We do not yet know when over 50's vaccines will arrive and cannot book appointments for these yet
News regarding Dr Beattie - Please scroll down for more information
CORONAVIRUS COVID-19 Please scroll down our homepage for details. We will not be issuing mask exemption letters. Please see https://tinyurl.com/BLFmasks
If you are self isolating or in a high risk group please ask healthy friends or family to collect your prescription. If no-one can do this for you please talk to our dispensary team who can arrange delivery
We will now be using an automated TEXT AND/OR VOICE messaging service for some messages and surveys to patients. Text messages come from "GPSurgery" or "NHS-NoReply". VOICE MESSAGES MAY ASK FOR YOUR DATE OF BIRTH for identification purposes.
Influenza "Flu" vaccines are now available for over 65s and those with eligible long term conditions. Please scroll down for details of clinics.
Please note that we are now using the newest version of AskmyGP (Version 3). You may need to re-register with this version but in most cases your log-ins will have moved across.
Useful Self-Help Resources
Dr Angela Beattie’s retirement
Many of you have been asking about Dr Beattie and when she may be returning to the surgery. We are sad to announce that she has now taken retirement from General Practice on medical grounds. Dr Beattie was diagnosed with a rare form of bowel cancer last year and she has been undergoing treatment, including surgery. She is unable to return to frontline clinical work but she has secured a role working for our local Clinical Commissioning Group. We wish her all the very best in her new role.
Dr Beattie is very sad to be leaving the Milborne Port and Templecombe Surgery family and her work in general practice. We will miss her greatly and we thank her for her dedication and service to the practice. We know that many of you will want to pass on your best wishes to her. Visits to the surgery are restricted to essential appointments only due to Covid-19 restrictions but we will make sure she receives any cards posted to the practice.
Dr Beattie’s patients were looked after temporarily by Dr Gray and Dr Hunt until Dr French joined us this autumn. We appreciate that this has been an unsettling time (for more reasons than one this year!) and we thank you all for your patience and understanding.
Flu Clinics - Please ring 01963 250432 between 9 and 12 am to book
Over 65s and those with eligible long term conditions only.
Despite the government announcements, we cannot yet say for certain when the over 50s vaccines will arrive and so cannot yet book appointments for these.
If you are concerned you may have Coronavirus COVID-19 please consult the NHS111 website for advice in the first instance. click here to visit the NHS website
PLEASE AVOID COMING TO THE SURGERY
Guidance Changes
The guidance has now changed for the Coronavirus. If you have a high temperature, a new, continuous cough, or a loss or change to your sense of smell or taste, or if you live with someone who has symptoms, please visit www.nhs.uk to arrange a test. Self isolate until you have your test result.
You should NOT contact NHS 111 unless your symptoms deteriorate. If your symptoms are beyond what you can manage at home in the first instance please access the 111 website for advice and to go through their online questionnaire. Only ring 111 if you cannot get the answer/support you need online.
Changes to Appointments at the Practice
In line with national advice we are trying to reduce footfall in the practice to help us with infection prevention and control for the benefit of staff and patients. We will be implementing the following changes from MONDAY 16th MARCH 2020.
Appointments will be changing
- All GP appointments will be converted to telephone or video triage calls, please DO NOT attend the practice if you have a pre-booked appointment unless you have been told otherwise.
- We will be ceasing the following appointments for the time being:
- Spirometry
- Travel health assessments and vaccinations
- Minor operations and Cryotherapy
- Routine annual blood test for those that are well.
- Private foot health, chiropractic and physiotherapy appointments
- Appointments that will continue are:
- All wound management
- Leg and foot ulcers
- Stitch removal
- INR clinics
- Vitamin B12 injections
- Prostate cancer control injections
- Contraceptive coils and implants
- Cervical smears
- Childhood Immunisations
- Midwife appointments
- 6 week mother and baby checks
- Clinically indicated blood tests for those undergoing treatment (please contact your GP before booking routine annual blood tests)
- Asthma and COPD reviews will be conducted over the telephone/video with patients.
- Diabetes reviews will continue with some appointments being conducted over the telephone/video with patients.
Staff will be wearing full personal protective equipment. Please do not be alarmed by this, it is to try and prevent any further infection spreading. On arrival please inform reception and return to your car to wait. On entering the building use the hand sanitiser and wear a face mask/covering.
All prescription services will continue as present. The prescription query telephone line will be open 8:30am-12pm every morning, or you can order as usual online. Please note we will not issue more medication than usual to ensure we do not create a stockpiling problem. So please don’t ask as this puts undue pressure on our doctors, dispensary staff and local pharmacies.
If you have a non-urgent query please use our AskMyGP service above.
Advice regarding the Covid-19 Coronavirus infection
Self isolate and get tested if you or a household member have coronavirus symptoms:
- a high temperature
- a new, continuous cough
- a change in your sense of taste or smell
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.
- you feel you cannot cope with your symptoms at home
- your condition gets worse
- your symptoms do not get better after 7 days
NHS 111 online coronavirus service
Only call 111 if you cannot get help online
For the latest Covid-19 advice please visit www.nhs.uk
APPOINTMENTS
In order to provide a timely response to urgent and routine medical problems we are altering the way we offer appointments.
We ask that you phone the surgery, or use the askmyGP link below and give reception a brief outline of the nature of your medical problem. You will then be given an approximate time when you can expect a return telephone call from your GP. It is useful at this stage to specify any times that you may be unavailable so that the GP can ring at time that is convenient for you to accept the call.
Following this triage we are able to offer an appointment with the appropriate clinician for the appropriate amount of time having arranged appropriate tests and paperwork beforehand. We also find that many issues can be dealt with on a phone call alone and saves you a visit to the surgery.
If you want to contact a specific GP you will need to phone on the day that they are working (click here to check your GP availability)
For those who are unable to use this system, e.g. hard of hearing, please let the receptionist know and they will make alternative arrangements.
Please note that booking appointments to see a Nurse or HCA has not changed. These can be pre-booked in the usual way.
Click on the logo above to use askmyGP. This will send us an electronic message to the GP who will respond by message or telephone.
The easiest way to contact us is through askmyGP.
It's available 24/7 - we respond in working hours, 8.30 am to 6.30 pm Monday to Friday (not bank Holidays)
In working hours, we can usually get back to you within 1-2 hours, you will need to check your emails for a reply
All our registered patients are welcome, and as a parent or carer you can use askmyGP on behalf of a patient
You can choose a particular named GP if you wish
You may prefer a telephone or email response
You can login now, without any paperwork
Please note that sometimes replies will go to Junk folders so please check all inboxes for your response and make AskMyGP a trusted source to fix this and prevent them from being sent to the Junk folder in the future.
There have been posts on social media with false information about opting out of sharing your data with the NHS.
Here's what you need to know:
- There is no 30 September deadline for opting out of sharing your data. You can opt out at any time.
- NHS Digital will never sell your data.
- There are strict rules about how NHS can use your data. It's only shared securely and safely.
- Shared data helps the NHS. It has been used to find the first treatment for coronavirus and for vaccine research.
Read NHS Digital's response to the false information about the national data opt-out
Your health records contain a type of data called confidential patient information. This data can be used to help with research and planning.
You can choose to stop your confidential patient information being used for research and planning. You can also make a choice for someone else like your children under the age of 13.
Your choice will only apply to the health and care system in England. This does not apply to health or care services accessed in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland.
THANK YOU FOR HELPING US TO HELP YOU!
Improved Access:
Queen Camel, Bruton, Milborne Port, Milbrook and Wincanton GP Practices are now working collaboratively to offer appointments to their own and each other’s patients who cannot easily access primary care services during normal working hours. From October 2021 four of the practices in turn will again offer extra appointments with a health care professional between 6:30pm and 8:00pm Monday-Friday and Queen Camel will offer appointments (for all practices) between 9:00-10:30am on a Saturday morning. Milbrook Surgery will additionally offer appointments from 7:30-8:00am on a Tuesday morning. The appointments will be with the host practice staff, not necessarily your registered practice staff.
To book an evening or weekend appointment please contact your registered practice during normal opening times, this will help us to signpost you to the most appropriate option for your particular problem. By contacting us we can fully explain the process, to ensure that the booking is appropriate (as we hope to be able to meet your needs by offering an appointment with your usual GP) and cover all the relevant information (and consent) that we need to before we book an appointment for you.
You need to agree to your medical record being shared with the host practice who are providing your appointment. The clinician providing your appointment needs to have full access to your medical record. There is an opportunity to access same day appointment on a Saturday at Queen Camel Medical Centre. These are allocated on a first come first served basis by calling the practice.
Patients are reminded that the extension to routine GP services at evenings and weekends does not replace the current Somerset Out of Hours Urgent Primary Care Services. If patients or their family members become ill after 6.30pm or at the weekend and need medical advice or help outside of practice opening hours, they should continue to call NHS 111.
If you would like an appointment during one of these sessions, please contact your registered practice and request an “Improved Access” appointment. This is NOT a walk-in-service and anyone would turns up to a practice without a pre-booked appointment will be asked to contact the Out of Hours Service.
If you or somebody you are with become seriously ill, injured or consider symptoms to be life threatening then please call 999.
If you have a non life threatening emergency please call NHS 111. It is fast, easy and free. A highly trained advisor supported by healthcare professionals will assess your symptoms and direct you to the best medical care for you.
Pharmacists are highly trained health professionals who are able to advise you on treatment for common problems and also help you to decide if you need to see a GP.
Self Check in on arrival
If at all possible please could patients try to use the self check-in screens in the reception area. This not only allows you to be seen quickly but cuts down on unnecessary queues at the reception desk. Using it is very easy and only requires you to answer 3 simple questions about yourself. If you are more than 10 minutes early or ten minutes late then you will be asked to report to reception
NHS Family and Friends Test
You, the patient, are at the heart of everything that we do, and we really want to understand your overall impression of the service you receive. So, we are asking this question,
How likely is it that you would recommend our services to friends and family?
From 1st December 2014 it is a contractual requirement that all GP practices undertake the NHS Friends and Family Test (FFT). We here at Milborne Port Surgery are implementing it as of 1st October. The FFT is anonymous.
The Friends and Family Test is a feedback tool that supports the fundamental principle that people who use NHS Services should have the opportunity to provide feedback on their experience that can be used to improve services.
It is not a traditional survey, it is a continuous feedback loop between patients and practices.
The primary aims of the FFT are to:
· Gather useful feedback from people who use services that can be fed directly to staff that provide their care, in a simple format, in near real time
· Identify areas where improvements can be made so practical action can be taken
· Inform current and prospective patients about the experiences of those who use the practice services
Please click here to complete form and either return by hand, post or email to somccg.milborneportsurgery-reception@nhs.net
Here are our FFT feedback results last year. Friends and family feedback graph, January 2018- January 2019
Care Quality Commission
Care Quality Commission page on Milborne Port Surgery
(Site updated 24/11/2020)