Coronavirus Information

New government guidance requires everyone to wear a face covering when out in public, for up to date guidance on this visit gov.uk.

Unfortunately we are unable to provide proof of medical conditions for the purpose of exemption from wearing face coverings, guidance states that if you believe that you are exempt, it is your responsibility to inform anyone who may ask of your condition and you should not be challenged or asked to prove this.

Exemption cards can be printed from www.gov.uk but will not list specific medical conditions.

If you are asked to attend the surgery by a member of our staff, please can you bring with you, a face mask/covering to wear during your consultation. More information can be found in the below video.

• https://youtu.be/zpWvCZbhGt4

Symptoms and what to do

Do not leave your home if you have either:

• a high temperature – this means you feel hot to touch on your chest or back (you do not need to measure your temperature)
• a new, continuous cough – this means coughing a lot for more than an hour, or 3 or more coughing episodes in 24 hours (if you usually have a cough, it may be worse than usual)
• To protect others, do not go to places like a GP surgery, pharmacy or hospital. Stay at home.
  Use the 111 online coronavirus service to find out what to do.

If you require advice on self-isolation, such as what to do if you have a certain medical condition, live with a vulnerable person or are unsure how to self isolate, please visit:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-stay-at-home-guidance

• If you live alone and you have symptoms of coronavirus illness (COVID-19), however mild, stay at home for 7 days from when your symptoms started. (The ending isolation section below has more information)
• If you live with others and you are the first in the household to have symptoms of coronavirus, then you must stay at home for 14 days, all other household members who remain well must stay at home and not leave the house for 14 days. The 14-day period starts from the day when the first person in the house became ill. See the explanatory diagram

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If you need to speak to a doctor for medical advice you can still book a telephone appointment. The GP will call you and try to deal with as much over the phone as possible. If they feel they need to see you and you do not have symptoms of COVID-19 they may ask you to come to the surgery.

They may also ask you to email the surgery additional information or possibly images of a condition if needs be (such as eczema, lesions etc.)

We would like to thank all our patients again for understanding and bearing with us at this very difficult time. Please continue to follow the advice on social distancing and non-essential travel etc.

Thank you.

For the foreseeable future, all GP and Nurse practitioner appointments will be done over the phone. Telephone appointments are booked on a day to day, first come first served basis, please call as early as possible on a morning and someone will get back to you that day. If you request a telephone consultation, please ensure that you keep your phone with you as we cannot specify a specific time due the demands on the service.

If the clinician feels they need to see you in person to assess your symptoms or perform an examination, they will ask you to come down to the surgery after assessing the risk of infection. We have done this to try and minimise risk to our patients, especially our most at risk patients such as the elderly or people with underlying health conditions.

This means that you should only attend the surgery if you have been asked to. If you are unclear if you should attend, please call the surgery first.

Prescriptions

Please do not come into the building unless absolutely necessary. Please either call the surgery between 9 and 2pm or order online if you are able . If you have a nominated pharmacy, your prescription will be sent electronically to them, if you do not have a nominated pharmacy you may be asked to chose one so that your prescription can be sent directly to them.

All repeat medications are also being reduced to one month supply to ensure that there is not a shortage of medication and that everyone has access to essential medicines.

Thank you for your understanding and patience at this difficult and evolving time.

If you are personally affected and in isolation for seven days you do not need to contact your GP for a sick note. You must self-certify for the first 7 days as normal.

Information on this can be found at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/statutory-sick-pay-employees-statement-of-sickness-sc2
If you are personally affected and remain unwell for over seven days.

Please visit www.111.nhs.uk and complete an online self-assessment. You may be asked to call 111 for further advice on the next steps regarding returning to work. You do not need to contact your GP.