Home Visits

If you think an immediate home visit is required, please tell the Receptionist. In cases of major injury or critical condition, it may be more appropriate to go directly to your local Hospital Accident & Emergency Department. If an Ambulance is required, dial 999.

If you think you need a house visit then please try to call before 10am. If this is not possible or the need for a house visit is not apparent until later in the day then please call as soon as possible.

Our GP Practice is keen to ensure that we make the best use of our clinical staff, allowing them to provide the most appropriate care to those most in need of it. For the vast majority of patients attending an appointment at the Practice is the best option for them and for the Practice staff. 

You may think that a home visit by a family doctor (GP) is best for patient care. However, while home visits are convenient for the patient, they actually offer a poorer standard of care compared to surgery consultations.

This is because of:

  • poor facilities – for example, soft beds, poor lighting or lack of hygiene
  • inefficiency – the doctor could see four to six other equally needy patients in the time taken for one home visit
  • patient records, which are required to provide appropriate and safe care, are not immediately available; and
  • patient chaperones, who are required to be present for some examinations, are not always available. 

Some myths about home visits

Myth Fact
It’s my right to have a home visit.Under the GP terms of service, it is actually up to the doctor to decide, in their reasonable opinion, where a consultation should take place.
I should get a visit because I’m old.  Our clinical work does not judge based on age alone.
I can’t bring my child out in this weather. No-one will be harmed by being wrapped up and brought in to the surgery.
The doctor needs to check I’m ready to go into hospital.Paramedics can provide initial lifesaving care, and patients will be cared for appropriately in emergency departments.
 I’m housebound.  Being housebound does not always prevent use of transport.
I live in a care home. Many patients living in care homes still go to hospital outpatients and take trips out.
Can the GP just pop in to see me?We have fully booked surgeries and cannot simply drop everything to visit people at home.

If you think you may need a home visit

  • If you are mobile (own legs, using walking aids, wheelchair or scooter), we kindly ask that you see us in the surgery
  • The triage nurse or doctor will always consider your request and ensure you are seen by the most appropriate health care professional in the most appropriate location
  • An Emergency Hospital admission may be organised for the patient via the ambulance service without first seeing the patient, in cases where their medical condition make that course of action appropriate.

If we visit you at home and feel that your request was inappropriate, we may inform you so that you use our services more appropriately in the future. Please do not be offended, as we have a duty to use our resources effectively for the safety and benefit of all patients.

AppropriateNot appropriate
BedboundNo transport or money  
Terminally illChildren, young people and anyone who is mobile
Would come to serious harm if movedSocial reasons or for convenience  

Remember: you do not have an automatic right to a home visit

Under their terms of working, GPs are required to consider home visits for medical reasons only. If you think you require a home visit, please call the surgery before 10am. All home visit requests will be medically assessed to check if a visit is appropriate.

Always provide a current landline/mobile number so that the Doctor or Nurse can contact you.