Covid-19 Update

Face Masks/Coverings

The practice will NOT be providing face mask exemption letters to patients. Please Click here to visit the gov.uk website.

IMPORTANT ADVICE ON CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19) SHIELDING LETTER

In line with recent guidance, if you have been requested to attend the surgery for a face to face appointment, please attend wearing your own face mask or face covering. Thank you.

If you have symptoms (high temperature, new continuous cough or loss or change to your taste or smell) you should get a test in the first 5 days of having symptoms. Tests can be booked through the Government website https://www.gov.uk/get-coronavirus-test or by calling 119. If you cannot get a test on the website, or the location or time is not convenient try again in a few hours. If no tests are available online, do not call the helpline, no extra tests are available through the helpline. If you have symptoms you must stay at home until you get your results. Anyone in your support bubble or household must also stay at home. Further information about how long you should all stay at home for is available on the Government website: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-stay-at-home-guidance/stay-at-home-guidance-for-households-with-possible-coronavirus-covid-19-infection

Sick Notes for COVID-19

If you are self isolating because of coronavirus and require a sick note, we will not provide a sick note to cover this. Please speak to your employer.

If you require a sick note for any other reason then please self-certify for the first week and thereafter contact the surgery by telephone or complete the online E-Consult. We will post the sick note using second class post to your home address. Please do not come to surgery to collect your sick note. Sick notes can also take up to 72 hours to process.

Appointments:

All appointments are now triaged by the reception team on the instructions of the Doctor. A Doctor or an Advanced Practitioner will then contact you by telephone and either resolve your problem over the phone or ask you to attend the surgery for a face to face consultation.

Video Consultations are also available and the clinician may choose to use this where necessary.

All on the day urgent appointments will be triaged by the reception team and if on the day care is required the clinician will be asked to call you back.

Signposting:

Active Signposting is designed to connect patients more directly with the most appropriate source of help or advice; this may include services in the community as well as within the Practice.

So for example when a patient presents with symptoms that meet the access criteria for other services such as a pharmacist, optician or a social prescribing service, the Signposter can confidently offer these choices and enable the patient to go straight to the service which best meets their health and wellbeing needs. Patients receive the right care, by the right professional, at the right time. This means one visit, not two for the patient.

Prescriptions & Your Medication:

We are no longer taking prescription requests by telephone. Please request your repeat medication using the online form or by posting your request in our letter box next to the pedestrian gate or at the front door. Due to unprecedented demand prescriptions may take up to 72 hrs to process at the surgery.

Please nominate a pharmacy if you have not already done so. By doing this your medication will be delivered to your home address or you can collect from the pharmacy. Please do not come to the surgery to collect your prescription. If you have not nominated a pharmacy then we will have no alternative but to post your prescription to your home address.

E-Consult:

Please use the e-consult option from our website to contact the surgery to seek advice from the clinician or if you have an administrative request such as requesting a sick note or getting your test results.

Masks and Face Coverings:

For the safety of all staff and patients please wear a mask or face covering when attending the surgery.

New Service - Physio First

A first contact practitioner (FCP) is an experienced physiotherapist who has the advanced skills necessary to assess, diagnose and recommend appropriate treatment or referral for musculoskeletal (MSK) problems on a patient’s first contact with healthcare services e.g when they visit their GP surgery.

Patients with MSK complaints can be booked in to see an FCP by a GP receptionist or other healthcare professional. An FCP offers expert MSK assessment and diagnosis, however, is also integrated within the multi-disciplinary team in each GP Practice. If appropriate an FCP may prescribe a programme of exercises, refer for blood tests or X-ray, administer steroid injections, utilise local services or refer a patient to an appropriate secondary health service e.g. rheumatology or orthopaedics.

Please speak to our Reception Team who can book you an appointment.