Appointments

Medical help and appointments

For any clinical enquiries that do not require an appointment, please complete our Ask a Doctor a question form.

Urgent appointments

To request an urgent appointment for today or tomorrow (Monday to Friday) during opening times:

When you get in touch, we’ll ask what you need help with.

Please advise us if an interpreter is required, and the language required.

We will use your answers to choose the most suitable doctor, nurse or healthcare professional to help you.

Routine appointments

To request a routine appointment with a nurse or healthcare assistant up to 4 weeks in advance:

Our reception team are fully trained to assist you with making urgent and routine appointments. All reception staff have received care navigation training and are bound by confidentiality regulations, their aim is to get patients seen by the most appropriate health professional.

Please assist this process by disclosing a brief reason for your appointment.

If the doctor determines you require a routine follow up appointment, the practice will contact you directly.

Enhanced access appointments

Extended hours and access is available on a Saturday morning from 8am-1pm. We only offer pre-booked appointments and cannot deal with any other queries on a Saturday.

Three Villages is part of the Brierley Hill and Amblecote Primary Care Network. Practices are working in partnership to provide additional appointments throughout the week and evenings. If you need access to an evening or weekend non-urgent appointment, please enquire via our website or speak to the receptionist at your registered practice during normal opening hours. Your appointment may be with another practice in the Brierley Hill and Amblecote area and may not be at your registered practice.

Practices participating in enhanced access are:

There are also extended hours appointments available to our patients with these surgeries.

Urgent appointments

If the problem is extremely urgent, requiring immediate attention, please advise the receptionist. Sometimes they may advise you to dial 999 for issues such as chest pain or shortness of breath.

How you can help us

  • Let us know if more than one family member needs to be seen, as each person will need their own appointment.
  • One appointment is for one problem. Please advise the surgery if you have more than one problem so the necessary time can be allocated.
  • Request urgent appointments or home visits as early in the day as possible i.e. before 11:00am.
  • Early morning is our busiest time on the phone line for booking appointments. We have extra reception staff answering the phones at this time but even so, you may have to hold for a period of time until your call is answered. Please use the online facility unless you do not have the ability to do so.
  • If you are ringing for the results of tests, please call after 11am.
  • Chaperones – please let us know in advance if you would like a chaperone available during your appointment.

Timekeeping

If you are more than 10 minutes late for an appointment we will be unable to see you and you will be marked as “Did Not Attend”.

Please call the surgery to let us know if you are going to be late and to see whether you can still be seen.  Patients who repeatedly do not attend appointments with no explanation will be contacted regarding this and may be removed from the practice list.

Cancelling or changing an appointment

To cancel your appointment:

Please ensure this is the only word you reply with, if you use other words the system will not recognise these and will not cancel the appointment.

If you need help when we are closed

If you need medical help now, use NHS 111 online or call 111.

NHS 111 online is for people aged 5 and over. Call 111 if you need help for a child under 5.

Call 999 in a medical or mental health emergency. This is when someone is seriously ill or injured and their life is at risk.

Home visits

A patient is deemed to be housebound when they are unable to leave their home environment through a physical or psychological illness.

A patient is not considered housebound if he or she is able to leave their home with minimal assistance e.g. unassisted / assisted visit to the doctor, dentist, hairdresser, supermarket, social events.

However, the practice reserves the right to change this policy, where the clinical condition of a patient is deemed to be more appropriately provided in the home.

Home visits take up a great deal of our time and should only be reserved for patients who are medically unable to attend the surgery.

Transport problems will not be accepted as a reason for the doctor to attend to you at home.

For any home visit where the patient has dementia, a member of the family needs to be present.

Please request a home visit before 11am. This will be triaged and communication given by the end of the morning.

Related information

Health A to Z

Sick notes

Test results