Online Appointments
You can make and cancel appointments and order repeat prescriptions online from this website provided that you have a password to log into The Patient Access System. Alternatively, use the NHS App to make appointments online.
Booking appointments online
You can sign up for online services here www.patientaccess.com/ , or using the NHS App. Otherwise you can register for online access by speaking to our Reception Team.
Booking appointments via Reception
You can pre-book a routine appointment with GPs, nurses and other members of our team in advance. We release pre-bookable GP appointments 2 weeks in advance.
We release lots of same-day telephone and face-to-face GP appointments at 08:30am when we open each morning. If you would like a same-day appointment, please ring the surgery as close to our opening time as possible. Unfortunately, this can be a very busy time on the phone line so you may be in a queue, and we cannot guarantee that an appointment will be available when you get through.
However, if your problem is medically urgent and there are no appointments available, our Duty Doctor can ring you back on the same day if you feel this is necessary.
Otherwise, you can book appointments by coming into the surgery in person and speaking to a Receptionist at the front desk.
We will always try to accommodate requests for specific times or clinicians, but please be aware that some options may not be available or may lead to a longer wait for an appointment.
e-Consultations
Please see this section of our website to read more about e-consultations.
If you have a telephone appointment, sometimes the GP will decide that it is important to assess you face-to-face after speaking to you.
Urgent appointments
Urgent problems will be assessed on the same day by a telephone call back from the Duty Doctor. It is helpful to give details of the problem to the receptionist so that the appointment is given the appropriate level of priority. If you feel your problem is medically urgent and cannot wait for the next available pre-bookable appointment, please explain this to the Receptionist and they will arrange for a same-day telephone call for you if there are no available appointments left.
Non-urgent appointments
You are free to book a GP appointment with any doctor at the practice. We will try to see you at the booked appointment time, but occasionally there may be a delay, for example due to an emergency or previous consultations having overrun. Your patience and understanding are appreciated at these times.
Appointment length
Each GP appointment is for one patient only. Please book a separate appointment for each person who needs to be seen.
A face-to-face GP appointment is for 15 minutes. If you have multiple issues to be assessed, it may not be possible for the GP to safely deal with each one within the allotted time, so you may be asked to prioritise issues and re-book to more fully assess any issues which have not been covered in a single appointment.
A telephone GP appointment is for 10 minutes.
Extended Access
We have some appointments with GPs, practice nurses, healthcare assistants and pharmacists available to book outside of our core working hours and which may be more convenient for you depending on your weekly routine. These are in clinics on a Thursday evening and on Saturdays. Please enquire with Reception about these clinics if this would be helpful to you.
Home visits
If you are housebound due to your medical condition, it is possible for a GP to visit you at home. However, home visits are time-consuming and a GP can see several patients at the surgery in the time that it takes to make a single home visit. We cannot offer home visits for the reason of convenience or lack of available transport. If it is at all possible to attend the surgery, this is usually a better and safer option as there are more suitable facilities for assessment and any urgent treatment.
Please make requests for a non-urgent home visit by calling the surgery before 11:00am. If a request is made after this time, you may have to wait until the next day, unless it is urgent.
A GP may phone you to discuss your home visit request. A home visit may be delegated to another member of the team e.g. practice nurse, or referred to a different service e.g. the district nurses.
Arriving for your appointment
When you arrive for your appointment, please check in using the electronic check-in screen in Reception if possible, or otherwise inform the Receptionist at the front desk as soon as you arrive.
Please do arrive in good time. If you arrive late, you may have a shorter time available with the GP, to avoid keeping other patients after you waiting. If you arrive after your appointment slot has finished, you may be asked to re-book for another day, or to wait until the end of the surgery, depending on the doctor's available time.
Missed appointments
If you are unable to keep a booked appointment let the surgery know as soon as possible. This will allow us offer the appointment to another patient.
Why do receptionists ask the reason for an appointment?
Receptionists ask you about the reason for an appointment to help make sure that you get the help that you need.
This helps to make sure that you are booked in with the member of the team who can best provide you with the care you need - for example, seeing a physiotherapist is usually the best first port of call if you have a joint problem, as they have specialist skills and knowledge in this area. This helps to make sure that GP appointments are available for patients who need them.
For urgent appointment requests, it is very helpful if you can give a reason to the receptionist as the Duty Doctor can then prioritise the most urgent medical problems for a sooner call back in case they need emergency treatment.
We understand if you decide that your problem is too sensitive to share with a Receptionist - just say if you would rather not share this.
Request an interpreter
If you require an interpreter for your consultation, tell the Receptionist when booking your appointment and this can be provided for you, free of charge. This will usually be a telephone interpreter, but if the appointment is pre-booked we may be able to book an in-person interpreter. This applies to both other languages and British Sign Language interpreters (which are accessible via video call).
Cruddas Park Surgery
178 Westmorland Road
Newcastle upon Tyne
Tyne and Wear NE4 7JT
Tel: 0191 226 1414
Hillsview Surgery
220a Hillsview Avenue
Newcastle upon Tyne
Tyne and Wear NE3 3LB
Tel: 0191 286 0055
Monday 8:30 - 18:00
Tuesday 8:30 - 18:00
Wednesday 8:30 - 18:00
Thursday 8:30 - 18:00
Friday 8:30 - 18:00
Closed on Saturday, Sunday & Bank Holidays
Occasionally closed for half a day for staff training
Please ask at reception for extended opening hours