The steps we have taken to prevent the spread of the Coronavirus

Following advice from the UK Government, to move to the delay phase, all Practices have moved to remote care wherever possible. Our primary aim is to keep staff and patients safe, and keep the Practice running as long as possible.

To prevent the possible spread of infection to staff and vulnerable patient groups you will not be admitted to the Practice unless you have a confirmed face to face appointment, and that you have no current symptoms of Coronavirus

This means you will be offered a telephone appointment initially and you will receive a phone or video call from a Practice GP or Nurse, instead of being seen face to face. The GP/Nurse will then offer a further face to face appointment if needed .

Our receptionists may be asking you more questions than normal prior to putting you on the list for a call from a GP. This is to make sure that the right clinician calls you about your concern. Please be patient with them. They have to ask the questions of every patient and it does take a little longer than normal, they are not being nosy – they often know how to get you the best help. We are experiencing 4 times our normal call rate – please be respectful.

Using the online service for making appointments; ordering repeat prescriptions; and checking test results will keep the phone lines free for those who are not able to go on line.

Simply follow the links on the practice website to complete the form on line. Once you complete a form you will still need to come to the Surgery with your identification documents. A member of Reception will need to check your photo ID. It will speed up the process if when you bring your documents you bring a photocopy of each in an envelope.

Prescriptions will no longer be able to be collected from the Surgery in Person. Instead we will ask you to nominate a Pharmacy and we will send these electronically to the Pharmacy of your choice. If no preference is made and we are unable to contact you by telephone we will nominate a local pharmacy and text you to tell where we have sent it.

You can also submit an electronic request for care to the practice or a telephone appointment using the online consultation service “Ask the Doctor/Nurse a Question” on our website. We will also temporarily accept prescription requests using this service if you do not have a login for online patient access. We are installing a new e-consult service through the website which will be operational within a few days, and are also looking into new video technology to allow us to engage with patients.

The information regarding Coronavirus – Corvid 19 is changing almost daily and we are being guided by the GOV.UK websites.

Our telephones are very busy with people calling to ask questions about the virus.

Unfortunately in the majority of cases we have no more information than the public, and will only be able to refer you to the NHS 111 Coronavirus.