Frequently Asked Questions

You don't pay Pallant Medical Chambers anything - the Pallanteers pay for the service they receive, so practices don't have to. You only pay the GP for the session booked and the employer's contribution if the Pallanteer pays into an NHS pension.

Yes, if you know the Pallanteer you would prefer to book, please specify and we will book them for you if they are available. We will always offer you an alternative if your preferred option is already booked. 

Yes. Our booking system can hold information about your preferred GP and also a GP you would rather not book, although in the latter case we always notify our members if a practice does not wish to book, so that they can use this feedback to make any reparations and reduce the chances of the same shortcomings causing issues elsewhere.

Simple! You can either Send us an email with your requirements or complete our 'Register' form and we will be able to offer and confirm a Pallanteer by return. We favour email requests in order to have a 'paper trail' for all bookings - from enquiry to confirmation - to eliminate mistakes. If you'd rather speak to a chambers manager, please do call them on 033 0088 3793.

Our Pallanteers may be able to accommodate your requirements subject to their other commitments that day. Examples of this could be swapping a visit for 3 patients. The Pallanteer might also be available to extend a short session to a longer session if they have time. If you have any special requests, please make it clear in your initial request so the GP comes prepared for all eventualities.

Yes, whether you have a GP off sick, on maternity or on a sabbatical, we will endeavour to offer continuity of GP cover for your long term requirements.

Provided there is a GP available, we will be able to get a GP to you at late notice. Call us or email between 8am and 6pm, Monday to Friday for availability.

No. Pallanteers perform all their locum work through their chambers and have already consented to make themselves available for work through Pallant Medical Chambers for all their freelance sessions. Pallanteers commit to working exclusively for Pallant to avoid 'falling foul' of a requirement under the Office of Fair Trading's rules (set in 2003) about operating as a cartel which protects you, the practices from any confusion on the market.

Our managers are on duty from 8am Monday-Friday, and will be happy to help with your booking requirements. If you have a Pallanteer booked outside of these hours (eg Saturday morning or extended hours) we will always request that you provide us with a contact number for your practice that we can pass on to them.

If you have a Pallanteer booked outside our office hours (8am-6pm Mon-Fri) or have one booked to cover on-call, we will provide you with their mobile number. We will also request that you provide us with an out-of-hours contact number for your practice that we can pass on to our Pallanteer.

Our bookings managers have live access to all Pallanteers' calendars so are able to confirm a booking instantly.

Yes, we will supply all the documents the first time you book the Pallanteer, and will send you updates when they are renewed. You can book your locum with confidence that references have been checked by their chambers lead before the GP/ANP/Paramedic has been recommended to chambers and all the legal and regulatory checks have been completed by our managers.

All Pallanteers have been selected through interview process, and have supporting references and up-to-date documents. Pallanteers are supported by a dedicated team of chambers managers, who organise their workload and deal with all the administrative tasks of being a locum and this leaves them free to concentrate on doing what they do best - care for patients. We do everything we can to ensure Pallanteers are updated with the latest clinical information, and they are kept informed of local educational and training events as well as having specific educational events organised for them on request. Pallanteers meet and support each other regularly under the guidance of a chambers lead to discuss clinical cases and to review their performance and any feedback or significant events; in this way we continually improve the service we offer practices and patients.

We have a set of very easy-to-understand set of session structures which give you a wide range of choice and flexibility. We have found having these structures keep session-overrunning to a minimum, and you get the best value out of the time our Pallanteers spend with you. For a comprehensive list of session types follow this link and if you'd like further explanation, please contact our chambers managers, who will be happy to help.

Every Pallanteer is equipped with professional name badges and door plates. These help reassure your patients that they are seeing a proper, fully-qualified GP / ANP / Paramedic - who is more than "just a locum".

Pallanteers will do their best to help you earn QoF points and correctly Read code all their consultations.

We will always do our best to replace a sick Pallanteer with a colleague on 'standby', so you have a locum on site before the first patient turns up.

We have bespoke systems to deal with any feedback - whether it is a complaint about a Pallanteer's performance, an administrative error, or if you simply want to give some constructive feedback. Simply tell one of our chambers managers, who will instigate a report that will be appropriately circulated and discussed (depending on the confidential nature of the complaint). We will take a collaborative approach to rectify any issues and learn from the event. If the complaint is a clinical one discussions will involve the Pallanteer, their chambers lead and one of our experienced clinical directors.

Easy! Just complete our 'Register' form and we'll issue you with a password. Once you're in, you'll be able to access:

• Your booking request page
• All the sessions that you have on offer
• All the sessions that you have confirmed
• Our members’ profiles
• Any sessions that are on our waitlist for you
• All your invoices, current and historic

Chambers meetings are on average about 6 times per year - in addition to our annual BLS update.

Pallanteers have a chance to discuss interesting cases, share any learning points and can analyse any significant events.

We kindly ask that each Pallanteer is issued with a unique, secure computer log in's (username and password) for ICE, DXS and Ardens and are provided with a properly equipped consulting room. Oh...and a cup of coffee is always welcomed. We will discuss more general information with you so that we can make notes about what clinical IT system you use, parking restrictions etc so we can pass this information on to our Pallanteers.