To book you an appointment with the appropriate clinician, you may be asked some questions by our trained care navigators so we can make sure your appointment is booked with the most appropriate clinician.
We are lucky to be supported by a Minor Illness Team, who are able to see and treat a number of conditions. We also have access to extra clinicians through the Deal and Sandwich Primary Care Network.
Please be ensured that all of our care navigators are bound by confidentiality policies.
Patients are given the choice of telephone appointments or face to face appointments.
To arrange an appointment please telephone 01304 373444 and press 1 for appointments. Please make a separate appointment for each person that wishes to see or speak to a clinician. If you need urgent medical attention, please let the care navigators know. In general, appointments with a doctor are 10 minute slots. If you think you have more than one thing to discuss or you may need longer than 10 minutes for your consultation, please tell the care navigators.
Patients can book appointments online at https://www.patientaccess.com/
During our opening hours, patients can also use eConsult to contact their GP and this can be accessed via https://balmoralsurgery.webgp.com. There may be times when eConsult will be unavailable.
Cancelling or changing an appointment
If you can not make your appointment let us know as soon as you can so another patient can book the appointment time. You can cancel or change your appointment:
GP Appointment Data
If you need help when we are closed
- Use NHS 111 online (111.nhs.uk) or call 111. 111 online is for people aged 5 and over. Call 111 if you need help for a child under 5.
- Out of hours information
- If it’s a life-threatening emergency call 999.
Enhanced Access
Local GP Practices are working together to offer evening and weekend appointments to our patients. You will be able to see a GP, nurse or other health professional at a time when is most convenient for you. To book an evening or weekend appointment, please telephone the practice. There are both telephone and face to face appointments available.
Please note that your appointment could be based at any of the surgeries in Deal and Sandwich. When booking your appointment, please make sure you check where the appointment will be held.
If you need to see a nurse at the weekend, this appointment will be booked by the practice, but the appointment will be based at Victoria Hospital Deal.
Try the NHS App
You can now use the NHS App, a simple and secure way to access a range of NHS services and your GP account on your smartphone or tablet.
You can use the NHS App to check your symptoms and get instant advice, order repeat prescriptions, view your GP medical record and more.
If you already use online access you can continue to use it. You can use the NHS App as well.
For more information go to www.nhs.uk/nhsapp
Chaperones
There are occasions when patients need to be assessed by a doctor which might involve intimate examinations.
Balmoral Surgery is committed to putting patients at ease whenever possible, and if you wish a chaperone to be present during your examination please do not hesitate to ask.
It may not be possible for a chaperone to be provided immediately, you may have to return for the examination at another time.
Home Visits
If you are TOO ILL or PHYSICALLY UNABLE to get to the surgery and need a home visit please phone between 8.30 and 10.00am (including weekends). If you are not sure whether you need a visit please discuss with the care navigator or doctor. Our care navigators are trained to ask for information regarding the visit in order to determine its urgency. Please appreciate that it is not always possible to interrupt the doctor for non-urgent matters. Visits are shared out between the doctors it is not usually possible to specify a doctor for an acute visit. Your visit may also be from a member of the CHA Home Visiting Service. Please remember that a home visit is not your right and, as per government guidelines, the doctor decides when and where a patient should be seen after assessing the clinical condition of the patient. Most home visits are usually reserved for terminally ill, housebound or very sick patients. It may be a GP that carries out the home visit or it could be a member of the home visiting team., whichever is appropriate for the presenting problem.
Should home visits be required out of hours, these are arranged by the NHS 111 service. NHS 111 can be contacted for medical advice by calling 111 free.