*** Coronavirus***

LATEST SURGERY UPDATE 13.03.2020

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.

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

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East Northants Hub

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.

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CQC REPORT

We have now received our CQC report for August 2019. Please click on the link below to view the report.

Higham Ferrers CQC August Report 2019

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CERVICAL SCREENING

A SMEAR TEST LAST 5 MINUTES.

THE IMPACT OF CERVICAL CANCER LASTS A LIFETIME 

ATTEND YOU SMEAR TEST, REDUCE THE RISK 

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Welcome to the Higham Ferrers Surgery

At The Higham Ferrers Surgery the Doctors and Nurses take 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 their consultations 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.

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Electronic Prescription Service / 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.

Online service

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'

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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

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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.

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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.

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NDA

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.

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