Welcome
We are a small friendly city centre surgery run by NHS Lothian, looking after approximately 5,500 patients. Our surgery is located in Tollcross, next to Tollcross Fire Station. We are a well established team of doctors, nurses and reception/administration staff. Other visiting health professionals including pharmacists also work in our practice.
With patients' needs at the heart of everything we do, our website has been designed to make it easy for you to gain instant access to the information you need. As well as specific practice details such as opening hours and how to register, you’ll find useful pages covering a wide range of health issues along with links to other relevant medical organisations.
A letter explaining the current state of General Practice is available to read. Please click on the link -
GP Support Letter
Please help us by getting the right care in the right place by:
searching NHSInform.Scot for self-help advice on common symptoms and a guide to local services and opening times
visiting your local pharmacy first to help treat minor illnesses, many can provide consultations without an appointment and prescribe medicines previously only available from your GP
calling the GP practice for routine or urgent care during normal opening hours
contacting your dentist for dental problems or an optician for eye problems
calling 111, day or night, for minor injuries advice and treatment or for urgent care when your GP or dental practice is closed
dialing 999 or attend A&E ONLY in a critical emergency
APPOINTMENT INFORMATION
Our Practice is open Monday to Friday 8am to 6pm. Tel no 0131 536 9898
We are now offering a choice of telephone consultations or face to face appointments. Our number of face to face appointments have recently been increased. When booking an appointment please ask for the type of appointment you would prefer. Our reception team will guide you if they think that you should book a face to face consultation instead of a telephone consultation.
We ask that you treat all of our staff with respect when speaking with them. We are here to help you as best we can and will do so as circumstances allow.
If you require to speak to a GP about an existing issue, please ask to speak to the same GP you have already been dealing with as this is better for continuity of care.
WHY DO RECEPTIONISTS ASK QUESTIONS?
GP reception staff are a vital part of the health care team and are there to help with enquiries. You don't have to tell them anything that makes you uncomfortable, however, they can help you get the most appropriate appointment as quickly as possible. Information gathered by the receptionist can help the GP to triage patient calls more efficiently. All the information they handle is treated confidentially.
If you have a hearing impairment or other communication difficulty you can contact us by e-mail - repeat.polwarth@nhslothian.scot.nhs.uk
OTHER SERVICES WHICH COULD HELP YOU
Many problems can be dealt with by other professionals.
PHARMACY -Many health conditions can be managed by your local pharmacy. Pharmacy First is a new service. Before contacting the practice please click on the information link below to find out whether your condition could be treated by a pharmacist.
OPTICIAN - Local opticians will help with any eye problems. An optician has the correct equipment to enable examination of your eyes.
DENTIST - Any problems with your mouth or teeth should be dealt with by your dentist. They have the correct equipment to examine your mouth and can also prescribe.
EAR SYRINGING - Patients can now self refer for ear syringing to the local CTAC (Community Treatment and Care Centre) situated at Sighthill Health Centre. To book an appointment please phone them. There is an automated telephone service and you will need to leave your name, date of birth, address and say that you are registered at Polwarth Medical Practice. The phone no is 0300 790 6296. You will then receive an appointment by post. Treating your ears with oil for at least 2 weeks is still the initial recommended non - intervention treatment.
MINOR INJURY UNIT - Minor injuries can be assessed by Call MIA (Minor Injury Asessment). This can be accessed by phoning NHS24 on 111. The line is open 24 hours a day, 7 days per week. Call MIA will give advice over the phone, or using an online video service accessed from a mobile, tablet or computer with webcam. If they need to examine you they will schedule you an appointment at a minor injuries service. Appointments are available between 10am - 10pm, 7 days a week.
Children under 12 years old with a minor injury should attend one of the services at Royal Hospital for Sick Children, Western General Hospital or St John's Hospital. If under 1 year old should attend the Emergency Department at Royal Hospital for Sick Children or St John's Hospital
Call MIA is available to patients with injuries that are less than 5 days old. Injuries it can advise on include:
strains, sprains and suspected broken bones to limbs only ( not back,chest or abdomen )
wounds and minor burns (not to face, groin or hands)
minor bumps to head and face (with no vomiting or loss of consciousness )
simple eye injuries
insect bites and stings with localised swelling and no evidence of allergic reaction
PHYSIOTHERAPY - If you have muscle or joint problems you can self refer to Physiotherapy. Further information on the attachments - Referral Poster Self Referral Form
PHYSIOTHERAPY - If you have low back pain below your rib cage, are between 18-65 and are not pregnant you can get immediate advice for lower back pain from a new digital back pain clinic which is being trialed by the Physiotherapy Dept. Double click on the link and scroll down to lower back pain and sign up for the Flok health register. You should receive immediate help once you have registered on the app. LOWER BACK PAIN
PHYSIOTHERAPY FOR CHILDREN - Physiotherapists are experts in how bodies move and develop. The can help children from birth to 18 years old. Look at their website for further information on how to get advice. Childrens Physio Patient Helplines and Information CHILD PHYSIO WEBSITE
NHS INFORM - The NHS INFORM website has a lot of information and advice about health matters - NHS INFORM WEBSITE LINK
BSL NHS INFORM - The NHS INFORM website has a lot of information translated into British Sign Language Videos - BSL NHS INFORM
BSL CONTACT - contactSCOTLAND-BSL is a service which can be accessed on demand by BSL users to communicate with staff for shorter periods of time - for example communicating with reception staff - this is funded by the Scottish Government. BSL contact SCOTLAND
PREGNANCY - You do not need to see your GP if you have done a home pregnancy test. You can refer yourself directly to your midwife by calling 0131 536 2009. You will be given the date of your first appointment with your midwife and the date for your early pregnancy scan.
TRAVEL VACCINATIONS and INFORMATION- Travel vaccines are no longer given in the practice. There is a new NHS Travel Clinic based at Western General Hospital. See their website for more details TRAVEL CLINIC WEBSITE . Please note that as per NHS Lothian's guidelines we no longer prescribe Diazepam for fear of flying. For further details use the following link - Diazepam for Flying Information
SEXUAL HEALTH CLINIC - There are various sexual health clinics in Lothian. Appointments can be made directly by phoning 0131 536 1070 or using the online booking system - www.lothiansexualhealth.scot/book-an-appointment/ Appointments can be made for Long Acting Contraception advice/procedures and for STI testing.
There are currently Healthy Respect walk in clinics for 13-18year olds. These are held at Chalmers Clinic, 2a Chalmers Street, EH3 9ES - Monday to Thursday 3.30pm to 7pm and Friday 1pm to 3.30pm.
EATING DISORDERS - If you are having problems with an eating disorder or worried about someone who is, then look at the following website for some help and information https://www.beateatingdisorders.org.uk/
MENTAL HEALTH - If you are affected by mental health challenges or care for someone who does, The Mental Health Information Station can help. They provide a free weekly drop-in session at Walpole Hall, Palmerston Place, EH12 5AW on Thursdays from 10am - 3pm. No appointment is necessary. Look at the leaflet for further information.
Thrive Edinburgh, Space Broomhouse Hub, Broomhouse Crescent, EH11 3RH also offer a weekly drop -in session on Fridays from 9.30am - 3pm (last conversation of the day is 2.15pm)
Mental Health Information Station Leaflet Mental Health Information Station Newsletter
Thrive Edinburgh
COVID VACCINATION STATUS (as at 26th May 2021)
People will be able access their Covid-19 Vaccine Status online, by logging on to www.nhsinform.scot/covid19status.
People who have lost or forgotten their username or password will be able to create new ones by selecting 'forgot username' or 'forgot password' options. A Freephone Covid Status Helpline will allow people to get the record posted to them.
The helpline number is 0808 196 8565.
Please do not contact the practice regarding vaccination status as we are unable to provide the information you require.
PRESCRIPTIONS
Where possible your prescription should be collected from your local pharmacy rather than the practice. Please let us know which pharmacy you use.
Repeat prescriptions can be ordered via this website or by e-mailing - Repeat.polwarth@nhs.scot Please do not use the prescription e-mail address for clinical queries as we are unable to respond by e-mail. If you have a clinical query phone us on 0131 536 9898.
SHARED CARE AND MONITORING - PRIVATE SECTOR
From July 2024 we will no longer be able to take on prescribing and monitoring of shared-care medications or specialist monitoring of certain medical conditions for any patients with a diagnosis made in the private sector. These shared-care medications and/or conditions require specialist monitoring and review. Many of these medications are either only licensed for specialist prescribing or prescribed outside of their licensed use. Medications prescribed privately for ADHD, gender incongruence, Isotretinoin for severe acne, monitoring after private bariatric surgery are some examples.
This decision has been agreed across GP practices in Lothian and supported by the Lothian Medical Committee. We are happy to discuss referral to the relevant NHS clinic for an NHS diagnosis. Once you have been seen in the clinic and have an NHS diagnosis and medication recommendation we can then prescribe. We cannot prescribe in the interim period. Patient safety is the priority. This is good medical practice and safe prescribing.
METHADONE PRESCRIBING
Our practice does not currently prescribe Methadone or other substitute prescriptions.
FEEDBACK
We hope you enjoy having a look around the site and familiarising yourself with some of the online features such as ordering a repeat prescription. This is our first website, so please bear with us if you find any faults. We will add to it over the coming months. Whatever your thoughts, be sure to let us know via our feedback function. Comments and suggestions are always a great way of helping us continue to enhance the way we look after you.
ACCESS
There is a lift to take you to the 1st floor where the surgery is located.
CAR PARK
There is a small patient car -park for users of the Health Centre. There are disabled parking spaces and a few non disabled spaces. Please put your car registration details into the computer at reception when you arrive to prevent being issued with a parking fine. This applies even if you are only parking for a few minutes to allow you to collect a prescription or make an appointment. Your registration number must be entered into the computer every time you park in the car park.
If you do receive a parking fine and you were parked legitimately, please bring the parking fine letter in to reception and we can arrange for it to be cancelled.
(Site updated 15/10/2024)