Covid-19 update 30/04

Posted on April 30th, 2020

Good Morning
We hope everyone is keeping well during the pandemic and ongoing lock down conditions
Unfortunately there isn’t much to report at the moment in terms of changes. The Practice continues to telephone triage patients including video consultation where applicable. Patients will only be invited into the surgery where it is deemed absolutely necessary for the foreseeable.

Blood appointments are continuing only for those who require essential bloods such as INR or methotrexate etc, all other routine bloods are on hold until such times as we receive further guidance. This is for your safety as well as the staff. We don’t have any idea how long this will continue so we are monitoring things on a daily basis.

B12 appointments will continue to be automatically cancelled and some rescheduled with a telephone call to discuss, others have been prescribed medication as a temporary measure. If you are unsure if your appointment has been cancelled then please contact the surgery (no earlier than one week before it is due). Please be aware we are extremely busy at present so we do appreciate your patience.

The GP’s continue telephone consultations with those who are acutely ill or require advice/treatment for an acute problem. There has been a significant hike in the number of calls received over the last week so can we please remind you that it is not business as normal, we encourage you to continue with home management for minor ailments and to seek some advice from your local pharmacy if it is something that can be treated over the counter. What we don’t want is for those who desperately need an appointment to not contact us, please don’t suffer unnecessarily, if you need to speak to a GP then get in touch and we will arrange this for you. Home visits will also continue, we do need to advise that GP’s will be wearing full PPE on the visit and once again this is for your protection and theirs so please don’t be alarmed by this.

We send our condolences to all those families who have lost loved ones during the pandemic and if anyone feels they need additional bereavement support then please do get in touch.

Ladies in the village have been extremely kind and providing various forms of PPE to the surgery which is very much appreciated. Dr Hamilton is particularly grateful for scrubs and the handmade bags to carry them to and from work. To all those who have sent baked goods to the staff, it has really boosted morale, such thoughtful gestures. Magnificent support from the village, its so lovely to see, so on behalf of all the staff to anyone who has contributed THANK YOU. Is it possible for the ladies making the scrubs etc to email their names in to the surgery wcccg.willastonsurgery@nhs.net for the attention of Emma.

Dr Hassan will be returning to work on Monday, only working mornings for the month of May and working from home for the first couple of weeks as a phase return. We are absolutely delighted to have him back on board. He sends his sincere thanks to everyone for all your cards, facebook comments, emails and cards (these have been delivered to his home), I think these things all played a huge part in his recovery and keeping his spirits up. He is a very popular GP and only has a limited number of telephone consultations so please bear this in mind when trying to book with him, We understand and appreciate everyone wants to speak with him to ask how he is etc but we must ask that you only book with him for medical reasons due to the pandemic. We are not booking appointments any further than one week ahead due to the daily changes and if your problem is acute then you shouldn’t be booking that far ahead so please consider booking with another GP if necessary.

Please continue to book baby immunisations as normal and 6 week checks, these are absolutely vital and will be given an appointment to attend the surgery.

On a final note the bank holiday weekend is approaching, as it stands we will not be opening but that could change closer to the time. Please don’t panic order prescriptions, any that are more than 1 week early will not be processed. We will only be closed for one day as will the pharmacy. The pharmacy are doing an absolutely fantastic job and working very closely with the surgery, the staff there have been working non stop and probably in a much more confined space which its makes it even harder with social distancing. Its a difficult time for everyone and we understand sometimes people get frustrated but just remember the staff both in the pharmacy and surgery are all leaving their families to come to work during this pandemic so we can deliver a service to you, always “Be Kind”.

Be Safe and take care…..
Willaston surgery