CHANGES TO DISPENSARY OPENING HOURS

Please be aware that in order to work safely and continue to provide a service, the Dispensary will only be open from 10.00am - 1pm and 3pm - 5pm Monday-Friday.   Our staff are working as hard as they can to maintain the service and we would be very grateful for you cooperation during this time. Please allow at least 5 working days for your request to be processed.   We are currently dispensing medication ordered on 24 March and would ask that you only come to collect medication if you have received a text message advising that it is ready.  If you are vulnerable and can ask someone else to collect medication for you, we would strongly encourage you to do so.

Following the Prime Ministers announcement this evening we would urge our patients to stay at home wherever possible. We are doing our utmost to dispense your medication and will text you once it’s ready. Please do not turn up on the off chance that it is ready and if you are trying to collect for someone else please check first. We cannot stress how important it is to heed the advice being given. Please stay at home and stay safe.

Online appointment bookings have been ceased

Please be aware that we are no longer accepting online bookings.  All bookings must be made through Reception staff who will arrange for you to be telephoned in the first instance by a GP.  They can then assess whether it is appropriate for you to visit the Surgery.

IMPORTANT MESSAGE REGARDNG CORONAVIRUS 

If you have symptoms associated with coronavirus including a new continuous cough and a high temperature, you are advised to stay at home for 7 days.  Do not book a GP appointment or attend your GP Practice.  If your symptoms are serious, or get worse, NHS111 has an online coronavirus service that can tell you if you need further medical help and advise you what to do.    Only call 111 direct if you cannot go online, or are advised to do so by the online service.  For the latest Covid-19 advice please visit www.nhs.uk/coronavirus

Changes to the Practice

Following yesterday’s announcement from the Prime Minister and in line with recommendations from NHS.uk the Practice will be making some changes to how we continue to operate over the coming weeks.    We will be keeping patients informed via our website and facebook page,  and of course our Reception team will be available to speak to.   Our Receptionists will be asking all patients questions regarding symptoms prior to booking any appointments.

Please bear with us as we are extremely busy at this time and calls will take longer than usual.

Many thanks from the team for your cooperation in what are difficult times for everyone.

GP Partner Announcement - It was with sadness that we said farewell to our Practice Manager, Alison Lowerson who left us on Friday 28 February.   Our Deputy Practice Manager, Karen Turner will be taking over in her absence until we have recruited a new Manager.

Dispensary - The Dispensary will be closed every Wednesday between 1.00pm and 2.00pm.

PRESCRIPTION REQUESTS:  We require at least 3 FULL WORKING DAYS to prepare your paper or electronic prescription as per NHS standard. This excludes procurement and dispensing time which is subject to separate clinical and safety standards.  You may not request items which are not on your repeat list due to local health policy restrictions in that items which are used occasionally and are available at a pharmacy must be purchased at a pharmacy, whether you are exempt or not from prescription charges. We encourage patients to register for SystmOnline prescription ordering. Just ask a member of our reception team.

PRESCRIPTION CHARGES - If you pay for your prescriptions the NHS increased the Prescription Charge by 20 pence from £8.80 to £9.00 for each medicine or appliance dispensed from 1st April 2019. The cost of the prescription pre payment certificates (PPC) has been frozen for another year. For more information please click HERE.

GDPR - On 25 May 2018 the new EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) came into effect. Here is a copy of our Privacy Notice which includes information on how we use and protect your personal information, and your rights relating to this.

CHECK-IN SCREEN - Our new patient self check-in screen is up and running. It takes just a few seconds to use and is an effective way to increase efficiency at the reception desk and improve the patient experience. The reception staff will be encouraging patients to use it when they arrive for their booked appointments.

SAVE TIME, DO IT ONLINE   - Order your repeat prescriptions online, book and cancel your appointments online. Please ask a member of our Reception team for details about how to register for Online access.

ARE YOU A CARER? If you help a family member, friend or neighbour that has a disability, has a mental illness, has a chronic illness, is frail or has a substance misuse problem with alcohol or drugs, we would like to provide you with relevant information.  Please complete one of our "AM I A CARER?" forms at the Reception desk click on the Carers link in our Further Information Index.

ARE YOU A MILITARY VETERAN? The Practice will be working to support and signpost military veterans to advice and support relating to their healthcare. In the meantime, for more about Veterans UK please click HERE