Patients have the option of a face-to-face or telephone consultation depending on your preference and the issue(s) you wish to discuss with a GP.  Some matters are not appropriate to be dealt with by telephone.

The practice also operates a system of Patient Care Navigation. This helps to ensure patients receive the right help from the most appropriate source as efficiently as possible. As a result of this system, our Receptionists have been instructed by our clinicians to always ask you for a brief description of your symptoms when you call for an appointment. Please assist our Reception team by describing your symptoms as best you can, particularly when they started, if they are worsening or if you have any new, concerning symptoms which started suddenly. 

• Phone the practice on 0131 334 5000 between 8.00am - 6.00pm, Monday to Friday.
• Most matters can wait for the next available routine session, however, if you have an urgent matter please advise reception  
• Please ensure if you no longer require your callback or cannot attend your appointment for any reason that you let us know so that we can then offer this to another patient.  You can do this by using the cancel appointment option at the top of this page, by calling in person or by completing our appointment cancellation notification request form. This can only be used if your appointment has been arranged for more than 24 hours in advance (excluding weekends and public holidays). 
• Questions about results are available by phone after 11.00am.
• For a home visit please call before 11.00am if possible
• If capacity for safe working is reached at any point in the day the clinicians will revert to an emergency service only and you will be advised by reception and an alternative method of help offered.  This allows us to ensure we are providing as safe a service as possible for the patients who urgently require our attention

Late attendance at appointments - policy for patients

The practice offers a range of GP appointments to suit all requirements:

If you have a list of problems it may not be possible to deal with all of them at one appointment and the GP may ask you to make a further appointment.  Please ensure you raise the most important issue first.

Routine Appointments - These can be booked up to 2 weeks in advance.   Alternatively, a number of appointments are released each day at 8:00am and are offered on a 1st come 1st served basis.  There are a limited number of appointments so unfortunately we cannot guarantee that every patient who calls will get an appointment.  These are offered within a timed appointment session and you can opt for a face to face appointment or a telephone appointment, depending upon the circumstances.   

Advice on telephone appointments - Should you be offered a routine telephone appointment, please note that this is within a timed slot in the same way that a face to face appointment is.  The GP may run early/late so there is a little leeway in the time, i.e. half an hour either side of the appointment time.  Should you miss your call, this may be considered a missed appointment and you may have to re-arrange your appointment for another time.  The calls will come from a withheld number.

Early Morning / Evening Appointments - We offer a limited number of early morning appointments between 7.00am - 8.30am.  We also offer a limited number of evening appointments between 5.30pm - 7.00pm.  The majority of these appointments are telephone appointments.  These are released one week in advance and may be on any day depending on doctor availability.  These appointments are aimed at those who have difficulty attending the surgery during working hours.  There are no nursing or walk-in services at this time, therefore, some procedures may not be possible.

You don’t need to see a GP first to get help for muscle, joint or bone problems. Our Musculoskeletal (MSK) Physiotherapist service is available at our surgery.

At Ladywell East, an MSK Physiotherapist is available every Thursday and Friday.   You can view the video from our Physio, Steph in the Patient leaflet & video section of our website.

They can assess and support patients with conditions affecting:

• Joints
• Bones
• Muscles
• Soft tissues

What the MSK Physiotherapist Can Do

Our physiotherapists can:

• Provide expert assessment and advice
• Recommend tailored exercises
• Help manage pain and mobility issues
• Arrange referrals for further tests or specialist services if needed

How to Book

Simply speak to the reception team who can book you directly into see our MSK Physiotherapist.  No GP consultation is needed beforehand.

Appointments with the Practice Nurses can be booked up to 6 weeks in advance. Appointments with the Practice Nurses are available from 8:00am, Monday to Friday. 

Our Practice Nurses see patients for chronic disease management appointments as well as other nursing tasks such as smears.

Treatment Room Nurse appointments can be booked up to 6 weeks in advance. These Nurses see patients for a variety of problems such as dressings, injections and smears. 

Nursing Assistant 

The Nursing Assistant carries out duties under the supervision of the Nursing staff.  For example, blood pressure monitoring, assisting the GPs with minor surgery and taking blood samples.  Appointments are available daily at various times.

Phlebotomists

The Phlebotomists take blood samples from 8.00am throughout the week.

Whilst we encourage our patients to come to the surgery, where we have the proper equipment and facilities available, we do appreciate this is not always possible. In this respect, if you do need a home visit, you can help us by calling reception before 11:00.

You may only request a home visit if you are housebound or are too ill to visit the practice. Your GP will only visit you at home if they think that your medical condition requires it and will also decide how urgently a visit is needed. Please bear this in mind and be prepared to provide suitable details to enable the doctor to schedule house calls. If you or your child have a temperature or a rash, coming to the surgery will do no harm, but please inform the receptionist when you arrive.

You can also be visited at home by a community nurse if you are referred by your GP. You should also be visited at home by a health visitor if you have recently had a baby or if you are newly registered with a GP and have a child under five years.

The practice has the option for you to have a video consultation with certain, but not all, doctors and for certain problems.   This is done via NHS Near Me.

Should you be invited for/prefer this type of consultation your doctor will advise you of the process and ask you to join the virtual waiting room prior to your appointment.   The link for the virtual waiting room is below.   

Should you have any technical problems joining the waiting room, please call the practice on 0131 334 5000 to speak to a member of the reception team.

Please click here to join the virtual waiting room for your appointment.  Your clinician will start the consultation in due course.    

For more information on NHS Near Me please click  here

We will always respect your privacy, dignity and your religious and cultural beliefs particularly when intimate examinations are advisable - these will only be carried out with your express agreement and you will be offered a chaperone to attend the examination if you so wish.

You may also request a chaperone when making the appointment or on arrival at the surgery (please let the receptionist know) or at any time during the consultation.

Please see full policy here  Chaperone Policy - LMC East

We are a training practice and as such have GP Registrars working alongside us. The GPST (or Registrar) is a fully qualified doctor who has chosen to specialise as a GP and is in the final year of a ten-year training programme, gaining supervised experience in general practice.

Some of the partners also teach medical students from the University of Edinburgh but you will always be asked first whether you are willing to see your doctor with a medical student present.

Occasionally consultations are recorded for teaching purposes, but again your consent will be sought first. You may also be asked if a medical student can interview or examine you at home to further their studies. At all times your involvement in such teaching and learning is voluntary.

We are very grateful to those patients who help the registrar and students develop their skills.

We have a texting service which allows you to receive confirmation and reminders about your appointments.

We may also send you messages relating to results/health information.

To have this service you will need to register by completing a consent form.

Please remember to update your contact details with us when you change address, telephone numbers and email address otherwise your personal information may not be received by yourself.

Complete our SMS Reminder Form