The prioryCARE form is now working as normal for prescription requests.
Appointments
How to contact us and request an appointment:
If you need to access clinical care at Priory Medical Group, you can do this a number of ways as below. We want to ensure a safe and fair access to our appointments for all patients registered with us. Whether you contact us by phone, walk in to our reception desk or use the online tool, your request for an appointment will be processed in the same way.
Online:
> You can currently access the prioryCARE from 8am to 6pm Monday to Friday. You will navigate to a form which gives you multiple options. It is the quickest way to let us know about new or ongoing symptoms, request a fit note, arrange an appointment with a nurse for a routine injection or update your contact details and much more. Do spend some time familiarising yourself with the different tiles or watch our short videos on YouTube.
> The form is available to access 8am to 6pm Monday to Friday - this mirrors the opening hours on the phone line and in surgery
> Patients who choose the “new health problem" tile will be taken through a series of questions about their symptoms. This helps us to triage your problem (i.e. determine the urgency) and the query is then directed to the most appropriate team.
If you are unwell or need urgent medical advice over the weekend/weekday evening please use NHS111 or visit your local community pharmacy if appropriate.
You can also use the NHSapp to book appointments for cervical screening (smear test) and to arrange a time to use the blood pressure machine in our reception areas.
By phone:
Call 01904 404100 8am to 6pm Monday to Friday. If you are requesting an appointment for a new problem, our patient central team will go through a series of questions with you, similar to that of the online triage tool.
In person:
Our reception desks remain available to our patients daily, see Our Surgeries page for specific opening hours. Our highly trained patient care navigators (receptionists) will ask for some detail relating to your query and can support you with the online form if you would like some help to use it next time.
How long will it take to get an appointment?
If you have a new problem or worsening symptoms of an existing problem please use the "new health problem" tile and then choose the appropriate heading (general health, mental health, back/bone/joint/muscle problem). You will be asked to answer a series of questions, it is important you respond as accurately as possible as this is how urgency is assigned by the Klinik triage tool. New problems are allocated as either URGENT or ROUTINE.
Continuity of care is really important to us and our patients. If you have an ongoing problem and would like routine follow up consultation with the same clinician (where possible) please use the prioryCARE form and choose the "ongoing problem/follow up" tile.
- Urgent: Requests deemed urgent will be managed by our clinical team within 1 working day - you might receive a call, SMS or be asked to attend in person depending on your clinical symptoms. Around 70% of all new requests are allocated as urgent cases.
- Routine: We try our hardest to manage routine/follow up consultation requests within 4 to 6 weeks, this may occasionally be extended due to high demand, staff absence or bank holidays. For non-urgent/ongoing issues, the reception team will text or call you to confirm when a clinician will be contacting you. Please do not worry if you have submitted a request and not heard re an appointment, we will be in direct contact in time order. If you have worsening symptoms please contact us again using the prioryCARE form and "new problem" tile, phone us on 01904 404100 or use NHS111. We know it can feel a long time to wait, we are doing everything we can to book everyone in for an appointment as quickly as possible.
Please consider using self-care or attending a community pharmacy to ask for advice if you have a minor ailment. The Pharmacy First scheme, launched early 2024, allows pharmacies to offer treatment for a range of conditions including: urine infections, tonsillitis, shingles and infected insect bites.
If your symptoms have resolved before we have booked you an appointment, please contact us to let us know.
What other services might you be directed to?
Pharmacy First is a national service started in January 2024, to help patients quickly access treatments for seven common minor illnesses. Conditions they can offer prescription medicine for are:
- impetigo (aged 1 year and over)
- infected insect bites (aged 1 year and over)
- earache (aged 1 to 17 years)
- sore throat (aged 5 years and over)
- sinusitis (aged 12 years and over)
- urinary tract infections (UTIs) (women aged 16 to 64 years)
- shingles (aged 18 years and over)
If you are not within these age ranges, a pharmacist can still offer advice and support decisions about self care treatment with over the counter medicines, but you may need to see a GP for treatment.
For patients with symptoms of these conditions, we may signpost you to your local pharmacy or arrange a Pharmacy First appointment with your nominated pharmacy. More information about this service on the NHS website.
Sometimes we reach our capacity for urgent/on the day appointments, i.e. all appointments are taken and our clinics are full. If this is the case we may have to direct you to a local pharmacy or NHS111 for further medical input. For more information see this News Post.
Nimbuscare offer a number of services including GP/nurse appointments, blood tests, home visits for frail patients and much more. They also support GP practices with urgent appointments over the winter months (clinics held across York, not at PMG surgeries).
Home visits
If you or your relative is housebound and would like to request medical care, please phone us on 01904 404100 or discuss with a patient care navigator (receptionist) on site. Requests for home visits received before midday will generally be assessed on the same day. Visits requested after this time will be triaged and if deemed urgent will be actioned by the on call team that day.