Appointments

Most of our appointments are face to face, however telephone and video consultations using NEAR ME are available. NEAR ME is really easy to use and can be accessed by smartphone, tablet or computer.

All appointments with GPs, Advanced Nurse Practitioners and nurses are by appointment only and can be made by telephone between 8.30a.m. - 5.00p.m.

DO NOT ATTEND THE PRACTICE TO MAKE AN APPOINTMENT - PLEASE TELEPHONE, YOUR CALL WILL BE PUT IN A QUEUE BUT WHEN WE ARE BUSY WE DO HAVE A NUMBER OF STAFF ANSWERING THE TELEPHONE.

Our administration staff will ask you a number of questions regarding the reason for your appointment. We require them to do this, to ensure your appointment is made with the most appropriate member of our healthcare team. The most appropriate person will often be one of our Advanced Nurse Practitioners, Alicia, Liz, Elaine or Kerry can assist you with many health issues. Our nursing team are also highly skilled and we delegate many routine tasks to them.

Text Messages

We do send text messages to remind patients of their appointments. We also use text messaging to invite patients for annual reviews and when we need to send important messages to individuals or large groups of patients.

Cancellations

If you cannot attend an appointment for any reason please inform us as soon as possible in order for us to give the slot to someone else. 100's of appointments are wasted each month with patients failing to turn up for them.

Advanced Nurse Practitioner Appointments

A wide range of healthcare issues can be dealt with by our Advanced Nurse Practitioners, Elizabeth Melvin, Elaine McSwan, Alicia Miller and Kerry Noble.

All Advanced Nurse Practitioners can deal with a wide range of minor illnesses, but our Advanced Nurse Practitioners can deal with a far wider range of health issues and they are all prescribers. The ANPs work closely with the GPs who can be called upon should the ANP believe that is necessary.

Our ANPs all have different areas of expertise, so our administration staff have been trained what questions they need to ask patients at the time of booking, to make sure your appointment is allocated to the correct member of staff.

Elizabeth Melvin specialises in Paediatrics, having many years experience in a hospital environment advising and treating children of all ages.

Alicia Miller is qualified to advise and treat patients on a wide range of healthcare issues. She is experienced in chronic disease management and contraception including emergency contraception.

Elaine McSwan joined our ANP team in 2019. She worked in cardiology and neurology before moving over to the community and General Practice Nursing. Her experience and post grad qualifications allow her to advise and treat patients on a wide range of healthcare issues.

Kerry Noble, who you will know as our Senior Practice Nurse has been an Independent Prescriber for some years. She is still training as an ANP and is currently expanding the range of minor illnesses she can assess and treat.

Alternatively you may be able to use the Minor Ailment Service or Pharmacy First Service* available at your pharmacist for advice and free treatment. Please select the tab above for more information on Minor Ailment Service.

*Pharmacy First - is a service where community pharmacies will see and treat various common conditions. A list of Fife Pharmacies and the services they offer is found here -

Fife Pharmacies and their Services

Home Visits

Doctor's bag You may only request a home visit if you are genuinely housebound or in an emergency. Please remember a Near Me video consultation or a telephone consultation may be a suitable alternative. Only in exceptional circumstances will home visits be made to children. If you do need a home visit, please can you help us by calling the practice before 10:30a.m.

All our house calls will be triaged by a clinician and patients will be visited based on clinical need.

If the visit is required urgently please make this clear.

Should you believe the patients condition might be life-threatening please dial 999.

Sickness Certificates

You do not require a doctor's sickness certificate for any illness lasting seven days or less. Your employer may however require you to complete a self-certification form (SC2) which is available from your employer or on the HMRC website.

Evidence that you are sick

If you are sick for more than seven days, your employer can ask you to give them some form of medical evidence to support payment of SSP (statutory sick pay).

It is up to your employer to decide whether you are incapable of work. A medical certificate, now called a 'Statement of Fitness for Work’ (see below) from your doctor is strong evidence that you are sick and would normally be accepted, unless there is evidence to prove otherwise.

You could also provide evidence from someone who is not a medical practitioner, e.g. a dentist. Your employer will decide whether or not this evidence is acceptable. If your employer has any doubts, they may still ask for a medical certificate from your GP.

Statement of Fitness for Work - ’Fit Note'

The 'fit note' was introduced on 6 April 2010. With your employer's support, the note will help you return to work sooner by providing more information about the effects of your illness or injury.

If you require an extention to your fit note please contact the surgery in plenty of time. (at least 3 working days notice).

For more information see the DirectGov website (where this information was sourced)

GP Trainees

We are a training practice and regularly have GP Trainees, who are qualified doctors gaining experience in general practice. They are considered full members of the practice team, and work under the supervision of partners.

As part of their training, GP Trainees often have to video consultations. These recordings are used only for training and assessment purposes. They are only seen by doctors involved in training, and are deleted after use. Consultations are only recorded with the written consent of patients involved.

Dr Brown and Dr Smith are our GP Trainers.

NHS Pharmacy First Scotland

You can use NHS Pharmacy First Scotland if you are registered with a GP Practice in Scotland.

You will be able to get advice and free treatment (if you need it) from your local pharmacist for minor illnesses and complaints, such as:-

Acne, allergies, athlete's foot, backache, blocked or runny nose, cold sores, constipation, cough, cystitis (in women) diarrhoea, earache, eczema, headache, head lice, haemorrhoids (piles) hay fever, impetigo, indigestion, mouth ulcers, pain, period pain, sore throat, threadworms, thrush, warts, verrucas.

pharmacy first patient leaflet (english version)

pharmacy first patient leaflets (other languages)

Wish to avoid an unwanted Pregnancy?

Cos Lane can offer oral contraception, commonly known as 'The Pill' and contraceptive advice.

If you need further advice about your contraceptive options please speak to any of the doctors or nursing staff or ask for a leaflet or visit NHS Inform - contraceptive advice

NEAR ME - Video Consultation Information

Some of the Appointments at Cos Lane are offered as NearMe - Video consultations.

These appointments have lots of advantages for the patient, especially not having to travel to the surgery.

For more information and instructions how to use Near Me, please click on this link which will take you to the NearMe website. If you have never used NearMe before you may find this very helpful.

https://www.nearme.scot/how-to-make-a-near-me-call

NEAR ME - Video Consultation Waiting Room

If you have booked a video consultation with your GP, ANP or Nurse please click on the following link, click on the 'start video call' button and fill in your details as requested. Please make sure you are using Chrome as your internet browser and please do not enter the waiting room more than 10 minutes before your appointment time.

https://nhsattend.vc/cos-lane-medical-practice-gp