In the interest of our most vulnerable patients and our staff, the front door remains closed to minimise footfall. All consultations are by appointment only. 

If you need to book an appointment, please phone us on 0402 32421 or email us at reception@arklowmedicalpractice.ie and we will respond as soon as possible. If you have any concerns about your health at this time, please don't put it off - contact us as soon as possible. We are here to help.

We will arrange a GP phone consultation to see if your issue can be resolved over the phone. If not, the doctor will arrange for you to attend the surgery for a face-to-face consultation. Please note, no face-to-face appointments will be scheduled without first having a GP phone consultation.

Phone lines are extremely busy so we apologise for any delays, please call again in a few minutes if you cannot get through.

Due to screening of patients in relation to COVID-19, booking appointments online is currently unavailable. This feature will return to our website as soon as possible. 

Appointment Information

• When requesting a consultation with a GP, our receptionist will ask some questions in order to schedule the correct appointment type.
• All patients must first have a phone consultation with a GP to assess their need to attend the surgery or if the issue can be managed remotely.

If attending for an appointment:

• All patients must wear a mask and use hand gel on entering the surgery.
• Attend at the time of your appointment, no earlier.
• Press the button for the intercom and speak directly into the speaker.
• Patient to attend on their own where possible.
• Card payments are preferred when necessary.

Please note a GP surgery receptionist is not simply someone who answers the phone - they are specially trained to help you get the most appropriate treatment as fast as possible. In order to do this, they may need to ask you questions about why you need to see a doctor.

When an appointment is for a specialised procedure please specify when making the appointment.

Patients with more than one issue to discuss should book a double appointment to ensure that appropriate consultation can take place. Otherwise, patients may be asked to book another appointment at a later date.

Urgent cases will be seen on the day where possible but we may not be able to offer a choice of doctor or time.

Please let the surgery know as soon as possible if you cannot keep your appointment – by calling the surgery on 0402 32421. This will allow us to offer the appointment to another patient.

If you want to cancel an appointment that is more than 24 hours away, please click here.

Please let us know if you are late for your appointment on 0402 32421.

If you are late for your appointment you may not be seen until the end of session.

We have a texting service which allows you to receive reminders about your appointments.

To have this service you will need to register by completing a consent form.

Please remember to update your contact details with us when you change address, telephone numbers and email address.

We will always respect your privacy, dignity and your religious and cultural beliefs particularly when intimate examinations are advisable - these will only be carried out with your express agreement and you will be offered a chaperone to attend the examination if you so wish.

You may also request a chaperone when making the appointment or on arrival at the surgery (please let the receptionist know) or at any time during the consultation.

Patients are requested, where possible, to telephone before 11am if a home visit is required that day.  Home visits will only be undertaken if there is a medical reason that prevents you from attending the surgery.

We would request that, apart from the genuinely housebound, all other patients attend the surgery rather than request a home visit because of the extra time home visiting takes. On average four to five patients can be seen in surgery in the time it takes to do a single house call. In addition, the care that can be offered due to the lack of adequate lighting, examination facilities and equipment means that you may not receive as high quality a service as the doctor may be able to offer if you came to the surgery.

Please note that the doctor may telephone you rather than visit you if this is medically appropriate and decide whether or not a visit is appropriate for a particular set of circumstances.

When is a home visit necessary?

GP visit may be useful 

Following a conversation with a health professional, it may be agreed that a seriously ill patient may be helped by a GP's visit.

GP visit recommended 

Home visiting makes clinical sense and is the best way of giving medical opinion, in cases involving: 

• The terminally ill. 
• The truly housebound patient for whom travel to premises would cause deterioration in their medical condition.

GP visit is not usual

In most of these cases a visit would not be an appropriate use of your GP's time or best for you: 

• Heart Attack - severe chest pain. The best approach is to call an emergency ambulance.  
• Common symptoms of childhood: fevers, cold, cough, earache, headache, diarrhoea & vomiting and most cases of abdominal pain. These patients are usually well enough to travel to the surgery. It is not harmful to take a child with fever outside.  
• Adults with common problems, such as cough, sore throat, influenza, general malaise, back pain and abdominal pain are also readily transportable to the doctor's surgery.