• You cannot insist that a GP visits you at home.
• A GP will only visit you at home if they think that your medical condition requires it.
• A GP can also decide how urgently a visit is needed.
• Due to increasing demand, GPs can no longer automatically visit any patient who requests a home visit.
• All visits must now be triaged and dealt with according to clinical need.

Patients who are housebound or terminally ill may be visited in their homes.

Modern health care is best delivered in a health care setting and therefore we try to discourage home visits. Individual circumstances may make a home visit desirable but please remember that visits by a Doctor are not appropriate for common childhood illnesses, headaches, earaches, tummy bugs, sore throats or flu.

Visits should be arranged by phoning the surgery before 10:30. Please be ready to give the receptionist your name, address, telephone number, age and details of what is wrong. Please only request home visits if you are incapable to attending the surgery.

Whenever possible, try and come into the surgery as facilities here are far better for examination and treatment. It helps us to judge the urgency of the call, if you describe the symptoms. The receptionists are trained to deal with your call, so do expect to be asked. All information is confidential. The doctor may telephone prior to, or instead of, visiting.

Does my child need a home visit?

Sick children should always be brought into the surgery, it is not appropriate for a visit. We rarely visit children at home, as a responsible adult should be available to bring them to the surgery.

GP’s are not obliged to visit a patient if they have assessed the patient’s clinical need on the telephone and found them to be suitable for an alternative method of healthcare.

Please remember that we can see several people at the surgery in the time it takes to do a home visit.

You may not be fit to travel by bus or to walk, but car transport is often available from friends, relatives or taxis. We do not offer home visits due to a lack of transport.