Supporting the Surgery - Thank You
We would like to say a huge thank you to our patients for the support you have given to the team at Binscombe Medical Centre during these unprecedented times.
We have been trying to reduce the number of people who enter the practice in order to keep our staff and patients safe and this has meant putting some changes in place.
All consultations are being held initially over the telephone. The majority of consultations can be completed quite successfully in this way, or via a video consultation which is also possible provided you have a smartphone. Where it is important that you are seen face to face in order to have an examination, the GP will talk to you about how this can be done and will make arrangements for this
There are occasions where a patient needs to be seen despite possible symptoms of Covid-19. In this case patients are seen outside of the surgery premises and we are grateful to St John’s ambulance for helping us to set up a designated space for these consultations. Patients are asked to wait in their car to be called and the doctor who sees the patient will wear full protection. This ensures that patients who do need to be seen (but who don’t have symptoms) can wait in the practice with the assurance they will not come into contact with a potentially infectious person
We are asking all patients to consider whether they do need to come down to the surgery or whether their query can be dealt with over the phone or online. You can call us between 8am-1pm and 2pm-6pm. There is a wealth of resources on our website news pages including advice if you are social-distancing or are having to self-isolate because you are a very high risk patient suffering from a serious health condition
We are asking patients who usually collect their paper prescription from reception to let us know which pharmacy they will be collecting their medication from. We can then set this up so your prescriptions are sent there electronically, meaning you can go straight to the pharmacy to pick up your medication without coming into the practice
You can request repeat medication via our website or via the NHS app. If you do need to bring a repeat slip into the practice, we have moved the prescription request box into the porch so that you don’t need to come in to the waiting room
It is necessary for our staff to attend work so we are following social-distancing measures where possible and have adjusted our rotas to ensure the appropriate number of people are at work at the same time. We are also closing the doors between 1pm and 2pm to allow our staff to take their breaks in separate areas of the building
We are very grateful for how supportive our patients have been of the measures we have put in place but we would also like to stress that we are available if you need us. If you are unwell or have any concerns you can still access your GP during our usual opening hours (although this will initially be over the phone or by video). Please call us on 01483 415 115 and a member of the reception team will be happy to assist you.
