We are very excited to share some news about our Practices, the University Health Service and Highfield Health.

With effect from 01/07/2024, the Practices will be re-joining (before 1998 the Practices were one and then split) to form one practice once again, serving approximately 39,000 patients. We will be known as University Health Service Southampton.

This will have enormous benefits for patients, including an increased range of services, and access to a wider range of clinical staff. The combined Practices will be able to commission services directly relevant to the populations we serve and we can strengthen our links with the University of Southampton, working across the organisations to procure services for students and the local community.

Patients will, however, still be able to see the GP they feel comfortable with, and there will be no change in the methods you currently use to contact each Practice. We believe that it is important to give patients the choice they feel most comfortable with.

We will continue to offer a range of electronic, face-to-face and telephone appointments, directed by patient choice, provided by our existing range of excellent clinical staff.

The practices will be functionally separate until July when appointments will be offered from both current sites (Building 48 and 38 Highfield Road) until a single site can be developed.

We will work to ensure that the merger of the two practices happens as seamlessly as possible, but inevitably there will be unknown “teething problems” along the way and we would ask patients to let us know when things have gone wrong but also when we've got things right!

We value comments and input from patients and would ask for these to be directed to merger@unidocs.co.uk or, if you prefer, by telephone or in writing to the practice.

With best wishes for a very exciting 2024.

The Partners & Practice Managers - Highfield Health and the University Health Service

What happens now?

1. Two Locations

We will have two locations where appointments take place.

• Campus Surgery (formerly University Health Service)
Building 48, Highfield Campus, SO17 1BJ (Google Maps)


• Highfield Road Surgery (formerly Highfield Health)
38 Highfield Road, SO17 1PJ (Google Maps)

As a combined organisation, we will be called “University Health Service Southampton”.

All URGENT appointments will take place at the Campus Surgery (current University Health Service). Otherwise, practice staff will generally remain in their current locations.

When you book, it will be made clear to you where you need to go. You will also receive multiple text message reminders and can check appointment details on the NHS App or by asking the reception team.

More directions are available on our website

2. Booking Appointments

For ROUTINE appointments:

• You can book via the NHS App
• You can phone the reception team on 023 8055 7531
• You can visit either surgery and ask to book at the reception desk

You can choose to book with any GP you like and/or at whichever location you like (subject to availability).

Most patients choose to take the soonest available appointment (usually within 2 weeks).

For URGENT issues that must be seen on the day, you will need to phone the practice. This is for urgent problems which cannot wait until the next routine appointment.

You might be booked for a call with our duty doctor or asked to come in to see them or a nurse practitioner (who can also assess, treat, and prescribe where necessary). Any URGENT appointments will take place at the Campus Surgery (former University Health Service).

If you require a home visit, you should aim to call the practice before 11am where possible. This request will be assessed by the duty doctor first. Please note we can only offer a home visit if you are physically unable to get to the surgery.

Booking Appointments Online

All GP appointments are available to book via the NHS App for your convenience. These will be reviewed by reception and, if there is a more suitable clinician to see, you will be contacted to rearrange this.

This is to ensure you get the appropriate help you need as soon as possible, and to free up the GP appointments.

e.g. if you book for knee pain, you will be rebooked to speak to the physiotherapist sooner.
e.g. if you book travel vaccinations, you will be rebooked with a practice nurse and given the necessary paperwork to complete

3. Requesting Repeat Medication

You will continue to be able to request repeat medication through the normal routes, by

• using the NHS App or Patient Access
• emailing the reception team at hiowicb-hsi.universityhealthservice@nhs.net
• visiting the practice and filling out a paper form

We are not able to accept medication requests over the telephone due to the risk of errors.

4. Receiving Test Results

Test results can take up to 5 working days to be processed by the laboratory and returned to the practice. (Stool samples can take approximately two weeks).

Your GP will review these results and let you know via text message if there are any issues or further action to take. When they are reviewed, you will find them on the NHS App or Patient Access.

If you have any questions or have not heard back from us, please call reception and we can follow this up for you.

5. Getting Clinical Advice

If you just want written clinical advice or sick notes (for work), you can submit an online consultation (via the eConsult platform): https://unidocs.webgp.com/

These will be responded to within 2 working days.

If your query cannot be dealt with remotely and you need an appointment, we will be in touch to arrange this.

6. Administrative Requests

To get help with an admin request, you can:

• email our reception team hiowicb-hsi.universityhealthservice@nhs.net
• submit an online consultation (eConsult) https://unidocs.webgp.com/
• phone or visit our reception team (please note: we might ask you to follow up with an email to confirm any relevant details in writing)

7. Contacting the Practice

All existing phone numbers, email address, and physical addresses will stay the same and continue to be usable.

• The default number will become 023 8055 7531
• The default email address will become hiowicb-hsi.universityhealthservice@nhs.net

FAQs