General Information

The Surgery was probably built around 1700 and is a Grade 2 listed building. Part of the building has been a doctor's house and surgery since 1820, the other half was at one time the town house of the Marquis of Ripon. Our practice has occupied the building since the early 1960s and we carried out extensive renovations in 1985. Disabled access is provided The practice is a member of the Craven, Harrogate and Rural Primary Care Trust.

If you require an appointment, please ring Ripon 692337 between 8am and 6pm or call at the surgery. The Practice runs an appointment system, but urgent cases will always be seen on the same day. Please call as early as possible if you need to be seen urgently. If you cannot keep an appointment, please let us know as soon as possible so that it can be allocated to someone else. If you feel that you need a longer appointment than usual, please ask one of our receptionists.

If you are unable to come to the surgery for a medical reason and need a home visit, please telephone the surgery before 10am. Emergencies will be seen as soon as possible. If you are prepared to come to the surgery, arrangements can be made for you to be seen urgently. Generally it is quite safe to bring your child to the surgery with a temperature or rash and you may be asked to do this. Please only ask for a home visit if you really cannot come to the surgery. The doctors can see three times as many patients in the surgery as they can on visits, and also have access to better diagnostic equipment in the surgery.

In an emergency, a doctor can always be contacted by telephoning the surgery number, Ripon 692337 (24hrs). If you call outside normal opening hours (8am to 6pm Monday to Friday) you will be put through to the Out-of-hours services. This is the local cooperative of fully trained GPs in nearby practices run from headquarters in York. The telephonist will take your details and pass them on to the doctor on call who will ring you back.
Please remember that the “on call ” doctor has already done a full day's work and usually has to work the next day, so restrict night visits to problems which really cannot wait until normal surgery hours.
If you are not sure whether you should call a doctor, do not forget that you can always ring NHS direct on 0845-4647 for 24 hour nurse led telephone advice. Alternatively visit the NHS direct web site

If you are on regular medication you may obtain a repeat prescription by calling at the surgery, telephoning, or writing and enclosing a stamped addressed envelope. Normally one month's supply will be issued. Please allow 48 hours advance notice for the prescription to be prepared during normal working hours (Mon - Fri). Please bring or post your computerised repeat prescription slip with a tick against the drugs you require. These slips may be left in the box on the reception counter. At the bottom of the slip will be found the date that you should see the doctor for a review of your medication. Arrangements can be maded for your prescription to be collected from a local pharmacy

Patients who live more than a mile from a chemist may obtain their medicines from our dispensary. We are unable to dispense medication for other patients because of government restricictions. The same guidelines for repeat prescriptions apply as above. There is no repeat dispensing on Saturday mornings as only one receptionist is on duty.

All new patients are offered a health check on registration. Health promotion is very high on our list of priorities and as a result we run various clinics where you can obtain a full health check. Please bring a urine sample with you when you attend for a health check

A full range of family planning services is provided. In order to accommodate our patients as much as possible, family planning advice can be obtained from a doctor or the Practice Nurse during any of the normal surgeries. Please see Dr Joy Fletcher if you are interested in being fitted with an IUCD (coil) or a cap (diaphragm).

Monday 9.00 - 11.00 run by the midwives. For full details of maternity services, click here

This is held on Wednesdays 1.15 - 3.30. It is run by Dr Bramley and the Practice Nurse.

Child health clinics are run by the Health Visitor on Wednesdays (by appointment) and Thursdays 9.00 to 11.00. They are also held at the Yellow Ribbon Club on Tuesdays 9.00 - 11.00.

Well man/woman checks, asthma checks, and health checks for over 75s and those on hormone replacement therapy can be arranged with the practice nurse by enquiring at reception.

All of the doctors are able to carry out a wide range of minor surgical procedures by arrangement. These are usually carried out at Ripon Hospital. If you have a wart or verruca needing attention, these are treated with liquid nitrogen at Ripon Hospital by the nurse practitioners You will need a referral from your GP in order to make an appointment..

The practice has been approved as a training practice and is involved in the teaching of newly qualified doctors who are spending usually six months in the practice as GP registrars before becoming fully fledged GPs. They will be under the supervision of Dr Ingram who is the approved trainer. We believe that a committment to teaching will help us all keep up to date and should help us to provide good quality care for all our patients.

We are able to offer a full service to screen those with loss of hearing. Please see the practice nurse.

Dr Charles Fletcher and Dr Ingram have a special interest in diving medicine and have been approved to carry out all types of diving medicals. Please arrange sub-aqua medicals with the receptionists and commercial diving/HSE medicals directly with the doctors.

We have been approved as a Yellow Fever Centre and are able to offer this among our full range of vaccinations.

Patients may park in the Ripon Community Hospital car park in the allocated spaces. Please do not park in the road by the surgery or in the swimming baths car park.

Because of the unpredictable nature of General Practice there are times when an appointment system does not work and you may have to wait. We are sorry for these delays and try our best to prevent them.

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