GP Appointments
Most appointments are now by telephone in the first instance, at times a direct face to face appointment may be booked depending on the nature of the presenting symptom(s). If after consultation you need a face to face appointment at the surgery this will be arranged with you.
When you contact the surgery you will be asked the reason for the appointment and your request will be forwarded to the most appropriate member of our team. This may be a pharmacist, nurse, physiotherapist, mental health practitioner, social work practitioner, doctor or a member of our medical reception team.
To arrange an appointment, phone on the usual number (02890320777). Our telephone lines open every week day morning from 8.30am until we have reached a safe capacity of calls. In the afternoon we may only have capacity to deal with emergencies call due to the extreme demands on the service.
Childhood Vaccinations
We understand it can be difficult to contact us by telephone to arrange an appointment for childhood vaccinations. If you have received a letter stating your child is due/overdue childhood vaccinations (or you think this may be the case), please contact us by email at BabyClinic.Z00075@gp.hscni.net. In your email, please state the name and age of the child as well as a contact number. Please only use this email address if you wish to arrange an appointment for the childhood vaccination clinic.
Contraception
You can now order your contraceptive pill online and for free at sh24.org.uk. Simply fill in your request online and you will receive 6 months of your contraceptive pill in the post. SH24 also offers free sexual health advice and testing.
COVID-19
COVID-19 cases are on the rise, certain groups of people fall into the high risk category and may be eligible for testing and COVID-19 treatment. For further information, please see NI Direct COVID-19 Treatments
Nurses Appointments
To arrange an appointment, phone the usual number (02890320777). Please note you may find it easier to get through on the phone after 3pm.
PRIVATE MEDICAL SERVICES - PRIVATE PRACTICE
Medical examinations for PSV Licence, HGV Licence etc, and completion of private medical forms are undertaken by arrangement with the doctor who you usually see at the surgery. These and certain other services are not covered by the NHS and will attract a fee which has been recommended by the British Medical Association. Private medicals are arranged with a doctor and payment will be at the time of booking the appointment at reception.
Private Treatment
Private Referral Requests
The surgery is able to provide you with a Private referral; but would ask you to read the following information prior to sourcing private care.
What happens next?
You should contact the Consultants team directly to organise an appointment. If you have private health insurance, your insurer may have a list of approved specialists. You may want to check with your insurer before you proceed.
The specialist may request information from your GP. If this is the case, please contact us to ask for a referral letter for the Consultant/Specialty that you have specified. This will include any relevant medical details about you. If an insurance company wishes for a specific form to be completed please ask them to make contact with us and we will deal with their request for information.
Seeing the Consultant:
What happens if you need a test or procedure?
If the Consultant thinks that you need any tests (including blood tests), or a surgical procedure, the Consultant is responsible for:
- Arranging the test and any medications (such as sedation) that might be needed for this. They should also explain how and when you will receive a date of any procedure and what to do if the date is not suitable for you.
- Giving you the results and explaining what they mean (this may be done in a separate appointment with the Consultant or by letter). You should not visit your GP surgery to discuss the results of tests organised by others, it is the Consultants responsibility to discuss this with you.
Please note that any tests required should be carried out privately; and are likely to incur a cost.
GP practices cannot perform blood tests or other private investigations using NHS resources. Doing so would inappropriately use NHS resources to carry out private activity. If a private Consultant informs you to arrange or to expect to hear from your NHS GP to arrange such tests, then this is incorrect.
Requests for private diagnostic testing (i.e. X-Ray, MRI, CT)?
We can provide private referrals for diagnostic testing. However, we would always recommend doing this via a Consultant who is best positioned to interpret the results and arrange follow up care.
What happens if you need new medicines?
The Consultant might suggest prescribing new medicines for you or might want to make changes to the medicines that you are already taking.
The Consultant is responsible for giving you a prescription for any new medicine that you need; this is a private prescription and you should be aware that it will incur a cost for the medication.
The Surgery may consider prescribing, as long as:
- The medication being requested is already on the NI Formulary
- The Consultant has provided the surgery with sufficient information about your medical condition to support the prescribing of the medication.
- The medication being requested is licensed for the condition being managed
- The surgery has a means of communicating with the Consultant who has made the recommendation
- The medication does not require consultant oversight (and you are not under NHS care). These drugs are commonly known as “Amber list “or “Shared Care” drugs. We cannot prescribe drugs that are classed as “Red List” (Hospital only) drugs.
- The medication being requested does not require regular blood monitoring
What happens if I need to transfer my care back to the NHS?
If after seeing the Consultant privately you want to be back under NHS care, regulations allow for you to transfer back. This transfer must be done by the private Consultant who is overseeing your care and you should not be passed back to the GP for this to be done.
There are a few reasons why:
- it delays your ongoing care
- your Consultant knows the full details of your condition and where best to refer you to
- it wastes precious NHS appointments with your GP and adds unnecessary administration to the process
The consultant should arrange for you to be seen in the appropriate NHS clinic by writing a referral letter to this clinic.
What if I need a follow-up appointment?
The Consultant will discuss with you whether you should attend hospital for ongoing follow-up care or whether you should be discharged back to your GP.
If the Consultant thinks you do need to be seen again, the private clinic will give you another appointment or tell you when to expect this. If you do not hear anything, please contact the Clinic office, rather than your GP surgery.
Post-operative care/wound management/dressings
The Department of Health In Northern Ireland have advised that patients requiring post-operative care, wound checks, dressings or stitch removals following treatment in the private sector should ensure all pre and post treatment costs are factored into the overall package of care.
The surgery will not provide this care to patients who source treatment in the private sector (this does not include patients who are transferred under an NHS waiting list initiative)
Bariatric Surgery in the private sector?
Unfortunately, bariatric surgery is not a commissioned service in Northern Ireland. Patients who chose to pursue this type of treatment must be aware that all pre and post treatment costs will remain within the private sector and will be chargeable (this includes ongoing blood monitoring required).
We would caution patients from sourcing bariatric treatment outside of the UK/Ireland as follow up care will be logistically difficult and language barriers may delay urgent follow up.
We are unable to provide any advice, medication, blood monitoring or follow up diagnostic tests should you chose to proceed with private bariatric treatment privately.
"Where a patient seeks pre and/or post treatment care specific to their private treatment, they will not be entitled to such support from primary or secondary care services in Northern Ireland. Therefore, it will be important for the individual to ensure that all pre and post treatment costs are included in the overall package of care procured from the private healthcare provider. In line with normal practice, patients will continue to be able to access emergency care where necessary."
Grosvenor Road Surgery
We are an accredited GP Training Practice with ten GPs. We aim to deliver safe, effective and efficient healthcare to our patients. We have a commitment to continuously improving the quality of the healthcare we provide. Our practice manager Ms Brenda Taggart welcomes your feedback on all aspects of our service. Thank you
Pregabalin Reduction Programme
We are currently reviewing all our patients taking Pregabalin for pain. If you are taking Pregabalin you will receive a letter inviting you in for review. Please see the Pregabalin section for more details.
Online services
Do you find it difficult to get through on the phone for a repeat prescription?
Why not register for Patient Services. This will allow you to order repeat prescriptions from the comfort of your own home or on the go! Simply follow the link.....Online Services
You can use the online service to order prescriptions using the link below:
Please note we no longer provide the option of booking an appointment online.
Practice Based Physiotherapist
We would like to welcome Caitriona Connolly to our team. Caitriona is an experienced physiotherapist who will offer practice based physiotherapy assessments from Monday the 1st July 2019. If you suffer from muscle or joint pains Caitriona is the member of our team you should see! Ask a member of our reception staff to book you an appointment. For further information please visit our Physiotherapy page.
Practice Based Pharmacist
We now have three very experienced Practice Based Pharmacists. Our pharmacists play a vital role in our team. If you have any queries regarding your medication or would like your medication aligned please ask to speak to our pharmacist. For more information on the range of services they provide visit our pharmacy information page.
Practice Based Mental Health Practitioners
We would like to welcome Colleen Elliman and Yvonne O' Grady and Nicola Aitcheson to our team. Our mental health practitioners can support you with your mental health. Following an assessment they can identify local and statutory services and/or therapeutic interventions that may best meet your identified needs. Please have a look at the following page for further information.
(Site updated 26/09/2024)