UPDATE - MAY 2022

Dr Sophie Reck

We would like to advise our Patients that Dr Sophie Reck has left the Practice.

Patients that were registered with Dr Reck will be shared between Dr Graham Sharrock and Dr Ade Taiwo temporarily until Dr Rachel Jacks returns to the Practice in late September 2022.

This does not affect patient's seeing a Doctor of their choice.  However, we do remind all patients that although we do all we can to ensure you see your Doctor of choice, there are times when we are una…

UPDATE - MAY 2022

Dr Sophie Reck

We would like to advise our Patients that Dr Sophie Reck has left the Practice.

Patients that were registered with Dr Reck will be shared between Dr Graham Sharrock and Dr Ade Taiwo temporarily until Dr Rachel Jacks returns to the Practice in late September 2022.

This does not affect patient's seeing a Doctor of their choice.  However, we do remind all patients that although we do all we can to ensure you see your Doctor of choice, there are times when we are unable to accommodate specific requests due to operational issues with Doctors leave etc.

CCTV

We would like to advise our patients that the Practice has 24 hour CCTV in operation.  This is in support of the reporting of and prevention of crime.

We have a Data Impact Assessment in place regarding the use.

YOUR NHS DATA MATTERS

All patients have the choice to decide if data from your health records is shared for research and planning.

Your health records contain a type of data called confidential patient information. This data can be used to help with research and planning.

You can choose to stop your confidential patient information being used for research and planning. You can also make a choice for someone else like your children under the age of 13.

Your choice will only apply to the health and care system in England. This does not apply to health or care services accessed in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland.

In order to Opt Out and to understand more about this, please click on the following Weblink :   Your Data Matters

UPDATE - MARCH 2022

Blood Tests

If your GP or Nurse has advised you to have a blood test and you are unable to book it at the Surgery or Litherland Town Hall, please see information below :

Book blood test appointments by visiting http://www.merseycare.nhs.uk/mybloodtest or calling  0151 285 4548. You do not need a form.

UPDATE - FEBRUARY 2022

We are delighted to announce that the Practice is now working in partnership with some local Opticians in providing an Urgent Eye Care Service. 

What is an Urgent Eye Care Service

It is an NHS funded consultation service provided by some local Opticians for the following conditions :

• Red or painful eye or eyelids
• Recently occurring flashes ro floaters
• Recent and sudden loss of vision
• Foreign body in the eye

The service is not available for patients who are currently under the care of an Ophthalmologist. It is available for people of all ages. Children under the age of 16 years must be accompanied by an adult.

Please contact Reception to find out which Pharmacies are providing this service.

We are also delighted to announce that the Practice is also working in partnership with local Pharmacies in providing a Community Pharmacy Consultation Service (CPCS).

What is CPCS?

It is a service which enables GP Practices to refer patients with common ailments and minor illness to a local Community Pharmacy.

Once referred, the patient will be contacted directly by the Pharmacy, receive a consultation with the Pharmacist (in a room at the Pharmacy premises or remotely) where the Pharmacist will Clinically Assess the patient and action an outcome, by means of

• Issuing a prescription (currently only in cases of Urinary Tract Infection (UTI) in women 18 - 65 years) other problems will be added to this list as the service gets underway or

• Over the counter medication or

• Onward referral e.g Optician, Dentist or

• Back to the patient's General Practitioner (if appropriate) following assessment / intervention

Our trained Reception Team will be offering this referral service as part of our health navigation service for common ailments and minor illness.

UPDATE JANUARY 2022 - FACE COVERINGS

We would like to advise patients that we will continue to request that patients wear face coverings when they come to the Practice.

We must ensure we are following our Infection Prevention & Control policy to protect both patients and staff.

Our staff will politely request patients to don a face covering when they come into Reception and when the patient is seeing a Clinician.

UPDATE DECEMBER 2021

New Patients wishing to Register with the Practice

We would like to advise all current and prospective patients that our Patient List is closed to the acceptance of new patients. Our list will remain closed until 14th June 2022.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION - ACCESSING GP APPOINTMENTS

We would like to address patient concerns regarding the process for accessing GP appointments.

We are currently experiencing an extraordinarily high demand for GP services and as with all of our colleagues in the area, we are responding to the hugely increased demand by adopting various strategies to support our patients.

The Practice are fully aware that Doctors and Staff are working at capacity and in order to allieviate this, we are exploring all options to secure extra clinical support.

Demand for clinical staff is a national issue and we are doing all we can to meet the increased demand.

A recent article states that "......GPs are in fact busier than ever, dealing with the demands created by the pandemic with a reduced workforce" and that "........the number of patients per practice is 22% higher than it was in 2015, the NHS does not have a GP workforce that has grown with this demand". (Source - Management in Practice - 6th October 2021)

We would like to outline below the current situation regarding appointments :

• Our Practice is currently unable to offer routine "bookable in advance" appointments with Doctors and therefore all appointments are book "on the day" 
• All initial appointments are telephone triage
• Face to Face appointments are available, however a Doctor will assess with the patient whether a face to face is required
• Appointments with the GP Extra Service (based at Litherland Town Hall) may well be offered by the Reception Team as an alternative to visiting the Practice

Ways to Book Appointments & Care at The Chemist Service

Booking appointments at the Practice

• We advise patients to telephone the Practice on 0151 949 2000 - appointments are released at 8am and further appointments are released at 1pm
• We actively discourage patients from attending the Practice in person as this will not take priority over patients telephoning

Care at The Chemist

• This is a service offered by local Chemists who can give treatment advice about a range of common conditions and minor illnesses, such as : 

• Aches & Pains
• Sore throat
• Coughs
• Colds
• Flu
• Earache
• Cystitis
• Skin rashes
• Teething
• Red eye

• Please click here to see local pharmacy details :

 https://www.southseftonccg.nhs.uk/your-health-and-services/care-at-the-chemist/

We would like to assure our patients that we are doing all we can and we ask that our patients understand the situation and before contacting the Practice we ask that patients consider the Care at the Chemist option first.

We would also like to say that during this difficult time we maintain a Zero Tolerance policy and will not condone verbal abuse, threats or inappropriate behaviour.

If any patient has concerns please contact the Practice and ask to speak with the Practice Manager.

We would like to thank our patients for their patience and understanding as we continue to do all we can to increase capacity.

Many thanks

The GP Partners

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FACE COVERINGS

NOTICE TO ALL PATIENTS

From the the 19th of July 2021, the Practice will still require patients to wear a face covering whilst in the Practice, unless there is evidence of Exemption.

This will be the same as other Healthcare Organisations throughout the Country.

We respectfully ask that our Patients support us in maintaining our Infection Control Measures and supporting our vulnerable patients and dedicated staff.

THANK YOU

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COVID 19 VACCINATIONS

If you are in a priority group, a carer or housebound your vaccination will be done at one of the local Vaccination Centres (Bootle or Maghull) by the Clinical Commissioning Group.  The service have a list of our patients in these groups and will call you in directly and not through the practice.   

COVID 19 VACCINATION STATUS

The Practice are unable to provide confirmation of COVID 19 Vaccine Status. You can follow the advice on the following weblink or by calling 119 :

Click here -->  Demonstrating your COVID-19 vaccination status when travelling abroad - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

To protect yourself and others, we have, with immediate effect, made the following changes to how we deliver services to you:

Appointments

• ALL requests for appointments will be triaged on the phone by either a GP or Practice Nurse.  Please make sure you provide our reception staff with the correct contact number, so the GP or Nurse can ring you back.
• Access into the Practice is significantly restricted.  If you are asked to attend the Practice, please ensure that you follow the guidance given. 
• Your consultation with the GP or Practice Nurse could be by telephone or by video, please inform the reception staff what you preference would be.

E-Consult

• As you will appreciate, our telephone lines are going to be extremely busy, so if you have a NON-Urgent medical query, please submit your query using E-Consult 
• You will find the E-Consult form on our home page.   E-Consult is a quick and easy way for you to consult with a GP.  You will receive a response within two working days

Prescriptions

• ALL prescriptions will be sent electronically to your nominated pharmacy 
• No paper prescriptions can be collected from the Practice 
• In conjunction with our Medicines Management Team we have commenced providing four post dated prescriptions for people where it is clinically safe to do so.  This means if you are on a regular medication and it does not require any regular clinical review, your medication will be processed by your nominated pharmacy for the next four months    
• If you still need to order your medication, please set up online access using the NHS App

 By downloading the NHS App, you can:

• Book appointments - search for, book and cancel appointments at your GP surgery, and see details of your upcoming and past appointments
• Order repeat prescriptions - see your available medicines and request a new repeat prescription
• Check your symptoms - search trusted NHS information and advice on hundreds of conditions and treatments, and get instant advice or medical help near you
• View your medical record - securely access your GP medical record, to see information like your allergies and your current and past medicines
• Register your organ donation decision - choose to donate some or all of your organs and check your registered decision
• Find out how the NHS uses your data - choose if data from your health records is shared for research and planning

Please note that you will only be able to book a Telephone appointment during the Coronavirus Pandemic period

Self Certification & Fitness to Work Note

        Please note:

• You can self certificate for the first seven days of ANY illness.  Forms can be download from https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/statutory-sick-pay-employees-statement-of-sickness-sc2.  Please DO NOT attend the Practice to collect a blank form

• If you need to provide an ISOLATION NOTE to your employer, please visit:  

  htps://111.nhs.uk/isolation-note/

       

Childhood Immunisations

We will be continuing to provide routine childhood immunisations.  Please be aware that the schedule for us to administer this service will change whilst in the Coronavirus pandemic.  If your child requires their immunisations, please ring the Practice and a member of our reception team will book the appointment for you.  ONLY one person will be allowed to accompany the child whilst the immunisations are being administered.  On arrival at the practice, personal protective equipment will be worn by the Practice Nurse and also by yourself.

Advice for Parents during COVID-19 Pandemic:  Advice Leaflet (opens in a new window)

Please remember to protect yourself and others: 

Please follow the updates provided by our Government

www.gov.uk

Stay Safe and Alert- this will protect us and help us to protect you

Some other useful contact sites:

• National Domestic Violence Helpline: 0808 2000 247  -    www.nationalhelpline.org.uk
• IRIS interventions: irisi.org/iris/find-your-local-iris-site/      www.gov.uk/guidance/domestic-abuse-how-to-get-help
• SafeLives: Specific resources for domestic abuse and COVID. http://safelives.org.uk/news-views/domesticabuse-and-covid-19
• NSPCC helpline: 0808 800 5000 If you are worried about a child, even if you are unsure, contact NSPCC professional counsellors for help, advice and support.
• Childline 0800 1111: Offers free, confidential advice and support for any child 18 years or under, whatever the worry.
• ICON: Babies cry: You can cope.   http://iconcope.org/
• MIND: Mental Health Support with specific advice on ‘Coronavirus and your wellbeing’. www.mind.org.uk
• Young Minds: Supporting children and young people and their parents/carers with their mental health and wellbeing. Specific advice on managing self-isolation and anxiety about coronavirus.  https://youngminds.org.uk
• Public Health England - Guidance on looking after mental health and wellbeing during the COVID-19 Pandemic - https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-guidance-for-the-public-on-mental-health-and-wellbeing/guidance-for-the-public-on-the-mental-health-and-wellbeing-aspects-of-coronavirus-covid-19
• Health at Home - this site will provide an overview of NHS services that are available -  https://www.nhs.uk/health-at-home/
• Sefton Council - COVID-19 response - Support for Sefton residents - https://www.sefton.gov.uk/
• Government advice on employment and financial support - https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus
• Bereavement Support: -    http://nww.southseftonccg.nhs.uk/Library/News/COVID-attachments/april-2020/thurs30april/Bereavement%20Helpline%20Information%20Sheet%202.pdf

• Urgent Eyecare Service (CUES)  https://internal.southseftonccg.nhs.uk/media/3604/s7-cues-service-summary-one-pager-covid-removed-v3.pdf