Welcome to Chapelford Medical Centre

THE NHS HAS STARTED THE FIRST PHASE OF THE COVID-19 VACCINATION PROGRAMME.  WHEN IT IS THE RIGHT TIME FOR YOU TO RECEIVE YOUR VACCINE, YOU WILL RECEIVE AN INVITATION TO COME FORWARD.  PLEASE DO NOT CONTACT THE NHS TO GET AN APPOINTMENT UNTIL YOU ARE CONTACTED.

NEED AN APPOINTMENT??

PLEASE PHONE THE SURGERY FROM 8AM FOR AN APPOINTMENT AND A TRIAGE NURSE WILL PHONE YOU BEFORE 12 NOON

The Practice phone lines are open from 8am - 6:30pm Monday to Friday. 

IMPORTANT INFORMATION

The surgery is open Monday to Friday from 8am to 6:30pm.  If you have an urgent problem during these times please ring the surgery.  At all other times ring NHS 111.

Requests via e-Consult for non-urgent problems can be made between 8am – 6:30pm, Monday to Friday.  The practice will respond within 2 working days.

Due to COVID we are operating what is known as total triage, this is a virtual appointment. 

Your GP or nurse will review your problem and will then, depending on your needs offer you advice via text

offer you a telephone call

offer you a video call

ask to see you in person (face to face) or

navigate you to other services

We no longer take prescriptions over the telephone – please use your online access, e-Consult Administration section, email the surgery WARCCG.CCAChapelford@nhs.net or post your request to the practice.

Please only attend the surgery if we ask you to.  It’s important that you arrive at the time we ask you to attend and don’t forget to wear a face covering or mask.

In line with social distancing rules the surgery must limit the number of patients in the waiting room. The Practice has an intercom at the main surgery entrance for patients to use.

As a patient of Chapelford Medical Centre practice we are asking for your support and ask that you please DO NOT turn up at the practice. If you have a COVID related health concern in the first instance use NHS 111 online or if unable to do so call 111. For non COVID related health concerns, please complete an e-Consult or contact the practice.

Our practice is working to improve primary care services across the town and we are looking forward to working closer with our community to help bring the changes that our health economy needs. 

At present we have four GPs, 3 practice nurses, a health care assistant, a clinical pharmacist.. 

Our "receptionists" are being given the new role of "Care Navigator" to support patients and navigate them to the most appropriate service.

ALL staff are trained/are being trained to a high standard to better manage your needs.

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, we are operating a full telephone triage. If you are advised to attend the surgery for a face to face appointment, we want to reassure you that our waiting room has been re-arranged to allow for social distancing, seating is clearly marked  & is wiped down after each patient. Hand sanitiser is available for patients to use when entering & leaving the building.

Each clinical room is cleaned after every patient contact & full Personal, Protective Equipment (PPE) is worn by all our clinical staff.However during this time we have put our toilets & baby change out of use.

We would encourage & prefer you to wear a face mask or face covering if you are coming into the surgery.

Thank you once again for your continued co-operation during these unprecedented times.

#staysafe #stayhealthy

The first phase of the NHS Covid-19 vaccination programme has started in the UK.  When it is the right time for you to receive the vaccine, you will receive an invitation to come forward.  Please do not contact us to get an appointment until you are contacted.  Information on the vaccine is available on the NHS.UK website.  For anything else, your GP practice is open and if you need to get in touch, please ring us on 01925 598230.  Please do not come to the surgery unless you have an appointment.

Face-to-Face Assessment Centres

Increased support announced for patients with COVID-19 symptoms and members of their household

GP surgeries in Halton and Warrington are working with NHS 111 and local hospitals to provide more advice and treatment to patients with COVID-19 symptoms and members of their household who are self-isolating. The support, which includes telephone, video and face-to-face assessments, will be provided to help these patients with a range of health issues and concerns.

Advice for patients with COVID-19 symptoms

If you have COVID-19 symptoms and you need advice or treatment with any health issue, you should contact NHS 111 in the first instance, unless it is a life-threatening emergency, then you should dial 999.

• If you have possible COVID-19 and you are struggling to cope with your symptoms, you should use the NHS 111 online Coronavirus service - https://111.nhs.uk/covid-19.
• If you have COVID-19 symptoms but have another health concern, please contact NHS 111 online at https://111.nhs.uk/ or via phone.

NHS 111 may then refer you to your GP Practice for further assessment via phone or video call. If clinically appropriate, a face-to-face appointment will be booked by the practice at one of the dedicated face-to-face assessment sites which have been set up in Halton and Warrington. As a result, you may need to go to a different surgery than normal for an assessment with a GP. The sites will not offer testing for COVID-19 and are not public testing sites.

To ensure the safety of patients and staff, only patients who have the complaint and a booked appointment at the assessment sites will be allowed access. Patients will only be allowed to enter one at a time, they will be asked to wait in a car if possible and only enter when they are contacted by mobile phone.

Advice for patients living in a household with someone who has COVID-19 symptoms

If you have a health concern but are self-isolating because you live in a household with someone who has COVID-19 symptoms, you can contact the surgery directly via phone or by contacting the practice via an online form on the practice website (eConsult).

IMPORTANT: please make the surgery aware that you are living in a household with someone who has COVID-19 symptoms.

A clinical member of staff will call you back to provide an assessment over the phone and they will arrange a video or face-to face appointment for you if required. Face-to-face appointments for patients who live in a household with someone who has COVID-19 symptoms will take place at one of the dedicated face-to-face assessment sites.

Advice for patients who live in households that DO NOT have COVID-19 symptoms

To reduce any potential risk of infection, patients who live in households without any COVID-19 symptoms will be seen separately from patients with COVID-19 symptoms and members of their household. As a result of the new arrangements, you may be asked to attend a different surgery than usual. If you need to attend a different surgery, we will advise you at the time of booking your appointment.

Please be reminded… do not to come into the surgery without a pre-booked appointment. If you need help with a health concern, please contact us via phone or by completing an online form on our website (e-Consult). A clinical member of staff will call you back to provide an assessment over the phone and they will arrange a video or face-to face appointment for you if required.

Where can I find out more information?

Read some frequently asked questions for patients here (insert link).

• Link for Halton practices is http://www.haltonccg.nhs.uk/your-health/Pages/Face-to-Face-Assessment-Sites-FAQs.aspx

• Link for Warrington practices is https://www.warringtonccg.nhs.uk/Images/Page%20Images/your-health/face-to-face-assessment-sites-faqs.htm

Re: Coronavirus and Requests for Doctor’s Notes (Med3)

Dear Patient and/or Employer,

The Government’s rules around issuing a sick note (Med3) are that a medical professional can only issue a Med3 when an individual has had more than seven continuous calendar days off sick due to an illness (including weekends).

For any period of illness less than seven days, you are able to complete a self-certification certificate and provide this to your employer. A SC2 form can be downloaded from the internet. In the unlikely event that your employer does not accept a self-certification then your doctor may be able to issue a private sick note for which you may get charged.

Below is the address where this form can be downloaded:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/statutory-sick-pay-employees-statement-of-sickness-sc2

In light of the current Coronavirus situation, it is inevitable that a number of employees may be required to quarantine themselves at home, for example due to the nature of recent travel, or because other members of the household are showing symptoms even in the absence of any symptoms of an illness in the employee. In these cases, GPs will not be able to issue a sick note as the time off work is not due to an illness, and isn’t affecting your ability to work, but rather is a precaution to avoid transmission of any illness that is yet to produce symptoms.

We therefore expect your employer to be sympathetic if you are required to self-isolate for 14 days and to understand that the reason for this is to protect the welfare of your work colleagues and the wider community. You can now go line using the link below in order to obtain an isolation note from the NHS 111 website:

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

.ACAS have also published guidance for employees and employers which can be referred to below:

https://www.acas.org.uk/coronavirus

Whilst we appreciate this may cause some difficulties between you and your employer, equally GPs have a responsibility to prioritise the assessment and management of the healthcare needs of patients who are acutely unwell, rather than spending time dealing with requests for sick notes, particularly when they aren’t in a position to issue one.

This briefing has been written for and on behalf of Chapelford Medical Centre, so please accept this as a reply to any request for a sick note/letter from the surgery.

Yours sincerely,

On behalf of our GP's,

Dan Bunstone

Principle GP

 OUT OF HOURS CARE:

Please phone NHS 111

 As from 1st July we will be offering evening appointments on Monday & Wednesday via video link with Push Doctor, these appointments will be booked through our triage system held daily with our practice nurses.

"Push Doctor is the leading light in online GP consultations, providing video appointments with NHS-trained GPs to patients across the UK. Patients can book an appointment online,  by contacting their surgery, or through the app, and be seen wherever they feel comfortable, whenever suits them. The Push Doctor platform is already live in a number of NHS surgeries across the UK – presenting an all new way for patients to see a doctor without having to attend the surgery. Push Doctor's platform is an additional part of the NHS service available at the surgery. It is completely free and there is no need for patients to de-register from their regular GP in order to use the service"

For more information on Push Doctor visit www.pushdoctor.co.uk. 

Chapelford Medical Centre has an active Patient Participation Group.  We are encouraging membership to support the future development of our services for our patient population please contact PPGChapelford@yahoo.com for more details about the group.

Our website is updated regularly and is full of useful information about the practice that will help keep you informed of current developments nationally and within our practice itself.

E-Consult

Common e-Consult requests that you can make by submitting an online form include:

- If you think you need to request a face to face appointment - we will get one booked in if needed

- If you think you need a telephone appointment - we shall call you back the same day in most cases

- If you simply want advice on any aspect of your health – tell us your concerns

- If you need health related documentation including sick notes - simply submit the form

- If you want to discuss your medication - list the query

- If you want to share a picture / photo of your skin condition or report - attach them

- If you need to request your medication – give details of what you need to order and we will send this electronically to your nominated pharmacy (usually closest to your home or work address). If you haven’t set up a nominated pharmacy yet please tell us your preferred pharmacy on your eConsult, even if you aren’t ordering medication this time.

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REMINDER FOR PATIENTS

Please notify us immediately of any changes to your contact details, (address, telephone number, next of kin etc) to ensure we are able to contact you should we need to. Please speak to the receptionist next time you are in the surgery or when contacting the surgery so we can update your records.  Changes of address require proof of change (driving licence, bank statement, rent book, utility bill not including mobile phone bill)

Military Veterans

https://www.gmmh.nhs.uk/military-veterans-services

Contact us

Protected Learning Time (PLT)

In order to ensure continuing education for our staff we allocate the last Thursday afternoon of every month as protected learning time. On such occasions we are closed from 1pm

 

           

Text Messaging Service

Would you like to be notified by a text message when your next appointment is due ?

Please contact reception with your mobile number or fill in the attached form that is located under the Further Information section 'Text Message Reminders' and give to a member of the reception team.