The Patient Champion guide on making an on-line booking appointment with your doctor
The three Doctors' Practices in the Waterside Primary Care Network (WPCN) are implementing a new way for patients to book an appointment with their doctor using an on-line strategy called Accurx; a system that lets you create an appointment request which is then reviewed and prioritised for urgency by the Practice.
Click on the link below for online access to your Practice website:
-
Red and Green Practice – Request an appointment
-
The Waterfront and Solent Practice – Accurx patient request
-
Forestside Medical Practice – Continue to use the NHS App for non-urgent requests or phone for urgent concerns.
Patients should be aware that appointments can be used up, as there are only a finite number of doctors to provide support for on-line requests and for face to face appointments. Patients will be allocated a GP appointment based on the urgency of their medical condition or they may be referred to the Urgent Care facility at Hythe Hospital.
If a patient does not have access to a device to use, to request an appointment, they may either phone the Practice to request an appointment or visit the surgery and speak with the receptionist to request help.
For out-of-hours support, contact NHS 111 for advice and guidance.
You can also reach out to the Waterside Health and Wellbeing Team for personalised support:
See the guide below about taking responsibility for maintaining your own health and wellbeing and knowing when to see your GP including information provided by the WPCN Health and Well-being Team.
🩺 A Guide to Maintaining Your Health and Wellbeing and Knowing When to See Your GP
Introduction
Have you ever wondered how much control you really have over your own health and
wellbeing? The answer is — more than you might think. This guide offers practical, step-by-step ways to take charge of your health at your own pace. You’ll find simple self-help strategies and advice on recognising when it’s time to contact your GP for a face-to-face appointment — and when self-care might be the right first step.
🌿 Self-Help Tools for Maintaining Your Health and Wellbeing
Taking care of yourself isn’t about drastic changes — it’s about building small, consistent habits that support your body and mind. The Waterside Health and Wellbeing Team has shared these helpful links and tips to get you started:
🏃 Physical Activity
Find a type of movement you enjoy — whether that’s brisk walking, yoga, or dancing
around your kitchen. Regular activity supports both physical and mental health.
👉 Why is exercise so important?
🥗 Balanced Nutrition
A balanced diet with fruits, vegetables, lean proteins, and whole grains makes a real
difference. Try using a food diary or nutrition app to stay on track.
💧 Hydration
Are you drinking enough water? Aim for 6–8 glasses daily. Keeping a bottle nearby and
setting reminders can help.
🌙 Quality Sleep
Prioritise a consistent bedtime and a calm wind-down routine — reading or listening to
soft music can help.
🧘 Mental Wellbeing
Take time to check in on your mental health. Try mindfulness, journaling, or gratitude
exercises.
🔍 Regular Self-Checks
Know what’s “normal” for you. Tracking changes and symptoms can help spot early
warning signs.
🕒 When Should You See Your GP?
Your GP practice has a limited number of doctors available to respond to both in-person
and online requests. Online requests use the same pool of doctors, so each practice must balance availability carefully.
Sometimes, self-care and online apps can only go so far. Here’s what to know before
requesting a GP appointment.
💻 Online GP Booking
Accurx System
The Waterside practices are developing an online GP booking strategy using Accurx —a system that lets you create an appointment request which is then reviewed and prioritised by urgency.
Click on the link below for online access to your Practice website:
-
Red and Green Practice – Request an appointment
-
The Waterfront and Solent Practice – Accurx patient request
-
Forestside Medical Practice – Continue to use the NHS App for non-urgent requests or phone for urgent concerns.
💬 What to Expect from Practices Using Accurx
Accurx helps GP practices streamline and modernise their appointment system by:
-
Enabling online appointment requests via website, text, or email.
-
Sending secure booking links by SMS for convenient self-booking.
-
Automating appointment reminders and confirmations.
-
Allowing pre-appointment questionnaires to improve consultation efficiency.
-
Integrating with patient records for accuracy and continuity of care.
-
Supporting video or telephone consultations when appropriate.
-
Gathering patient feedback to improve services.
This approach helps make healthcare more accessible, efficient, and patient-centred.
⚠ When to Book an Appointment
You should contact your GP if you experience:
-
Persistent or worsening pain
-
Unexplained weight loss or gain
-
Changes in bowel or bladder habits
-
New lumps, growths, or skin changes
-
Low mood or anxiety not improving with self-help
-
Shortness of breath, chest pain, or palpitations
-
Long-lasting fever, night sweats, or unexplained fatigue
-
Frequent infections or recurring illness
-
Questions about vaccinations, screenings, or ongoing conditions.
If you’re unsure, it’s always best to check in with your doctor. No concern is too small if
it affects your wellbeing.
For out-of-hours support, contact NHS 111 for advice and guidance.
You can also reach out to the Waterside Health and Wellbeing Team for personalised
support:
👉 Waterside Health and Wellbeing Team
🌟 Conclusion
Your health is in your hands — one step at a time. Whether you’re trying a new app,
adjusting your routine, or booking a GP appointment, every action you take is a positive
move toward better wellbeing.
The Patient Champion IT 4 Health team are available to support patients in using the NHS App. You may feel that because you are already using 'Patient Access' you don't need to consider downloading the NHS App. However the intention is to improve the App and make it easier to use for a wide range of health care needs.
Would you like to know more about the NHS App as it develops as part of the single patient record to be used by all health care providers? Read about this in the Easy Read Guide outlining changes to the NHS.
An evening afloat
We had hoped it would be a sunny evening cruise up through Southampton docks and up the Itchen River to the bridge. The sun never appeared but we stayed ahead of the rain and enjoyed the evening out on the Alison MacGregor
Click on the name to find out more about this charity.
Some were offered the opportunity to pilot the boat, under the watchful eye of the expert!
Here are pictures of the walk at Bucklers Hard in November.
You are invited to join any of the walks for exercise, company and walking your dog, if you have one. Details of the walks may be found under the heading on the menu bar activities we offer elsewhere on the website.
Details of upcoming activities
You are invited to visit the Healthy Haven Garden, to sit, relax and contemplate life. However if you feel so moved and are either a gardener or would like to know more about gardening, you might think about joining the group of volunteers who work together to maintain the garden.
The garden is situated behind the Red & Green Waterslide GP practice.
Activities we offer
The Patient Champions are a group of volunteers, representative of each of the Doctors' Practices in the Waterside Primary Care Network. (WPCN)
Using our local knowledge and with the support of the doctors across the WPCN we have been asked to provide a range of socially based activities to help promote the health and wellbeing of patients and which reflect the interests they have that promote a health aware community.
We are interested in your ideas about the activities that you would like to see and you can tell us about your ideas by clicking on the 'Contact us' heading in the menu list in the header above.
We will also provide links to the latest NHS self-care sites that will allow patients to research how to promote their own healthy lifestyle and the actions they are able to take. Click on this link Kick Start your health to go directly to the App in the Health & wellbeing section of the site.
We will provide details of activities as they become available each month. See the next section below for a general description for each activity. You can find out up to date information about all our activities at the Drop in Coffee Morning sessions. We look forward to welcoming you to our next coffee morning.
The Drop in Coffee Mornings are held in St John's Hall Hythe. Dates for 2025 are shown below:
Dates for 2025:
30th January
27th February
27th March
24th April
29th May
26th June
24th July
28th August
25th September
30th October
27th November
December - no meeting
We meet between 11.30 & 13.30. Come when you can, leave when you must. Just turn up and enjoy the opportunity to chat and meet with people and enjoy a cup of tea or coffee.
The Book Buddies, The Patient Champion Book Club meets regularly on the second Tuesday of each month between 14.00 & 16.00 in St John's Hall, in Marchwood which is situated in the Churchyard. (Please note the venue is Marchwood not Hythe.) There are 15 places available overall, but please let us know of your intention to attend by using the contact us form you can find by clicking the link in the header of the site.
The Walking Group meets on the 1st Friday of every month. Meet in the car park at Dibden Enclosure at 12.00. You may bring your dog with you to enjoy the walk but you don't need a dog to join the group and are very welcome if you would just like to walk in the company of others.
News update on the walking programme
We have agreed to add a walk to the 3rd Friday of each month and to start with, we will alternate between 2 walks. See the details below:
1. The first walk will be on Friday the 15th of August and we will meet at Gang Warily car park in Blackfield at 12pm.The walk will take us from Gang Warily to Ashlett and back roughly about 4 miles.
2. The second walk will take place on Friday the 19th of September and we will meet at Ashlett Creak and walk to Calshot and back, again roughly about 4 miles. Always weather dependant.
We will still continue with our Dibden Enclosure walk on the 1st Friday of each month.
The IT 4 Health Group: Please note the IT 4 Health team sessions have been combined with 'Drop in Coffee Sessions'. There are no future sessions in the library so if you would like help with any issue regarding your IT devices when using Patient Access or the NHS App please come to one of the sessions in St Johns Hall at any of the dates shown above.
The topics we are able to support include reviewing how IT provides the basis for researching health issues and the different ways to access the NHS App and how it may be used to overcome some of the security issues associated with Patient Access.
Patient Access has added an additional level of security suggesting that users download an Authenticator App. This has proved difficult for some patients and the IT for Health Team is able to suggest alternatives to two factor authentication to help maintain the security of Patient Access and the NHS App including the use of biometric access to your account.
We can keep you in touch with information about activities as they are planned. To allow us to contact you, please provide the contact details shown in the flier on the left by using the 'Contact us' form at the top of the page and indicating the activities you would find interesting.
We look forward to hearing from you.
Details of current activities
If you are interested in any of the activities shown below please use the 'contact us' form to ask for details
Next Event
For dates of future coffee mornings scroll up the page to see a full list of dates through to November 2025.
We meet between 11.30 & 13.30 in
St John's Hall Hythe
The group meets on the 1st Friday of each month in the car park of Dibden Enclosure at 12.00. The walks are planned to allow access for a range of mobility issues.
A different book is chosen for each meeting. If you are interested in finding out about the current book being read, contact the group by using the Contact Us Form on the website.
The Waterside Book Club meets on the 2nd Tuesday of each month, in the church hall of St John's Church in Marchwood.
The Patient Champions IT Team provides support for patients wishing to find out more about how they can make effective use of the information on the internet to maintain their health and wellbeing.
We do this either individually or in group sessions to promote the use of the NHS and Patient Access Apps.
Patient Access and the NHS App allow you to order repeat prescriptions, and review your health record and for some practices book a GP session. See the column on the right to read about the benefits about the NHS App.
You can find the NHS App in the Apple App store or GooglePlay
Let us know about the help you would like by using the ‘contact us’ form on the website at:
www.wpcnpatientchampions.co.uk/contact
The Benefits of Using the NHS App
The NHS App is a simple, secure way to access a wide range of NHS services – all from your smartphone or tablet. Whether you’re managing a long-term condition, requesting repeat prescriptions or just looking for faster, easier access to your health information, the NHS App puts you in control of your healthcare.
Key Benefits for Patients:
Order repeat prescriptions Save time by requesting repeat prescriptions securely and checking when they’re ready to collect.
View your medical records Instantly access parts of your health record, including test results, vaccinations, allergies, and medicines.
Check symptoms and get NHS-verified advice Use the NHS 111 online service through the app to get trusted medical advice, fast.
Stay informed about your health Receive reminders for screenings, vaccinations, and health checks.
Safe, secure, and confidential Your personal health information is protected using the highest NHS security standards.
Why It Matters:
The NHS App supports you to take an active role in your health and care. Whether you're managing your wellbeing day-to-day, preparing for a doctor’s visit, or needing urgent advice, the app is designed to make your healthcare experience more convenient and efficient.