Keyworth Medical Practice

Last week the NHS wrote to those people considered to be at highest clinical risk from coronavirus (COVID-19) to inform them that they should stay at home at all times and avoid all face-to-face contact for a period of at least 12 weeks. This is set out in the Public Health England guidance published on 21 March 2020. This is known as ‘shielding’.
The GPs and hospital clinicians looking after people in these groups have also received letters informing them of the highest clinical risk group and have been asked to review their patient lists and to add in any patients they think should be on that list.

Please see the below link for frequently asked questions relating to this from the Nottingham & Nottinghamshire Clinical Commissioning Group.

Vulnerable Adults FAQ

Coronavirus (COVID-19): what you need to do

Stay at home

You should only leave the house for one of four reasons:

• Shopping for basic necessities, for example food and medicine, which must be as infrequent as possible.
• One form of exercise a day, for example a run, walk, or cycle – alone or with members of your household.
• Any medical need, or to provide care or to help a vulnerable person.
• Travelling to and from work, but only where this absolutely cannot be done from home.

Advice for people with severe health conditions

This week NHS services will be contacting people with a range of severe health conditions urging them to self-isolate for 12 weeks. We have also contacted all local patients with a generic message following the prime ministers advice Monday 23rd March 2020. Please don’t panic if you have received the text and don’t have a severe health condition. Health advice will be confirmed by letter to those identified this week. There is no need to contact your GP about the message.

Visit https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus for Full guidance on staying at home and away from others

More useful resource contact information for people needing support during the Coronavirus 

• National Domestic Violence Helpline: 0808 2000 247 https://www.nationaldahelpline.org.uk/
• NSPCC helpline: 0808 800 5000 If you’re worried about a child, even if you’re 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.
• MIND: Mental Health Support with specific advice on ‘Coronavirus and your wellbeing’. http://www.mind.org.uk
• YoungMinds: 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
• ICON: Babies cry: You can cope. http://iconcope.org/
• SafeLives: Specific resources for domestic abuse and COVID. http://safelives.org.uk/news-views/domestic-abuse-and-covid-19
• IRISi interventions: http://irisi.org/iris/find-your-local-iris-site/

Due to the Coronavirus our pharmacy opening times have altered to the following times:

Monday – Friday 8am-8.30pm

Saturday 8am-8.30pm

Sunday 10am-5.30pm

• By making these necessary changes it will help keep our patients and staff safe by minimising social contact and will ensure we have enough staff to cover the hours we are open.
• This will also allow staff to keep the working area clean to the necessary standards to keep Coronavirus at bay.
• The turnaround time for prescriptions will now be 5 days so please ensure you order your medication in plenty of time to allow for this.
• Please do not collect your medication if you have any symptoms of the virus. Friends and family can collect your medication for you.
• When collecting prescriptions, please adhere to social distancing rules (stay 2 metres away from others).
• Please bring your own pen if you need to sign for prescriptions.
• We have volunteer delivery drivers to deliver to vulnerable patients who have to self- isolate.

We apologise for any inconvenience caused.

Please be advised:
We are experiencing a high demand from patients for medication.
Due to the shear work load please allow sufficient time between ordering and collecting. We usually operate a 3 day turnaround and this is now extended to 5 days to help us deal with the volume.
We are working to make sure everyone gets the medication they need as quickly as we can.
Please consider waiting a little longer than usual before coming to collect.

We are also experiencing a high volume of telephone calls on our dedicated prescription line and pharmacy line.  Please do keep trying and we will answer you as soon as we can.

Thank you in advance.

Coronavirus (COVID-19)

If you have concerns that you may have been exposed to or become infected, please do not attend the practice or hospital. Please remain at home and follow instructions on the following link from NHS111.

https://111.nhs.uk/service/covid-19

NHS 111 online service has created coronavirus pages that tell patients what they should do based on their particular circumstances. NHS England are advising for patients in the 1st instance to visit this link for more information instead of calling due to NHS111 experiencing very high call volumes.

More information on the virus can also be found on the following link from NHS England

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/

The Practice following guidance from the CCG have decided to suspend all bookings until further notice. Further to this from Thursday 19th March 2020 on advice from the Government no routine work will be undertaken. We will only be dealing with urgent medical problems and this will be done over the telephone.

Should your appointment require you to attend the Practice, then the GP/Nurse will then invite you down to the Practice once they have discussed your current health.

You can help too, germs can live on some surfaces for hours. To help protect yourself and others:

Always carry tissues with you and use them to catch your cough or sneeze.
Bin the tissue, to kill the germs, wash your hands with soap and water, or use a sanitiser gel.

We can now confirm we have had a patient from this practice who has tested positive for the Coronavirus. We cannot stress enough the importance of not attending the Practice to help protect patients and staff.

Further guidance on what you should do if you feel you may have symptoms, including information on self-isolating, can be found on the above link from NHS England.

If you would like to book or cancel your appointment or order your repeat prescription online, please ask the receptionist for details, (more…)