Welcome to the Firrhill Medical Centre. We are located within the AllermuirHealth Centre. As you enter the Health Centre Firrhill Practice is situation on the ground floor on the right hand side. Our Practice list is open and we welcome new Registrations. Please click the Registration Tab to download our Registration Forms or pop in to the surgery where our Reception Team will be more than happy to assist you.
Our telephone number is 0131 441 3119
All our appointments are face-to-face unless a telephone call is specifically asked for and definitely won’t require to be seen face-to-face. There will be a number of pre-bookable appointments which will be bookable up to 5 weeks in advance whilst also holding back a appointments to deal with patients whose symptoms require to be assessed by a GP urgently that day. Please call the Practice to book any routine appointments after 10am. We would ask for urgent on the day problems that you call at 8am as we cannot guarantee that once the urgent on the day GPs slots are full that you will be seen that day and may be asked to call the following morning. Our trained Reception Staff will still ask the nature of your problem in order that they can triage you to the correct Health Professional as not all health problems need seen by a GP. I would also remind you that you are still required to wear a mask in the healthcare settings and adhere to social distancing so please arrive as close to your appointment time as possible to avoid overcrowding in the waiting area.
Telephone Enquiries
If your query is non urgent, please avoid calling on Mondays and call after 10am Tuesday-Friday.
Please do not call to check if your prescription is ready before 2pm and if you use a regular pharmacy, please check with them first.
Please call for test results after 11am.
Thank you.
Use the buttons below, or the menu above, to access information about our services.
Firrhill Medical Centre is absolutely committed to provide the best service that we can. However, General Practice has now reached a critical situation with the government providing less money, less doctors and less staff to meet the growing needs of the population.
A new contract was promised in 2018 recognising the increasing GP workload. Unfortunately, for the first time in the history of the NHS, large parts of this contract have not been implemented. The Scottish Government promised transitional payments to practices but then withdrew that funding.
Recently, over half of the practices in Lothian have received huge bills for their facilities from NHS Lothian including gas and electricity, over and above what they were already paying. This will amount to £1.6 million per year across the practices affected and, without any additional funding coming into practices, it’s likely this will lead to reduced staffing, with fewer appointments and longer waits to be seen.
The government has decided not to fund an increase in National Insurance contributions for GP staff and decided not to increase funding to pay staff, so this must be met by the practice.
They have also withdrawn important “enhanced” funding for many patients including those newly diagnosed with diabetes and those with COPD or who undergo blood monitoring required for certain drugs.
Patients contacting their GP practice has risen from an average of 3-4 times to 6-7 times per year due to factors including an increasing elderly population, more people with illness (often multiple), more treatment options and long waiting lists to see a specialist or to undergo a procedure.
The number of whole-time equivalent GPs working across Scotland is reducing, the number of practices has fallen by 9%, average list sizes have increased by 18% and the total patient population has increased by 7%.
In order to make systems better we need protected time to learn and develop. We used to receive ten half days per year to work with our teams but this funding has been withdrawn.
Please consider looking beyond the practice and instead hold those with the power to improve matters to account. Scottish Government needs to do more to directly support General Practice, the bedrock of the NHS.
Contact your MSP. Their contact details can be found at Members of the Scottish Parliament Website.
Prescriptions- please order online via patient services https://www.patient-services.co.uk/or through your preferred pharmacy. If you have not registered yet for online services please see here for instructions https://www.firrhillmedicalcentre.org.uk/repeat-prescription-form/Once ready we will send your prescription to your preferred pharmacy for collection. Due to the current pressures on the Practice and local pharmacies you should allow 7-10 days before collection from your pharmacy or in some cases for delivery. We will not be processing prescriptions early so only request a maximum of 2 weeks before it is due.
Please note that the surgery will now close every Wednesday lunchtime between 12.15pm and 1.15pm for Staff Training. In the event of a medical emergency please hang up and dial 999. If you have an urgent medical problem which cannot wait until the surgery re-opens please call 07871065935. This number is not manned at any other time and we will not respond to any messages left during our normal opening hours.