Advice to Patients - Coronavirus - Update 13/03/2020
The NHS and Public Health England (PHE) are extremely well prepared for outbreaks of new infectious diseases. The NHS has put in place measures to ensure the safety of all patients and NHS staff while also ensuring services are available to the public as normal.
Advice on self-isolation for patients and staff
From today (Tuesday 17th March) If you have a persistent cough and/or a fever please follow the advice below, it’s the best way for us all to protect others especially those most at risk of serious illness. Please stay indoors, confined in your house. If possible, use a separate bathroom. If this is not possible, wipe down toilet and sink surfaces with an anti-bacterial spray after you have used it.
REMEMBER the advice regarding tissues
- Catch it, bin it, kill it
REMEMBER the advice on regular hand washing
- Wash your hands with soap for at least 20 seconds, as long as it takes to sing ‘Happy Birthday’ twice
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.
if you live with others and you or one of them have symptoms of coronavirus, then all household members 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
it is likely that people living within a household will infect each other or be infected already. Staying at home for 14 days will greatly reduce the overall amount of infection the household could pass on to others in the community
for anyone in the household who starts displaying symptoms, they need to stay at home for 7 days from when the symptoms appeared, regardless of what day they are on in the original 14-day isolation period.
if you can, move any vulnerable individuals (such as the elderly and those with underlying health conditions) out of your home, to stay with friends or family for the duration of the home isolation period
if you cannot move vulnerable people out of your home, stay away from them as much as possible
if you have coronavirus symptoms:
do not go to a GP surgery, pharmacy or hospital
you do not need to contact 111 to tell them you’re staying at home
testing for coronavirus is not needed if you’re staying at home
plan ahead and ask others for help to ensure that you can successfully stay at home and consider what can be done for vulnerable people in the household
ask your employer, friends and family to help you to get the things you need to stay at home
wash your hands regularly for 20 seconds, each time using soap and water, or use hand sanitiser
if you feel you cannot cope with your symptoms at home, or your condition gets worse, or your symptoms do not get better after 7 days, then use the NHS 111 onlinecoronavirus service. If you do not have internet access, call NHS 111. For a medical emergency dial 999
IMPORTANT PATIENT NEWS - REGARDING PRE-BOOKED APPOINTMENT CHANGES - please read attached document for further information
APPOINTMENT CHANGES MARCH 2020
Please see attached information with web links to offer advice to patients following the outbreak of Covid19
LINKS PATIENT INFO CORONAVIRUS
PLEASE NOTE: DO NOT come to the GP practice reception to request your prescription. Instead we ask that patients sign up to online access via the NHS App so that you can request your prescription online.
• If you have a pre-filled prescription request please post this through the post letter box at the front of the building.
What is Social Distancing?- for further guidance click on the link below:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-guidance-on-social-distancing-and-for-vulnerable-people/guidance-on-social-distancing-for-everyone-in-the-uk-and-protecting-older-people-and-vulnerable-adults
We are now using Chain SMS to message patients!
Chain SMS is...
A system which allows us to easily send text messages to patients. It means we can be much more proactive about some communications, messaging you quickly and securely, so you are not waiting around to hear from us!
Some examples of how we might use it...
Reminders or notifications (e.g. prescription ready)
Responding to simple queries (e.g. if you had a quick question about your medication)
Letting you know we tried to call
Sending you advice at the end of a consultation
The practice name will always be at the bottom of the message. You won't be able to reply them. Please help us to help you by keeping your number up to date. If you don't want us to contact you in this way please let us know.
Patients can now self refer to access physiotherapy:
From April patients can now self refer to the MSK physiotherapy service, by clicking on the link below:
If you would like to join our Virtual Patient Group please contact the main surgery number and speak to our reception team, leaving your contact details so we can get in touch with you.