Daily Bulletin
Morning everyone. The cases in Northumberland continues to rise and stands at 96.
Easter Holidays
All GP practices have been asked by the Government to operate as normal during the Easter holidays so we will be open on Good Friday and Easter Monday for normal services. The Glendale Pharmacy is not open on those days but is open on Easter Saturday for medication collection. However, if you order medication on the Friday or Monday, please don't expect it to be ready early morning on the Saturday or Tuesday as the pharmacist won't receive it until they open at 9am that morning.
Lets hope people don't take the nice weather we are supposed to be getting as an opportunity to come up to the country like they did a few weeks ago. Hopefully the message has been taken on board by now.
Temperature checking
If you are asked to attend the surgery at any point a clinician will now be checking your temperature before you can enter the building. This will be carried out with a thermometer similar to a hand-held supermarket scanner so don't be alarmed if you see this in their hand when they open the door.
If you do have a temperature you may be taken to our isolation room which has been stripped of all but the desk and chairs. Again, please do not be alarmed at this but, if there is any suspicion of infection then we have to have a room that can be deep cleaned.
Patients asked to attend for an appointment
If the doctor or nurse asks you to attend then, unless you have a condition which means that you must be accompanied, then please don't bring anyone with you as we don't want to offend anyone by saying they can't come in.
As always, stay safe folks and thanks for your understanding during these difficult times for us all.
Previous posts
Collaborative Working arrangements across North Northumberland General Practice
We have been working hard with our primary care network to ensure that whatever challenges we may face in the coming months we can continue to provide you, our patients, continued access to essential healthcare from your local practice.
Although testing for healthcare workers is now available and will reduce the number of staff who are isolating when a household member has symptoms, there remains the risk of healthcare workers being too unwell to attend work if they contract the virus. We are concerned there is a risk that this may mean some practices are left without GPs available to care for their patients for short periods of time.
Therefore in order to ensure that our patients always have access to a General Practitioner we have taken the temporary step of activating access for every GP across the North of Northumberland in each of our practices. Although we have made this access available immediately this will only be used when a GP is working to support a practice and only to access the records of those patients who need their input. This may include but is not limited to consultations (telephone or face to face), issuing medications and reviewing test results.
If you have any concerns or wish to discuss this further please speak to our practice manager
AT RISK PATIENTS
Due to the high demand from patients for letters for employers and advice, we have decided to write to each patient with long-term conditions who are considered to be high risk.
These are not the patients that the Government have already written to as being at very high risk.
If you think you are in a high risk group and don't receive a letter by the beginning of next week, please give us a call.
We are under huge pressures at the moment so please be patient and don't call us requesting a sick note or isolation note due to coronavirus as this will act as evidence for your employer.
The groups are:
* Patients with diabetes with an HbA1c greater than 75, recent diabetic ketoacidosis or poor medication aherence.
* Patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease who have required hospitalisation in the last 12 months or who have required 2 or more courses of steroids or antibiotics.
* Patients with asthma with a history of hospitalisation in the last 12 months or ever been admitted to intensive care.
* Patients with significant heart failure which has required hospitalisation for the heart failure within the last 12 months.
* Patients with multiple longterm conditions
* Patients taking continuous oral corticosteroids or 20mg of prednisolone or more for over 4 weeks.
* Patients taking some immunosuppressive or immunomodulating medication who have not been contacted by the Government such as cyclophosphamide, leflunomide, methotrexate.
* Other patients the GP considers would be at high risk.
Thanks.
ENRICHED SUMMARY CARE RECORD
Most patients have a summary care record which shares important information between healthcare professionals such as medication, allergies and adverse reactions which is extremely useful if you are seen by another doctor other than your own GP including hospital admissions. There is now the enriched SCR which also includes important medical history and procedures, immunisations and anticipatory care information such as your wishes for emergency care or end of life plans. This ESCR will be especially helpful when treating patients with urgent medical needs such as hospitals or by out of hours doctors. It also saves you having to try to remember what conditions you have plus any allergies and medications you take, especially important for elderly patients who may not remember as well as they used to.
If you would like to have an ESCR, please let us know and we will tick the box in your records. You may also be asked this question by our doctors or reception team in the future.