Requesting a Home Visit

Requests for visits must be made before 11.00am. Visiting will normally take place after morning surgery. Please only request home visits if you are incapable of attending the surgery. Whenever possible, try and come into the surgery as facilities here are far better for examination and treatment. It helps us to judge the urgency of the call if you describe the symptoms. The receptionists are trained to deal with your calls so do expect to be asked. All information is confidential.

Our housecall team will telephone prior to visiting. Visits requested later in the day that are for the housebound, but are not urgent, will not be seen that day. Ring early if you wish for a routine call if you are housebound.



Home Visiting Team

We have an Advanced Nurse Practitioner (ANP), Tracy who visits housebound patients at home.

If you contact the surgery for a home visit you will be assessed first by the house calls team and if appropriate our ANP may visit you. She is a highly experienced nurse who can assess, diagnose, prescribe medications and provide health education for acute, minor illnesses such as coughs, colds, chest infections, skin conditions, ear problems, urinary infection and constipation.

Our ANP completes annual reviews for our housebound patients with long-term conditions who are unable to attend our surgeries. A Year Of Care (YOC) care plan will be sent to you and she will arrange a home visit to discuss any information contained in your care plan.

Tracy is able to develop a close, long-term relationship with you, working in partnership with you to help you achieve optimum health, supporting you with managing your long-term conditions. Tracy can assess your health, diagnose, prescribe and request further tests if required to help treat or manage your condition.

Our home visiting policy

Our home visiting policy is based on RCGP guidelines. You cannot insist that a GP visits you at home. A GP will only visit you at home if they think that your medical condition requires it. A GP can also decide how urgently a visit is needed.

Due to increasing demand GPs can no longer automatically visit any patient who requests a home visit. All visits must now be triaged and dealt with according to clinical need.

GPs are better able to assess patients in the surgery where they have access to specialist equipment, good lighting and examination facilities and therefore it is always the preferable site for any consultation.

GPs having to visit inappropriate house call patients are delayed from visiting those patients who are in genuine need of a visit and therefore this poses an unacceptable clinical risk.

GPs are not responsible for ensuring that a patient has financial means to attend the surgery nor that the patient chooses to register with a practice that is difficult for them to get to in bad weather or without a car.

GPs are not obliged to visit a patient if they have assessed the patient's clinical need on the telephone and found them to be suitable for an alternative method of healthcare.

As long as the GP has made this assessment and offered an appropriate alternative (which may be an appointment the same day, a future day, telephone advice or attendance at other healthcare site such as A&E) then the partners of Saville Medical Group will support any such decision made by a DR working at the practice.

City Centre Surgery

7 Saville Place, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 8DQ

Telephone 0191 2324274

Surgery opening hours

7:00am - 8:00pm Monday
7:00am - 6:30pm Tuesday and Wednesday
7:00am - 5:00pm Thursday
7:00am - 6:30pm Friday
Closed on Saturday and Sunday

Phone lines open

8:00am - 6:00pm Mon, Tue, Wed and Fri
8:00 am -1:00pm Thu

Newbiggin Hall Surgery

Trevelyan Drive, Newbiggin Hall, Newcastle upon Tyne NE5 4BS

Telephone 0191 2869240

Surgery opening hours

8:00am - 6:30pm - Monday
7:00am - 8:00pm - Tuesday
7:00am - 6:30pm - Wednesday
8:00am - 1:00pm - Thursday
8:00am - 6:30pm - Friday
Closed on Saturday and Sunday

Phone lines open

8:00am - 6:00pm Mon, Tue, Wed and Fri
8:00 am -1:00pm Thu