Tel: 01803 862671

Contacting the Surgery

There are a number of ways you can contact the surgery to give us information, make an enquiry or request a service:

• By visiting reception at the surgery
• By writing to us using postal mail, email or fax
• By using the online services on our website
• By telephoning us either on the main surgery phone line or using one of the direct lines
  (click here to see the direct line numbers)

Using Reception

Our reception is open 8.15am to 6.30pm Monday to Friday although our phone lines do not open until 8.30am daily. Reception is available to deal with the full range of enquiries and requests. If you are ever in doubt about how to get what you want then please contact reception in person or by telephone on 862671.

Whilst we do our best to provide an efficient reception service the number of people wanting help at any one point in time can lead to some delays. To overcome these delays we are introducing some new technology into reception so that people just wanting to check in for an appointment can do so using a computer screen. We would also encourage you, whenever possible, to use one of the alternatives mentioned below as we feel these will frequently offer you much quicker access to the service you want.

Using Mail, Email and Fax

We are always happy to receive enquiries and information in written form. The only times this is not appropriate is if you have an urgent medical problem as it may take us a day or more to respond to a letter or email. Our contact details are:

Postal address: Leatside Surgery, Babbage Road, Totnes, TQ9 5JA
Email: leatside.surgery@nhs.net
Fax: 01803 860309

Using our Website

Our Website includes a link that allows you to access services online. You can make an appointment to see a doctor; request a repeat prescription; view a summary of your medical record; change your contact details on our computer system; and send messages to your doctor or anyone else in the Practice. These online services are entirely secure and can only be accessed with your own password and ID. Please click here to find out how to register for these services.

The availability of these online services is a relatively new development. We feel sure that anyone already used to using the internet will find them invaluable as they are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and overcome some of the delays that exist when trying to contact the surgery by phone etc

The availability of these online services is a relatively new development. We feel sure that anyone already used to using the internet will find them invaluable as they are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and overcome some of the delays that exist when trying to contact the surgery by phone etc.

There are currently a few limits to what you can do using the online services. These are:

• Appointments with doctors are only shown for future days. Appointments for ‘today’ will still need to be arranged by phone or in person.
• Appointments with nurses are not available as the length of a nurses appointment varies greatly depending on the reason for an appointment. At the moment this requires a receptionist to arrange.
• Any messages sent using the online service should not be for medically urgent matters as a doctor may not pick up your message immediately.
• Any messages sent using the online service should not be for medically urgent matters as a doctor may not pick up your message immediately

Using the Telephone

With our new system you will have some new options available to you. Your choice will be:

• To continue using the main surgery number 862671. If you do this you will be given a number of options to choose from including holding to talk to a receptionist.
• To use one of the direct dial numbers which will put you straight through to the doctor, nurse or other member of staff you want to talk to. Click here to see a list of these numbers as well as the times that people are available to take telephone calls. Please note these times may vary because of doctors’ holidays, sickness etc

We hope you will be able to use the direct numbers whenever possible. The benefit to you is that you get straight through to the person you wish to talk to.

What happens if I use 862671?

You will immediately receive a recorded message giving you a number of options. These options will vary during the day to reflect the services being offered. For example until 10.30am in the morning you will be offered the option of speaking to a doctor. If you choose this option you will be put through to the doctor who is free or has the least number of calls waiting. After 10.30am this option will not be given as all the doctors will be busy seeing patients at the surgery.

We have endeavoured to keep the number of options given to a minimum and will always have one option as ‘please hold to speak to reception’. In so doing we hope to make the system as easy as possible to use.

Once you have chosen an option, or been put through to the person you want to talk to by reception you may hear a further message. This will happen if the person you wish to talk to is already on the telephone.

What happens if I use direct dial?

If you use a direct number to contact somebody your call will go directly to that person. If they are available to take your call at that time and they are not already on the phone then they will answer your call. If they are not available or are on the phone then a recorded message will play. The message will tell you:

The message will go on to present you with three options:

In Summary

If we had a tip to give about telephoning us it would be to avoid phoning very first thing in a morning, particularly on a Monday. These are the times that we take most phone enquiries and so are likely to be the times when there is the biggest delay in responding.