*** Coronavirus*** LATEST SURGERY UPDATE 21.09.2020

As part of our contingency planning for Coronavirus, we are advising all patients to not attend the surgery unless absolutely essential. Where possible we are asking patients to book in telephone consultations. If you have an appointment already booked and wish to change this to a telephone consultation, please contact the surgery so we can arrange this.

Going forward, we will only be offering telephone triage in the first instance, and the practitioner will decide whether it is appropriate for you to attend the surgery. If you have an appointment booked, we are asking patients to wait in their cars and the clinician will call you when they are ready to see you. Please do not attend the surgery when we open at 8am and telephone instead.

We are working our telephone providers to ensure we have the maximum number of phone lines open and have called in additional support. Please ensure that you have updated us with your correct details prior to your appointment, and if you haven’t already done so please nominate a pharmacist for your prescriptions to be sent electronically, as we will not be open for collection. We appreciate your cooperation and patience during this time; we are doing our upmost to protect our patients and staff in the current situation.

If you have a face to face consultation at the surgery, please wear a face covering/mask/scarf to protect yourself and others. Unfortunately we are unable to supply masks. The only exemptions will be for children under the age of 3 or those who may find it difficult to manage them correctly. Thank you for your understanding

The NHS and Public Health England (PHE) are extremely well prepared for outbreaks of new infectious diseases. The current risk to the general public is moderate. You can help too.

Germs can live on some surfaces for hours. To protect yourself and others:

• Always carry tissues with you and use them to catch your cough or sneeze.
• Bin the tissue, and to kill the germs, wash your hands with soap and water, or use a sanitiser gel.
• Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth with unwashed hands.
• Avoid close contact with people who are unwell.
• If you have arrived back from an affected area within the last 14 days and develop symptoms of cough or fever or shortness of breath, you should immediately:

• Stay indoors and avoid contact with other people as you would with the flu
• Call NHS 111 to inform them of your recent travel to the country

This is the best way to slow the spread of almost any germs, including Coronavirus.

More information, including a list of the affected areas is available by logging onto gov.uk/coronavirus

Information For Patients

We are aware this is a difficult time for anyone who is currently admitted to hospital or anyone who has a relative who is currently in hospital. Our thoughts are with anyone affected. Thank you for bearing with us through this difficult pandemic.

Please use the following support line if you have any relative at NGH for support so you can check in on the current condition of a family member or loved one.

Please follow their instructions below.

In order to use this service, you will need to know the patients full name, ward location, date of birth and NHS number where possible. Our team will then take this information and check in with the ward to obtain details on the patient’s condition. You will then receive a call back with this information.

To use this service, please dial 01604 545784.

The line is open on: Monday to Friday - 9:00am til 5:00pm Saturday and Sunday - 10:00am til 4:00pm

This line cannot be used for advice on upcoming appointments or admissions, advisers will not be able to answer these questions.

HOPE FOODBANK

Food bank is available to those who may require it, please see information and link below.

As of Week commencing 20/7 we revert to supply from pop-up shops rather than home deliveries

Our new shop locations, starting from Wednesday 22^nd July are:

• Wednesday, 10 -11 Community Centre, Kings Heath, NH NN57LN
• 12-1 Salvation Army, Tower Street, Spring Boroughs, Northampton NN12SN
• Fri: 10-11 Blackthorn Community Centre, Longmead Court NN38QD
• 12-1 Salvation Army, Penistone Road, off Billing Brook Road, near Weston Favell, NN3 8EZ

https://hopeenterprises.org.uk/foodclub.html

Domestic Abuse Support

The government have acknowledged that the order to stay at home can cause anxiety for those who are experiencing or feel at risk of domestic abuse. Domestic abuse is unacceptable in any situation, no matter what stresses a person is under.

If any person feels that they are at risk of abuse, it is important to remember that there is help and support available, whether this is in the form of police response, online support, helplines, refuges or other services.

The household isolation instruction as a result of COVID-19 does not apply if a person needs to leave their home to escape domestic abuse.

Please see the link for more information: https://bvsc.co.uk/sites/default/files/Silent_solution_guide_0.pdf

East NorthantsHub

East Northants Hub is a new GP led evening and weekend service where local GPs and other clinicians offer a range of services for patients registered with a GP practice in East Northants. Please visit the Hub Website for more information.

We also offer extra appointments on behalf of the surgery on a Monday and a Wednesday with our health care assistant, operating from Harborough Fields Surgery. This is 6.30pm - 8pm, should you wish to make an appointment please speak with our reception.

CERVICAL SCREENING

A SMEAR TEST LAST 5 MINUTES. THE IMPACT OF CERVICAL CANCER LASTS A LIFETIME. ATTEND YOUR SMEAR TEST, REDUCE THE RISK.

Welcome to the Higham Ferrers Surgery

At The Higham Ferrers Surgery the Doctors and Nurse stake pride in offering the highest standard of patient-centred healthcare.We run many clinics for chronic disease care and offer a wide variety of other medical services such as antenatal and postnatal care, minor surgery, contraception implant insertions and removals, childhood vaccinations and well-person check-ups.

Higham Ferrers Surgery obtained training practice status on the 1st August 2011. This means qualified Doctors spend periods of between 4 months and a year with the practice and take part in surgeries and home visits. These GP Registrars are fully qualified and work in the surgery to gain experience in General Practice.

Occasionally these GP's may wish to video theirc onsultations for training purposes only. The recording will only be seen by the GP and their supervisors and once viewed it will be erased. Their supervisors are Dr Onimole and Dr Nwosu. Your permission is needed in order for the doctor to video the consultation and you will be asked to sign a consent form to say that you agree to the recording. If you do not wish to be recorded while your consultation is taking place then you may decline.

In addition to everything you need to know about the practice you will also find a wealth of health-related information in the menu on the right hand side. Please have a look around - we always welcome your feedback.

Electronic Prescription Service /Controlled Drugs/Online service

The surgery uses an electronic prescription service. If you wish to sign up to this service or would like further information, please contact reception.

The service makes the prescription process much more efficient as there are no paper copies of prescriptions. The prescriptions are raised by administration staff and sent electronically via our clinical system to the GP. Once the prescription has been authorised by the GP it is sent electronically to the patient's nominated pharmacy.

The benefits of this service include:

Not having to go to the GP practice to collect the prescription as the GP will have sent it straight to the pharmacy the patient has nominated.

More choice of where to collect the prescription as patients can nominate a pharmacy convenient for them (e.g. close to work or where they live).

May not have to wait as long at the pharmacy as your repeat prescription can be made up ready before you arrive.

If a prescription needs to be cancelled this can be done without patient having to return to surgery as it can be sent electronically to GP for them to change or re-issue.

Controlled Drugs

PLEASE BE AWARE THAT ALL CONTROLLED DRUGS HAVE NOW BEEN REMOVED FROM YOUR REPEAT PRESCRIPTIONS. THEY ARE NOW AN ACUTE MEDICATION, WHICH MEANS YOU HAVE TO REQUEST THEM VIA YOUR PRESCRIPTION, AS NEEDED AND WHEN DUE. (IF YOU USE ONLINE SERVICES PLEASE USE THE MESSAGE BOX AT THE END)

THIS DOES NOT MEAN YOU CANT GET YOUR MEDICATION- YOU JUST SIMPLY HAVE TO REQUEST THEM.

Online services

If you are also registered for online services, you can also request repeat prescriptions online, saving you having to come into or contacting the surgery. Should you wish for further information then please speak with reception.

Please see the clinics & services page for more information on 'ONLINE SERVICES'

Text Alert Service

We will now send you a text message to remind you of your appointment, 48 hours before. This will be sent to the mobile number we hold on your medical record. We may also send you a text message once we have received your test results - to advise you that no further action is required, ask you to repeat the test or book an appointment to see a GP/Nurse for review. It is therefore important that you keep us up-to-date with your contact details. So, please keep us updated with your mobile number.

If you wish to opt out of this service, please inform our reception staff.

Registration

All of our patients are allocated a named responsible GP. For your convenience, your named accountable GP will be the Doctor you are registered with. Please ask at reception if you wish to know the name of your Doctor.

Please note, having a named GP does not mean you cannot see any other Doctor in the Practice (as your named GP may not always be available). Please continue to book your appointments with the Doctor of your choice.

HAVE YOU HAD YOU'RE FREE NHS HEALTH CHECK?

ARE YOU 40 YEARS OLD OR ABOVE? YOU ARE ELIGIBLE FOR A FREE NHS HEALTH CHECK. PLEASE CALL THE SURGERY FOR FURTHER DETAILS.

Patient Participation Group

If you are interested in joining our Patient Participation Group, please follow the Patient Group link or contact 01933 412777 for further information.

Please see our latest PPG Newsletter Autumn 2019

PPG Newsletter May 2020

Touch Screen Self-Arrival Service

We now have a self-arrival screen at the reception.

This would enable you to inform us that you have arrived for your appointments. You would be asked for your details including your smoking status and if you are a carer or not.

We hope this improves your experience at the surgery.

Please, do not hesitate to ask one of our receptionists if you need help using it or if you prefer not to use it.

Thank you.

Appointments

There are occasions when our clinical team may run late during surgeries, which may mean that you have to wait beyond your allotted appointment time. Whilst we make every effort to adhere to appointment times, emergencies or unavoidable delays can happen.

Each appointment is allocated 10 minutes. If you feel that your reason for attending is complex or could take longer than the allocated 10 minutes, we ask if you could kindly consider making a double appointment.

We thank you for your patience and do apologise for any inconvenience caused.

National Diabetes Audit

Higham Ferrers Surgery is participating in the national diabetes audit as we are committed to providing the best possible care to our patients. Please, inform the reception team if you do not wish to participate. Thank you.