Home Visits
How do I request a home visit?
At Westrop Medical Practice, we have a home visit policy. This governs our approach to attending patients outside our usual premises and is in line with our contractual obligations.
We welcome home visit requests from our housebound and bedbound patients.
If you feel that you or a relative require a home visit for any reason, please contact the surgery and one of our patient coordinators will be happy to help. Please try and do this before 10.30AM for urgent same day requests.
We would be grateful if you could provide as much information as possible. This will be passed to the clinical assessor. They will contact you by telephone to discuss your case further. If they decide a home visit is appropriate, they will schedule this within a suitable timeframe according to the medical need. This may not necessarily be on the same day.
Please be advised, there may be situations where the clinician feels that a patient would be better managed by an alternative healthcare provider. Where this is the case, they will inform you of the most appropriate action. This may include self-help, referral to the community pharmacy or direct admission to hospital.
Please note, it is not mandatory for us to assess a patient in-person before referring to another specialist or admitting to hospital.
Who is eligible for a home visit?
Home visits are reserved for housebound patients.
This group is normally limited to those with terminal illness, bedbound or those who are too unwell to leave their home and where doing so would lead to avoidable harm.
We kindly ask all other patients to make arrangements to attend their appointments in person.
Ask yourself, would the patient be expected to attend a hospital outpatient appointment or diagnostic test in person? If yes, then they should be attending the surgery too.
What can I do if I find attending the surgery difficult?
We understand that attending the surgery can be difficult for some people. If you have a particular reason why you need assistance, such as a family member who is only available for transport at certain times, then please speak with us and we will do our best to accommodate you.
Our facilities are wheelchair and mobility accessible. We also have our own wheelchairs on-site which can be used as needed. Our staff are trained to help with these. Please ask on arrival.
Unfortunately, we cannot accommodate home visit requests for personal or convenience issues such as lack of transportation, cost of transportation, childcare or adverse weather.
We do not consider advanced age or reduced mobility to be sufficient reason not to attend. With appropriate assistance, this group of patients can be seen in person.
Please note, we do not offer a transportation service.
Local taxi firms are available for people with mobility difficulties. We ask that you communicate with them directly to discuss your own needs. We can provide contact details if needed.
Why do you have a home visit policy?
With increasing demand on our healthcare system, we have a duty to ensure that we are providing the most cost-effective and resource efficient service.
In the time taken for a single home visit, a clinician can consult with up to 6 patients. Thus, inappropriate home visiting results in longer waiting times for everyone.
Seeing patients outside a healthcare environment is also associated with other problems, these include but are not limited to:
- Inability to examine patients properly
- Lack of access to appropriate equipment
- Reduced hygiene
- Inability to access health records for further information
- No point-of-care testing
- Delay to prescribing treatment
- Delay to referring to urgent care
- Safety risk for our staff
- No chaperones for intimate examinations
Our policy has been developed with our Patient Participation Group (PPG) who represent you. They have agreed that our policy is appropriate and necessary, so that we are able to provide the best care possible for the benefit of our community.
What do I do if I am refused a home visit?
If you are refused a home visit, you will be offered an alternative healthcare solution suitable for your needs, as determined by the clinical assessor.
If you are not satisfied with the outcome, then please put your complaint in writing, addressed to the Operations Manager at your registered surgery. We will investigate and return correspondence as soon as reasonably possible.
If you are refused a home visit and your health deteriorates, then please contact us again for a re-assessment. Out of hours, contact 111. If you are very unwell, contact 999 for further advice.
