Urgent appointments at FMC

In light of the increasing pressure on appointments at FMC and in order to adapt to our staffing fluctuations many of you may have already noticed some changes to the way we manage appointments. We are well aware of the waiting times for non urgent appointments and thank you for your continued patience. In order to ensure appropriate triaging of more urgent matters our reception and nursing staff have been undergoing further training in triage and we will be working hard to ensure that on the day appointments are available for true urgent matters, with opportunities for alternative appointments to be made more available for things not needing to be seen on the day. Reception staff have been equipped with new skills to better start this triage process and so may ask you some simple questions about the nature of the appointment and its urgency. We understand some people may feel uncomfortable with this – we take this opportunity to remind the community that patient confidentiality is a priority at FMC and front desk staff abide by the same rules. None the less, should you or reception feel that a discussion with a nurse would be better you will be offered a call back for more advanced triaging. This will endeavour to replace our ‘first in best dressed’ approach which is no longer fit for purpose.

Thanks for your kindness when dealing with our hard working staff as they implement the new system.