero Tolerance to staff abuse policy. Violence or verbal harassment will not be tolerated or accepted, you may be asked to register at another surgery if this behaviour occurs.