Alert: **Important Update: Changes to How You Book GP Appointments – Effective 10th November 2025**

Following the new GP contract changes introduced on 1st October 2025, GP practices must now keep their online consultation system open Monday to Friday, 8:00am to 6:30pm (excluding bank holidays).

Since this change, demand for GP appointments has tripled, and in order to continue providing safe and timely care, we are moving to a Total Triage model.

What This Means for You

From Monday, 10th November 2025, the following changes will apply:

• All requests for a GP appointment will need to be triaged by a GP first.
• Patients will no longer be able to pre-book GP appointments directly with reception.
* You will be asked to complete an online consultation form
* If you are unable to complete the form yourself, our reception team will help you by completing it on your behalf.
• Once your form has been reviewed, a GP will assess your request and determine the most appropriate next step.
This may include:
* A same-day, next-day, or later appointment with a GP (depending on clinical need)
* An appointment with another clinician (e.g. nurse, pharmacist, physiotherapist, etc.)
* Referral to an external service such as Pharmacy First, Minor Eye Care, or Talking Therapies etc.

The GP’s decision following this assessment will determine the outcome offered by reception.

Why We’re Making This Change

The Total Triage model is already used successfully across many GP practices in the UK.
It ensures that every patient gets the right help, at the right time, in the right place, from the right clinician or service.
This approach allows us to manage the growing demand more safely and effectively.

Other Appointments

There are no changes to how you book appointments with our:

* Nurses
* Mental Health Practitioners
* Phlebotomists
* Social Prescribers
* Physiotherapists
and other allied health professionals.

Home Page

Welcome to
Forge Close Surgery

About Forge Close Surgery

This website has been designed to tell you about the Practice and the services that we offer. We hope that you will find it helpful and informative.

Forge Close Surgery is a well-established NHS General Practice in Hayes, Kent. We have two GP partners and three part-time salaried doctors, two practice nurse prescribers. The Practice is forward thinking and highly computerised; we aim to use information technology innovatively to enhance the care of our patients. We are part of the South East London Integrated Care Board (ICB).

Our patients are registered with the Practice and are free to consult with any of our doctors. We aim to provide the highest quality of services available to improve the health of our patients.


If you cannot contact us, or when the Surgery is closed:

•    Life-threatening emergency or serious injury: call 999 or go to your nearest Accident & Emergency Department

•    Other injury or urgent need for treatment: go to your nearest Urgent Care Centre

•    If you are unwell and need medical help: visit NHS 111 online or call 111

•    For expert advice and medicines: visit your local pharmacy

•    Mental health emergency: visit NHS 111 online

What NHS 111 cannot do:

•    Issue fit notes. You need to contact the surgery for these

•    Make or cancel appointments for you in other parts of the NHS

Other ways to contact NHS 111:

•    If you need help in other languages, call 111 and ask for an interpreter or

•    For BSL use signvideo.co.uk/nhs111

NHS 111 is available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Calls are free from landlines and mobile phones.

In case of a life-threatening emergency, please dial 999.

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Online Services

You can use the NHS App to check your symptoms and get instant advice, book appointments, order repeat prescriptions, view your GP medical record and more.

Get Started

NHS App messaging is a new service which allows you to receive an in-app message where you would normally receive a message via a more traditional channel, like SMS.

It is your choice whether to receive messages in this way. In order to have this choice, please switch on NHS App notifications on your device, so that you are prompted to read the message in the app. This can be done in the NHS App or in the device settings. Notification preferences may take 24 hours to take effect.

If a message is not successfully delivered to the NHS App, you will still receive the message via another channel, such as SMS.

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Contact Your GP Online
We have added a link to the NHS England You and Your General Practice page to help you better understand how general practice works and how we can work together to make your care as effective and supportive as possible.

This guide explains:
* What you can expect from us as your GP practice.
* What we ask from you to help us deliver fair and efficient care.
* How you can share feedback or raise concerns.

It’s all about clear communication, mutual respect, and making sure everyone gets the best from their GP services. We encourage all our patients to take a few minutes to read it – it’s a helpful resource for understanding your rights, responsibilities, and how we can support your health and wellbeing.

The publication is available in multiple languages and can be viewed on the same page. Please note that it may take a few minutes for the translated versions to open in your browser.

Your feedback is important to us.
Your views really matter to us and help us improve the care we provide. If you would prefer, you can also share your feedback with the NHS South East London Integrated Care Board (ICB) or through your local Healthwatch.

You can do so by contacting them directly or by clicking the link below to visit their website.

Visit the ICB website: Contact us – NHS South East London

Visit your local Healthwatch website: Home | Healthwatch Bromley

Please note, that if you share a concern with us and we think it needs to be handled as a formal complaint, we’ll let you know and make sure it’s managed through our usual complaints process.