COVID 19 IMPORTANT UPDATE FOR ALL PATIENTS

To keep patients and staff as safe as possible, ALL requests for face to face consultations will CONTINUE to be triaged until further notice. Patients should expect to have a telephone discussion with one of our clinicians, who will then decide whether or not an actual attendance at the surgery is necessary. Some Medication review (asthma/epilepsy/mental health/COPD) will be completed when appropriate by telephone/email. We are now restarting routine recall appointments for Part one Diabetic checks/blood tests/blood pressures and routine cervical cytology where deemed clinically appropriate to do so. The Childhood vaccination programme will continue, as per current Government advice

From 15th June 2020 please attend wearing a face covering when a face to face assessment is needed. Appointments will be provided, with available precautions taken to minimise risks of possible exposure to Covid 19. Please note that our site at Eldon Square is open for booked appointments only and where clinically urgent ultrasound scanning is needed, appts will still be made for patients if it is appropriate for the scan to take place at this site.

Patients will find the entrance doors at both our sites locked. If you have been advised to attend on site for a face to face appointment please follow the instructions posted on the main door.

Prescriptions

The Government are advising us to use electronic prescribing where at all possible, to minimise the need for patients to visit the surgery to collect their prescription. Please see our news item on the website called “common questions and answers about my prescriptions during the Covid 19 Outbreak”.
For all patients wanting advice on what steps they and family members should be taking, particularly those who are aged over 70 or patients with underlying health conditions regardless of age – please keep yourself informed by regularly following the government guidance – see the link : https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/

Patients who have concerns about the safety of their working arrangements should speak to their own employer. All Employers should be following the Government Guidelines which are being updated regularly and should be risk assessing all their employees in order to comply with the newly issued social distancing guidelines.
On a practical note patients must expect severe delays in our ability to deal with ALL non-medically urgent matters. Patients should explore Private Providers able to deal with such matters.

We rely on your co-operation to get through these exceptionally trying times and are grateful to you all for your messages of support and encouragement.