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Commonly Asked Questions

Appointments  -  Commonly asked questions

Ive submitted a request for an appointment - Will I be contacted the same day?

When we receive a medical request, we are required to provide a same day response however this does not always mean an appointment.

Who makes the decision about my appointment?

Our GP’s determine clinical urgency through our triage system. Our receptionists do not make these decisions. You may receive responses from “the reception team” but this does not mean that a receptionist has made the decision - they are following instruction from the GP.

What happens when you are full?

GPs are not legally required to see any patient immediately if their daily lists are completely full, but they should provide triage and safe alternative pathways regardless of capacity.

Dealing with a medical request does not always mean an appointment – if the surgery is at maximum capacity this means that after assessment you might be safely signposted or referred to another appropriate service, such as NHS 111, a local urgent treatment centre or Walk in Centre or A and E.

You can contact NHS111 by phone or online 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. NHS 111 can book direct priority slots at urgent care centres, walk in clinics, or out of hours GP hubs.

Do GP’s have to see children?

While there is widespread custom across the NHS to prioritise children under 5, they are not exempt from the standard clinical triage. This means your child may be safely signposted to or referred to another appropriate service, such as NHS 111, a local urgent treatment centre, A and E or GP hubs specifically set aside for children (particularly so in the winter months).

If a child under 5 shows red flag signs, such as difficulty breathing, lethargy, a high fever that won’t come down, or cold hands and feet you should bypass primary care and seek urgent medical attention immediately.

Ive been advised to go to the walk-in centre - what happens if I can’t get there or there is a long wait time?

You do not have an absolute legal right to demand a face-to-face appointment with a specific GP or your registered practice on demand if they have no remaining capacity

Under NHS guidelines, practices must manage urgent requests appropriately, but if a surgery has genuinely exhausted its safe operating limits for the day, they redirect patients to alternative services like urgent treatment centres, walk-in centres, or NHS 111

Why do I have to wait for a routine appointment?

Practices reserve same-day or urgent slots for people with acute, sudden, or severe illnesses. Routine issues (like long-term condition reviews or non-urgent queries) are scheduled into future openings.

Why am I being sent to the pharmacy?

Being signposted to a pharmacy can be a faster alternative.

If your issue does not need a full doctor evaluation, you can often get help much quicker through other local services.

Pharmacists can provide expert advice and some prescription treatments for common minor illnesses.

Why am I being referred to a physiotherapist?

You get referred to a physiotherapist without seeing a GP because many healthcare systems and NHS practices use First Contact Physiotherapy (FCP) or self-referral pathways to give you faster, direct access to the most specialized expert for bone, joint, or muscle issues

Why am I being referred to a social prescribing service?

This is because the GP has identified that you may benefit from non-clinical, community-based support, which can help improve your overall health and well-being.

The surgery always looks empty - why am I waiting for an appointment?

An empty doctor's surgery waiting room does not mean staff are not busy; appointments are now heavily staggered, conducted over the phone, or managed through behind-the-scenes work

Surgeries purposely space out in-person visits to keep rooms quiet, protect vulnerable patients, and improve safety.

Many appointments now happen over the phone or via video calls instead of face-to-face.

What does a GP do when not seeing patients?

GPs often make a large block of telephone consultations between or during their physical clinic slots.

Doctors spend hours reviewing blood test results, signing prescriptions, and processing hospital referrals.

Clinicians frequently leave the building to visit housebound or severely ill patients

I am often kept waiting past my allocated appointment time - why is this?

Your GP appointment can run late because standard appointment slots are very short (usually 10 minutes), but patient needs are unpredictable and frequently complex. If each patient takes 15 minutes instead of 10, a doctor is an hour behind by lunchtime.

GPs frequently squeeze sudden, severe health crises or emergencies in their day. If you are waiting, it is usually because the GP is refusing to rush the person ahead of you—meaning you will be given that same thorough, uninterrupted attention when it is your turn.

Arranging an urgent ambulance, speaking with secondary care specialists, or executing a mental health crisis intervention takes immediate priority over waiting patients.

My surgery says I have DNA’d an appointment - what does this mean?

A Did Not Attend (DNA) at a GP surgery happens when you miss a pre-booked appointment without contacting the practice in advance to cancel, or when you cancel too late for the slot to be given to another patient.

What Counts as Not Attending?

Uncancelled Appointments: Not showing up for a face-to-face or telephone appointment and failing to notify the surgery beforehand.

Very Late Cancellations: Cancelling with too little notice (many practices consider less than 30 minutes to an hour before the time as a DNA because the slot cannot be reallocated).

Arriving Late: Showing up more than 10 minutes past your scheduled appointment time, which usually means you cannot be seen and must rebook. If you are running late for an appointment it is advisable to ring the surgery so we can advise you further.

Missed Telephone Calls: For phone consultations, failing to answer after the clinician calls multiple times during the booked window.

Dapagliflozin - information for patients about the switch to Dapagliflozin

Why Switch to Dapagliflozin ?

GP Survey Results 2026

The GP Patient survey is an independent survey run by Ipsos on behalf of NHS England. The results show how people feel about their GP practice.

 

90% find the reception and administrative team at this GP practice helpful

93% say the healthcare professional they saw or spoke to was good at listening to them during their last general practice appointment

92% knew what the next step would be after contacting their GP Practice

90% say the healthcare professional they saw or spoke to was good at treating them with care and concern during their last general practice appointment

82 % say the healthcare professional they saw or spoke to was good at considering their mental wellbeing during their last general practice appointment

96% had confidence and trust in the healthcare professional they saw or spoke to during their last general practice appointment

93% were involved as much as they wanted to be in decisions about their care and treatment during their last general practice appointment

82% describe their overall experience of this GP practice as good

 

A huge thank you to the staff at Windmill Health Centre - we are incredibly proud of these results – including our GP's ,Practice manager, Nursing Team, Receptionists, Administrators, Secretaries, and wider support Team – for their continued dedication and commitment to delivering high-quality care every day

 

Thank you to all our patients who completed the National GP Patient Survey – your feedback helps us continue to improve the care and access we provide at Windmill health Centre

Hay Fever /Seasonal Allergy

Hay fever and allergy – National Change in prescribing

In line with NHS England and West Yorkshire Commissioning Board guidelines, the surgery is no longer routinely prescribing medication (antihistamines and nasals sprays) for hay fever. These can be readily obtained by purchasing these over the counter at your local pharmacy or supermarket.

It is recommended that sufferers of hay fever seek advice from their local pharmacy around managing their symptoms and any patients contacting the practice with regards to hay fever will be directed to the pharmacy.

Most hay fever and allergy treatments including tablets, liquids, nasal sprays, and eye drops do not require a prescription, and can be purchased from supermarkets and pharmacies.

Recommended treatments include:

Oral antihistamines such as cetirizine, loratadine, desloratadine, chlorphenamine and fexofenadine

Nasal steroid sprays such as beclomethasone

Eye drops including sodium cromoglycate.

Nasal decongestants such as Sudafed and Otrivine are NOT recommended.

Find out more information at:

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/hay-fever/

https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/1a-over-the-counter-leaflet-v1.pdf

https://patient.info/allergies-blood-immune/hay-fever-leaflet

Research Study 3i-o

World AMR Awareness Week 2025

Patient Participation Group

We are recruiting members for our  Patient Participation Group (PPG)

 
Tuesday 16th September 2pm – 4pm

Windmill Health Centre would like to invite you to our Patient Participation Group Recruitment afternoon – Tuesday 16th September 2025, from 2pm to 4pm at the Surgery.

Please note this is NOT A GP APPOINTMENT

We are inviting you to come and meet members of the Practice Team so we can give you an insight into what happens in your General Practice.

In England all GP Practices are required to have a PPG.

PPG's help ensure patients are represented, their voices are heard, and they are at the heart of Practice decisions.

The group is not a complaints forum.

The aim of the group is to improve health care services by gathering patient feedback developing projects and promoting health and well-being.

Please email windmill-LS14.Admin@nhs.net to let us know that you would like to attend.


We look forward to meeting you

Kind Regards

Practice Manager

National GP Patient Survey 2025

National GP Patient Survey 2025 - We have our results!

 

The GP Patient survey is an independent survey run by Ipsos on behalf of NHS England. The results show how people feel about their GP practice.

 

91% find the reception and administrative team at this GP practice helpful

92% say the healthcare professional they saw or spoke to was good at listening to them during their last general practice appointment

94% felt the healthcare professional they saw had all the information they needed about them during their last general practice appointment

98% had confidence and trust in the healthcare professional they saw or spoke to during their last general practice appointment

95% were involved as much as they wanted to be in decisions about their care and treatment during their last general practice appointment

83% describe their overall experience of this GP practice as good

 

To view our full result you can visit https://www.gp-patient.co.uk

 

A huge thank you to the staff at Windmill Health Centre - we are incredibly proud of these results – including our GP's , Nursing Team, Receptionists, Administrators, Secretaries, and wider support Team – for their continued dedication and commitment to delivering high-quality care every day

 

Thank you to all our patients who completed the National GP Patient Survey – your feedback helps us continue to improve the care and access we provide at Windmill health Centre.

Measles

There has been a recent rise in measles cases in the UK . Measles is spread when an infected person coughs or sneezes. It can spread very easily. The following websites give more information Measles - NHS , https://wyhealthiertogether.nhs.uk/

You can protect your child by making sure they get 2 doses of the MMR vaccine. Normally the 1st is given at 12 months and the 2nd around 3 years 5 months old. Even if you or your children have missed these vaccines, it’s not too late to get them.

Contact your GP practice today.

NHS launches new Pharmacy First Service

The NHS has launched its' new Pharmacy First services. For the first time ever, community pharmacies in England can offer NHS consultations and supply prescription-only medicines without a prescription from a GP for seven common conditions.  As part of our new triage system, patients may be referred to a local pharmacy for a range of minor ailments and now the seven conditions above if they meet the criteria for referral.

Find out more at https://www.nhs.uk/nhs-services/pharmacies/how-pharmacies-can-help