At the Banks and Bearwood Medical Practice we have a varied team of healthcare professionals to cater to our patients needs. These include General Practitioners, Advance Clinical Practitioners, Treatment Room Nurses and Phlebotomists. Face to Face or Telephone appointments can be made for our GPs/ Advance Clinical Practitioners via the online booking system. To make an appointment with another member of the team please speak to a receptionist.
Our receptionists can help you decide which is the right person for you to see and will ask if you are happy to disclose the reason for an appointment when you book.
Self care
If you have a cough, cold, headache or other minor ailment try treating yourself at home first. Find out more about treatments for common minor ailments.
Please remember that self-care for common conditions can help free up our GPs’ time, making it easier to get an appointment when you have a more serious condition.
Your pharmacist can help too
Pharmacists are highly trained health professionals and can give you confidential health advice for a range of common illnesses and complaints.
Don’t wait for a GP appointment for coughs, colds, aches and pains. Just call your local pharmacy a call or drop in – there’s no need to make an appointment.
Your pharmacists can also help you decide if you need to see a doctor or nurse.
Click here for more information about how pharmacies can help you.
NHS 111
111 is the free NHS non-emergency number.
You should use the NHS 111 service if you urgently need medical help or advice but it’s not a life-threatening situation.
Call 111 if:
- you need medical help fast but it’s not a 999 emergency
- you think you need to go to A&E or need another NHS urgent care service
- you don’t know who to call or you don’t have a GP to call
- you need health information or reassurance about what to do next
Click here for more information about how NHS 111 can help you.
A&E
A&E is for life-threatening accidents and emergencies only. Before you go there, ask yourself, “Is it a real emergency?”
If not, please consider using other local health services before you visit A&E.
Improved Access to General Practice Services
To help improve access to appointments for our patients, in particular during evenings and at weekends, you may be offered an appointment at the Urgent Treatment Centre at Royal Bournemouth Hospital. If you would like one of these appointments, please speak to reception who can arrange this for you. It may be necessary for us to offer you an appointment at the Urgent Treatment Centre between Monday and Friday during our normal opening hours if we have no available appointments in the practice.
Out of hours: you can also call 111 where a triage process will determine whether an appointment is needed before directing you to the most appropriate service.
Appointments at the Urgent Treatment Centre are pre-bookable (unlike A&E) so waiting times following your arrival are similar to being seen in the practice. The Urgent Treatment Centre is located close to the entrance to A&E, and is clearly signposted.
