Surgeries & Clinics

Telephone 0116 277 6361 between 8.30 am and 6.00 pm

Doctors’ normal consulting times are:

8.30/9.00 am – 11.00/11.30 am and 3.30pm to 6.00 pm. Monday to Thursday
8.30/9.00 am – 11.00/11.30 am and 2.00pm – 4.00pm Friday
Check the team profile for the surgery times of individual doctors. 

The appointment system at Countesthorpe Health Centre is designed to help you to get to see a doctor as soon as possible. We also try to avoid any missed appointments where patients forget to turn up.

Same-day appointments

Quite simply this means that if you need to see a doctor you should make an appointment on the day that you wish to be seen. This could be for a routine matter or for an urgent problem. Telephone lines (0116 277 6361) open at 8.30 am and if you call earlier in the day it will help us to offer you an appointment with the doctor of your choice.

If you are seeing a doctor more than once for the same problem it is usually best to see the same doctor that you saw previously.

Urgent appointments

Since most appointments are offered on a same-day basis, you can normally see a doctor reasonably quickly if you have an urgent problem. If all the appointments have been taken on any day and you are genuinely unwell and cannot wait until the next day, you will be offered an appointment but not a choice of doctor.

Booking in advance

We realise that some patients need to be able to plan for time off work or to make transport arrangements. A limited number of appointments may be booked up to a week in advance. These become available at 10.00am every day and we advise you to call around this time so that we can offer you a convenient appointment.

Telephone consultations

In some instances you may feel that a few minutes’ talk on the phone with a doctor can save you an unnecessary journey to the surgery. This can be a convenient way to conduct appointments such as reviews and medication queries, especially if you need to fit your appointment into a working day. All our doctors will consult over the phone for appropriate conditions.

You still need to ring and book an appointment – just tell the receptionist that you would like a telephone consultation. You will be given a time slot and the doctor will make every effort to ring you within 20 minutes of the slot. You must provide a contact number where you will be available at the given time. This could be a work number or a mobile number as long as you make sure you are there to take the call.

If you are not sure whether your condition can be dealt with over the phone please make a normal surgery appointment.

Home visits

These can be arranged if you are too sick to come to the surgery or if you are permanently housebound. A visit will be made at the doctor’s discretion. If you require a home visit please call the surgery on 0116 277 6336 before 11.00 am. Visits are made between 11.30 am and 4.00 pm.

Practice nurse appointments

Appointments with practice nurses and healthcare assistants are available for a wide range of conditions and these can be booked up to 4 weeks in advance. Some are also available on the day. Please tell the receptionist what service you require when you book your appointment as this will allow us to allocate the correct amount of time.

Services include:

Adult vaccinations (flu and pneumonia)
Blood Pressure
Blood Tests
Cervical smears
Cryotherapy
Dietary advice and weight management
Ear syringing
ECG
Family planning and contraceptive advice
Glucose tolerance tests
Injections
Minor illnesses
Minor injuries
New patient check
Smoking cessation
Spirometry
Travel advice and vaccinations
Well person checks

Please note we are a registered Yellow Fever Centre and can provide this vaccination to patients registered with other practices.

The nurses also provide monitoring, support and annual reviews for patients with ongoing conditions such as

Asthma
COPD (Respiratory diseases such as bronchitis and emphysema)
Coronary Heart Disease
Diabetes
Kidney disease

To make it easier to remember we recommend that you attend your annual review in the month of your birthday. If you need blood tests, please make an appointment for these a few weeks before your annual review so that the results can be discussed with you.

Speaking to a Practice Nurse

If you wish to speak to a practice nurse please telephone the Enquiries line 0116 277 6336 after 10 am. If a nurse is unable to take your call please leave details with the receptionist and a nurse will ring you back.

Test Results

For test results and ambulance bookings please ring after 11.am on the Enquiries line 0116 277 6336. Allow up to a week for test results unless you have been told otherwise.

Repeat prescriptions

These take 2 working days to process and can be ordered in several ways:

After a certain number of prescriptions you will be asked to attend surgery for a review. This is standard safe practice as doctors cannot prescribe indefinitely for a patient without checking that the medication is working effectively for that patient.

Practice dispensary

The practice is able to dispense medication to patients who live in some of the local villages. This means that these patients can receive their medication direct from the surgery following a consultation. They can also collect any repeat medication. To find out if this applies to you please ask at the dispensary.

Out of Hours Services

If you need medical attention when the surgery is closed please call the surgery on 0116 277 6336 and a recorded message will give you instructions. Or you could ring directly through to the Out of Hours service on 0845 045 0411.  After giving your details, you will be contacted by a doctor who will either offer advice over the telephone, invite you to attend a GP out-of-hours centre at the Leicester Royal Infirmary or arrange a home visit.

Alternatively you could call NHS direct on 0845 46 47 for 24-hour health advice or visit www.nhsdirect.nhs.uk

Minor injuries units

These are for urgent but not emergency care such as

The nearest units are:

Feilding Palmer Hospital
Gilmorton Road, Lutterworth LE17 4DZ
Tel 01455 552150
Opening Hours: 9am -9pm each day

Market Harborough and District Hospital
Coventry Road, Market Harborough LE16 9DD
Tel 01858 410500
Opening Hours: 9am – 9pm each day