Appointments

The practice operates an appointment system only, with one appointment per person. We are continuing to experience unprecedented demand on the primary care services both locally and throughout the region.

We remain committed to delivering the highest standards of care for the population we serve in Carryduff Practice and we thank you for your ongoing understanding as we continue to work to ensure that we safely manage several hundred requests for clinical input every day.

We continue to welcome feedback from patients on how we can best improve their experience of access and as such are trialling a new appointments system - we would ask for your understanding as we implement and evaluate these changes.

We are changing how we deal with routine issues. Routine telephone appointments will be released each day at 11am. These will be available to book on-line, 1 week in advance from 1st September, using the patient access portal. If you are unable to book on-line, please call reception at 11am and our admin team will also be able to book these for you.

If you need help setting up your patient access please contact reception after 11am. Under 18’s do not have patient access so if you need an appointment for your child, please book it in your name and put a message in the booking area.

There will be a number of routine appointments released each week day. We are aware that this means you may need to try several days in a row to get an appointment and we apologise for this in advance. Please note there are a number of self-refer & direct care options listed on our website.

Please note that like all areas of the NHS, we operate a zero tolerance attitude to all forms of abuse of our staff. We are trying our best in extremely difficult circumstances and we ask for your continued co-operation.

It would be helpful if you could be punctual and could cancel any appointments that you no longer require.

Please note children under 14 should be accompanied by an adult.

We will endeavour to provide you with an appointment with the doctor/nurse of your choice but as sometimes this is not possible, we will offer you a suitable alternative.

If you feel that your condition requires an emergency appointment, please ring the surgery as early as possible. An emergency appointment is a 5 minute appointment with an appropriate healthcare professional to discuss one condition only.

We operate on an appointment only basis.

Please note that if you are on holiday outside Northern Ireland, the Drs medical insurance does not allow them to consult or advise you, even by telephone. You need to seek medical attention from a local Pharmacy or Dr.

Smear appointments and Contraceptive Pill Checks. If you have been advised to book a contraceptive pill check or have been contacted by Public Health to advise that you are due a smear test, you can now book these using the Online booking portal below.

Home Visits

If possible please try to telephone reception before 10:00am if you require a home visit.

A doctor or nurse may phone you back as it may be that your problem can be dealt with by telephone advice, or that it would be more appropriate to send a nurse, or indeed arrange a hospital attendance.

House visits are only available for patients who are housebound because of illness or disability.

Please remember that several patients can be seen in the practice in the time that it takes to make one home visit. There are also better facilities for examining and treating patients at the Health Centre.