Urgent Appointments
For same day URGENT telephone appointments you must ring on a morning at 8am.
At night or at weekends you will hear a recorded message when you telephone the surgery. This will give details of how to contact 111 in the event of an emergency. Please make every effort to contact the surgery during normal surgery hours.
Routine Appointments
We have available pre-bookable appointments up to 12 weeks in advance for non- urgent and routine conditions. These appointments can be booked throughout the day to avoid long delays when calling the surgery.
Please don't call at 8am if your need for an appointment is not urgent. This is so that patients with urgent, same day, appointment requests can be dealt with promptly. For routine appointments we advise that you to ring after 11am as we can be more responsive once urgent demand has been dealt with.
Appointments advice / information
Before you make an appointment we would ask you to take a moment to ask yourself whether you really need to see a doctor. Many illnesses are short lived and self limiting, and only need commonsense remedies to relieve symptoms. Advice is easily available from your local chemist.
Children under the age of 16 must have an adult with them.
If you have been receiving dental treatment and you have a problem that is linked to that you must go to a dentist appointment for follow up treatment even if it is an infection or pain. If your dentist does not have any emergency appointments left call 111 who can direct you to a Emergency dentist locally.
Please remember the following points:
- Try to arrive on time for your appointment.
- Let us know if you are unable to attend your appointment.
- Try not to save up multiple problems for one appointment. If you require a longer appointment please ask when booking.
- Remember to make a separate appointment for each person needing to see the doctor: one appointment = one person.
Our opening times are here
Need an appointment outside normal surgery hours?
There are appointments available on weekends and evenings for all Darlington patients.
Please read more here
If you need help when we are closed
- Use NHS 111 online (111.nhs.uk) or call 111. 111 online is for people aged 5 and over. Call 111 if you need help for a child under 5.
- Out of hours information
- If it’s a life-threatening emergency call 999.
Telephone Advice Appointments
If you feel as though your problem is something that you do not have to be examined for, e.g. results, discussing medications etc, you can ask for a telephone appointment.
Read more on telephone appointments here
Cancelling or changing an appointment
If you cannot make your appointment let us know as soon as you can so another patient can book the appointment time.
If you are cancelling an appointmentplease telephone us as soon as possible, and at least 30 minutes before your consultation time. This will enable us to offer it to someone else.
You can cancel your appointment online using:
You can also let us know by responding to your reminder text message.
Read more about cancelling or changing an appointment here
Online Consultation Access
carmelmedicalcentre.webgp.com
Booking appointments online via SystmOnline
To book an appointment online you will need a username and password. You will need to bring in photo ID as proof of identity (if you already use SystmOnline for repeat prescriptions, this is unnecessary).
Login here once you have an account
Try the NHS App
You can now use the NHS App, a simple and secure way to access a range of NHS services and your GP account on your smartphone or tablet.
You can use the NHS App to check your symptoms and get instant advice, order repeat prescriptions, view your GP medical record, access your Covid vaccination status and more.
If you already use online access you can continue to use it. You can use the NHS App as well.
For more information go to www.nhs.uk/nhsapp
Home Visits
Please try to come to the surgery whenever possible as facilities here are far better for examination and treatment. If you feel that you are too ill to attend the surgery, please telephone before 10.00am to allow the doctors to plan their visits in order of priority. Requests after this time are for emergencies only.
The receptionists will ask you for a few details about your symptoms to allow the doctor to assess the urgency of the call.
Please remember that on average we can see five patients in the surgery in the time it takes to do one home visit.
We are under no obligation to visit you because of “lack of transport”. It is your responsibility to arrange transport to the surgery whenever possible.
Emergency Home Visits
Should you need a home visit on a evening or weekend when the surgery is closed. Please call 111. Who can arrange home visits for you from the out of hours service.