We, in General Practice, are doing our very best to provide our patients with a safe and sustainable service. As many of you will be aware, there has been increasing pressure on our service due to unprecedented demand in recent years.

We encourage face to face appointments, but do offer telephone consultations and do our very best to offer an appointment that is suitable for your needs.  

We ask you to bear a few things in mind while we run the service in this way:

• Urgent appointments are available daily, but are for urgent issues that can not wait.
• In times where the demand for urgent consultations increases, the number of routine appointments available may become limited.
• Routine appointments, where available, are released on a daily basis which means you may be asked to call back the following day if there are no remaining appointments. We encourage patients seeking an appointment for non-urgent problems to call during less busy times of the day.
• Our reception staff are working very hard to help you. The receptionists have been trained to triage telephone calls at the request of the GPs in order to appropriately signpost you to the correct service. With a range of local services, health professionals and self referral schemes, we can help you find the best advice support for your health needs.
• Consider whether you need a GP appointment, or is it more appropriate to see a Nurse or Health Care Assistant.  Issues related to menopause, B12 and other ailments might be able to be addressed by the Nurse or Health Care Assistant.

Many thanks for your ongoing support! Diolch yn fawr. 

To make an appointment at either or our two sites, please ring 02920 522344. 

Birchgrove Surgery: You are able to contact the surgery between 08:00 and 18:30 Monday to Friday (excluding Bank Holidays). The surgery is open from 08:30 to 18:00 daily Monday to Friday.

Patients are seen by appointment between 08:30 and 11:30 in the morning and between 13:30 and 17:40 in the afternoon.

Rhiwbina Clinic: The branch surgery is open from 08:30 to 12:30 daily, Monday to Friday (excluding Bank Holidays). 

Patients are seen by appointment between 08:30 and 1130.

We are excited to announce the launching of a new Urgent Primary Care Centre (UPCC). You may be offered an appointment at our new UPCC which is based at Whitchurch Road Surgery. The aim of this service is to reduce the pressure on local GP surgeries by offering urgent same day appointments for certain conditions. Whitchurch Road Surgery is located less than a 5 minute drive from Birchgrove Surgery:

Sachville Avenue
Gabalfa
Cardiff
CF14 3NY

To make an appointment at either or our two sites, please ring 02920 522344. 

Birchgrove Surgery: You are able to contact the surgery between 08:00 and 18:30 Monday to Friday (excluding Bank Holidays). The surgery is open from 08:30 to 18:00 daily Monday to Friday.

Patients are seen by appointment between 08:30 and 11:30 in the morning and between 13:30 and 17:40 in the afternoon.

Rhiwbina Clinic: The branch surgery is open from 08:30 to 12:30 daily, Monday to Friday (excluding Bank Holidays). 

Patients are seen by appointment between 08:30 and 1130.

Due to increasing demand for both urgent and routine appointments, we encourage patients with non-urgent issues to call during less busy periods in order to avoid long waiting times. The telephone lines are open between 08:00 and 18:30.

• All appointments with our GPs and nurses are booked in advance - we do not run open-access surgeries.
• Appointments for non-urgent matters are usually available within two weeks, however if you wish to see a particular clinician, you may have to wait longer. Appointments may be booked up to 4 weeks in advance.
• Test results are viewed and commented on by the GPs daily. The receptionists are able to provide you with the GPs comments. If you still wish to speak with a GP, you will need to book an appointment to be seen or to receive a call back on an appointed day and time.
• Urgent appointments are available daily. Our receptionists will require details of your problem in order to support the on call GP to make an assessment. 
• If you are attending the surgery for an appointment we would like to encourage you to wear a mask to protect yourself and others.

To assist us in ensuring surgeries run to time, we request that you arrive punctually for your appointment. It may not be possible for the doctor to see patients arriving more than 10 minutes after their appointment time.

Please note: it is normally only possible for the doctor to discuss ONE problem in one appointment. Should you have multiple issues to discuss, we recommend booking a double appointment.

Chaperones

All patients are entitled to have a chaperone present for any consultation, examination or procedure where they feel one is required. This chaperone may be a family member or friend. On occasions you may prefer a formal chaperone to be present, i.e. a trained member of staff. Wherever possible we would ask you to make this request at the time of booking an appointment. At times, the GP/nurse may request for a formal chaperone to be present for some examinations; please be assured that our staff are trained for the role and your confidentiality, privacy and dignity will be our priority at all times.

Your GP will be happy to provide telephone advice. Appointments can be made for a telephone consultation if an examination is not going to be required. 

If you are booked in for a telephone consultation with a GP, please note that the call-back may come at any point during the working day of your booking. It is important to keep your phone handy, with the ringer on loud, throughout the day. The GP will only attempt to call you twice - the GPs currently undertake between 08:00am and 10:00am telephone consultations per week, so have a limited amount of time to contact everyone on each day's list. Adding in more than one attempt at making a telephone consultation simply isn't possible in the time allocated. Should you not be around to respond to your requested callback appointment, you will need to make a new telephone consultation appointment request.

If you wish to know the result of a test or X-ray, please ring after 3:00pm so that the GP's have had time to review them.  If you still need to speak with the GP after the results, please ask to book an appointment.

Tests requested by any third party, for example a hospital consultant, should be obtained by the organiser.

The telephone number for advice and results is 02920 522344.

Please make requests for home visits before 10:30am - ring us on 02920 522344.

Requests after 10:30 should be for urgent cases only, and will be assessed and seen by the duty doctor.

Our home visits are usually done at lunchtime and you will be visited either by a GP, or in some cases, by a paramedic. Please inform us if there are any special requirements for accessing your property e.g. a key safe code, pets etc.

We would request that, apart from the genuinely housebound, all other patients attend the surgery rather than request a home visit because of the extra time home visiting takes. On average four to five patients can be seen in surgery in the time it takes to do a single house call. 

• Newly registered patients are welcome to attend for an initial consultation within 6 months of their registration date.
• Temporary residents - you are entitled to see a GP anywhere in the UK if you are away from home and in need of medical help. Please make sure you give us the name and address of your home GP so that details of your consultation can be sent to him.
• Patients aged 75 and over may request a consultation if they have not had a consultation within the last 12 months.
• Patients aged 16 and over may request a consultation if they have not had a consultation or attended a clinic at the surgery within the last 3 years

We are an accredited training practice, and undertake the training of GP Registrars.

Additionally from time to time, the Practice undertakes the training of students intending to become health professionals. Being able to observe consultations is an important part of their training, and the cooperation of patients is greatly appreciated. Patients will be advised if their GP is teaching students, and will be able to see the GP alone should they prefer.

There has been an increase in the number of 'Did not Attend' appointments recently.  We would like to remin you that it is important that you inform the reception staff if you are unable to attend your appointment, this will allow that appointment to be offered to another patient.

If you fail to notify the Practice that you are unable to attend, you will be sent a letter informing you that you have defaulted from your appointment.

Persistent defaulters may be removed from the practice patient list and asked to register at another practice.

To cancel your appointment:

• Telephone us on 02920 522344 and leave a message or speak to the receptionist
• Email us on practice.manager.w97021@wales.nhs.uk

We have a texting service which allows you to receive confirmation and reminders about any appointments you have booked with a GP, provided your booking was made 48 hours in advance of the actual appointment date/time.

To receive this service you will need to register by completing a consent form.

Please remember to update your contact details with us when you change address, telephone numbers and email address - your mobile number in particular.