Willingham Medical Practice: patient triage, appointments, hours and Longstanton branch help
Willingham Medical Practice is based at 52 Long Lane, Willingham, Cambridge, CB24 5LB and also operates Longstanton Branch Surgery at Magdalene Close. Since October 2025, GP appointment requests are routed through an online patient-triage process, with reception support available for people who cannot use the form.
Use the main number if online triage is difficult, you need reception help, a home visit, registration assistance, results information, appointment support or advice about which site to attend.
Longstanton Branch Surgery
Magdalene Close
Longstanton
Cambridgeshire
CB24 3EG
The branch has shorter opening hours than the main Willingham site. Confirm the location before travelling.
The important change: GP appointment access changed from October 2025
GP requests now go through patient triage
The practice says GP appointment requests can be submitted using an online triage form from a smartphone, the NHS App or the practice website. A senior clinician reviews the information before deciding the next step.
Phone support has not disappeared
If you cannot access the online form, reception staff remain available by telephone and can help you complete the process.
Nurse and planned-clinic booking is different
The practice says its October 2025 change did not alter normal booking for practice nurses, wound care, vaccinations or chronic-disease reviews such as diabetes, asthma and COPD.
Core triage hours
The practice’s newer update says Patient Triage is available Monday to Friday during core hours of 8:00am–6:30pm.
Opening hours: use the newer 8:00am–6:30pm core-hours information
Several older Willingham pages still display historical clinic-session times such as 8:30am starts and 6:00pm finishes. However, the newer October 2025 access update and current homepage both state Monday to Friday core hours of 8:00am–6:30pm.
| Day | Current core access | What to know |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | 8:00am–6:30pm | Patient-triage requests operate during weekday core hours. |
| Tuesday | 8:00am–6:30pm | Normal weekday core access. |
| Wednesday | 8:00am–6:30pm | Normal weekday core access. |
| Thursday | 8:00am–6:30pm | Older CQC material describing Thursday-afternoon closure is historical and should not be used as the current timetable. |
| Friday | 8:00am–6:30pm | Plan repeat medicines ahead of weekends and bank holidays. |
| Saturday | Closed | Pre-booked enhanced-access appointments may operate elsewhere. |
| Sunday | Closed | Use NHS 111 for urgent non-emergency help. |
How the Willingham online patient-triage process works
Start from the official Willingham Medical Practice homepage rather than an old bookmarked third-party form, because online-service providers and links can change.
The practice specifically asks patients to keep each request focused on one problem.
Include how long you have had the symptoms, how they affect daily life and what treatment or self-care you have already tried.
The outcome can be a face-to-face or telephone appointment, an in-house nurse, physiotherapist or pharmacist, signposting to another service, or healthcare advice without attending the surgery.
The practice asks patients to keep telephone, email and text details updated so the team can contact them promptly after triage.
Willingham and Longstanton are two different surgery sites
Willingham Medical Practice
52 Long Lane
Willingham
Cambridge
Cambridgeshire
CB24 5LB
Main reception: 01954 260230.
Longstanton Branch Surgery
Magdalene Close
Longstanton
Cambridgeshire
CB24 3EG
Reception:
01954 207600.
Dispensary queries:
01954 207602.
The current contact page lists Longstanton branch opening Monday to Friday 8:30am–1:00pm, with Saturday and Sunday closed. If you need medical attention outside the branch’s opening window, the practice says patients can still be seen at Willingham where appropriate, and both sites can access the patient record.
Appointments: online triage now sits above the older booking page
The website still contains an older appointments page describing SystmOnline booking, telephone callbacks and in-person booking. Those options can still be relevant for certain services, but the newer October 2025 notice establishes patient triage as the main route for GP appointment requests.
GP problem
Start with patient triage. The senior clinician decides how the problem should be managed.
Nurse or planned clinic
Contact reception using the normal booking process for services such as wound care, vaccinations and chronic-disease reviews.
Telephone consultation
The appointments page says telephone consultations can be arranged when a clinician believes a phone discussion is appropriate.
Cancellation
If you cannot attend, tell the practice as soon as possible so the appointment can be offered to another patient.
Home visits: only when attendance is not medically reasonable
The practice asks patients who need a home visit to telephone reception as early as possible.
Say clearly that you are requesting a home visit.
The published rule is for patients who are housebound or too ill to visit the surgery.
The GP also decides how urgently the patient needs to be seen.
Repeat prescriptions: allow three working days
The practice asks patients to allow three working days for normal repeat prescription processing and says special-order items may take 3–4 days.
| Method | Current practice guidance |
|---|---|
| SystmOnline | Available for registered online-services users. |
| NHS App | The practice directs patients to NHS digital services for authorised repeat medicines. |
| Written repeat slip | Tick only the medicines you need and place the form in the appropriate prescription box. |
| Longstanton telephone | The dispensary says repeat medication requests are no longer accepted over the phone. The telephone line is for medication queries. |
| Processing | Allow three working days; allow longer for special-order items. |
Longstanton dispensary
The current practice prescription page lists the Longstanton dispensary Monday to Friday from 8:30am–1:00pm, with afternoon opening generally 2:30pm–4:00pm except Thursday afternoon, when the dispensary is closed.
For broader help with repeat medicines and NHS App ordering, see the Medication Practices guide.
Test results: wait at least 72 hours and call after 11am where possible
Willingham asks patients to take responsibility for checking their results and gives a much more useful timing rule than the generic results page: wait at least 72 hours after the test before calling. Some tests can take longer.
Use the timeframe the clinician gave you if they said a particular test takes longer.
The practice says this avoids peak telephone demand and gives doctors time to review results.
The results-and-specimens page directs patients to 01954 260230 and option 2.
Samples and specimens
The practice says labelled specimens should be handed to a nurse or placed in the collection box before 3:00pm for delivery to the laboratory. Include name, date of birth and the date on the sample.
Register with Willingham Medical Practice
NHS.uk currently lists Willingham Medical Practice as accepting new patients. The practice also publishes a specific local boundary.
Currently included local areas
The practice says its area is north of the A14 and includes Willingham, Longstanton, Rampton, Over, Swavesey and Northstowe.
Bar Hill restriction
The practice says new registrations from Bar Hill are currently suspended because it is managing capacity in the outer boundary. Existing Bar Hill patients already registered are unaffected.
This is especially important if you are near the outer boundary.
The practice provides a direct NHS online registration link. Registration packs are also available from reception.
The practice page says it needs ID and proof of address, but current national NHS guidance says you do not need ID, proof of address, an NHS number or proof of immigration status simply to register with a GP surgery in England.
The practice says new patients must arrange a GP appointment to set up repeat medicines because repeat authorisation is not automatically carried forward from the previous surgery.
Services listed by Willingham Medical Practice
The practice publishes a broad range of routine and long-term-condition services. Clinic availability can depend on staffing and clinical eligibility, so confirm before travelling.
Antenatal care
Antenatal services and baby-related clinics are listed by the practice.
Asthma and COPD
Long-term respiratory-condition reviews are included in the practice’s clinics.
Diabetes
Diabetes review clinics form part of its chronic-disease service.
Child health
The practice lists immunisations and six-week baby checks.
Family planning
Family-planning services, including emergency contraception, are listed.
Minor surgery
Minor-surgery procedures are among the services published by the practice.
Health assessments
The practice lists hearing assessments, ECGs, flow-rate testing and spirometry.
Heart-disease care
Heart-disease monitoring and prevention services are listed.
Smoking cessation
Support for patients who want to stop smoking is also listed.
Accessibility and visiting the practice
The current homepage says the Willingham surgery was designed to allow full access for disabled patients, including wheelchair access.
Willingham site
Wheelchair access is specifically stated by the practice. If you need a particular parking space, hearing support or another adjustment, confirm it with reception before travelling.
Longstanton site
CQC’s historical inspection summary records car parking at both Willingham and Longstanton, but because that report dates from the 2016–17 inspection period, confirm any facility that is essential to your current visit.
CQC rating: Good, but the inspection is historical
The Care Quality Commission currently displays an overall rating of Good for Willingham Medical Practice. Safe, Effective, Caring, Responsive and Well-led are all shown as Good.
| CQC item | Published detail | How to read it |
|---|---|---|
| Inspection visit | 12 December 2016 | This was the announced comprehensive inspection behind the rating. |
| Report / rating date | 17 March 2017 | CQC rated the practice Good overall. |
| Five key questions | All Good | Safe, Effective, Caring, Responsive and Well-led are all currently displayed as Good. |
| Latest review shown | 7 February 2020 | CQC reviewed the information it held to decide whether another inspection was required. |
Maps and directions
Willingham main surgery
Willingham Medical Practice
52 Long Lane
Willingham
Cambridge
Cambridgeshire
CB24 5LB
When Willingham Medical Practice is closed
| Situation | Use this route |
|---|---|
| Life-threatening emergency | Call 999. |
| Urgent medical help that cannot wait | Use NHS 111 online or call 111. |
| Routine GP request | Use the practice triage or normal booking route when core services reopen. |
| Routine medicine request | Plan ahead using NHS App, SystmOnline or the practice prescription route rather than relying on out-of-hours care for normal repeats. |
| Pre-booked evening/weekend GP care | The practice links to local enhanced-access appointments. These must be booked and may take place at another site. |
Official sources used
- Willingham Medical Practice official website
- October 2025 GP access and triage change
- Appointments and home visits
- Willingham and Longstanton contact details
- Repeat prescriptions and Longstanton dispensary
- Results and specimen guidance
- Practice boundary and registration information
- Current NHS practice profile
- Current NHS GP registration rules
- Care Quality Commission profile
Last verified: 21 September 2026. The practice website contains a mixture of newer core-access information and older clinic-session tables. This article uses the newer October 2025 access update for current core hours and clearly labels older site-specific timetable information where still useful.