Blog Archive

Referrals to Secondary Care

Patients are entitled to request a specialist opinion from our Secondary Care Colleagues in hospitals.

If you are referred to a hospital the surgery will use the electronic referral system (eRS – previously known as Choose & Book).

Once you have been referred any queries about the hospital appointment should be raised by yourself to the hospital.

The GP may want to refer you urgently to rule out cancer and this is called a Fast Track Referral or a Two Week Wait.

This means that patients should receive an appointment within two weeks of having first seeing your GP. 

Patients who have been referred via the Fast Track Referral system are asked to contact the surgery urgently if they have not received an appt within 4 days of seeing the GP.

Prescriptions

IMPORTANT REPEAT PRESCRIPTION INFORMATION

CHANGES TO OUR ORDERING SYSTEM

FROM THE 2nd OCTOBER 2017 WE WILL NO LONGER ACCEPT REPEAT PRESCRIPTION ORDERS THROUGH A CHEMIST – PLEASE SEE PRACTICE NEWS FOR MORE INFORMATION

To order a repeat prescription you can either:

• Use the right hand side of your prescription indicating with a tick or cross which items are required. Post your request in the repeat prescription box outside the entrance to the building. We require 48 working hours’ notice for all prescriptions.
• Email your request, include your full name, address and date of birth along with the name(s) of the medication you require. Email to cheshireccg.prescriptionswss@nhs.net
• You can post your request to us, giving us all the details as listed above.
• You can request repeat medication on line using EMIS Patient Access – please ask for a registration form at reception.

WE DO NOT ACCEPT REQUESTS FOR REPEAT PRESCRIPTIONS OVER THE PHONE due to the fact that errors can be made this way, and we require a paper Audit trail of all orders.

PRIVATE PRESCRIPTIONS

If you request items to be prescribed privately to you we will charge £16 for this, which is in addition to the cost of the medication from the pharmacy.

Online Services

You can now order your repeat prescriptions online. Once you are registered it is a quick and easy to use service.

To use EMIS Patient Access you will need a Practice ID number and Access ID number which is obtained from the practice, and, in conjunction with a password, will be unique to you.

Please call in to reception to pick up a registration form, you will need two forms of ID, one of which must be photographic.

Click here to access EMIS Patient Access.

Home Visits

These are for patients who are housebound or too ill to come to the surgery. Requests for visits should be made before 10.30am when possible.

Please give a clear description of the problem.

IF THE PATIENT HAS A TEMPERATURE OR A RASH, COMING TO THE SURGERY WILL DO NO HARM and will not endanger others but please inform the receptionist on arrival.

Many patents believe there is an automatic right to a home visit from a GP between 8am and 6.30pm but this is not the case.

For the avoidance of doubt it is the GP who decides if a home visit is warranted and not the patient nor an Allied Health Professional (Schedule 6, Regulation 26 Part 1 of GMS Contract Regulations 2004).

There is nothing in the Regulation to prevent the GP from overriding the request for a home visit and advise the patient to attend A&E, without first seeing them. This is providing the medical condition of the patient makes the course of action appropriate.

It is not the role of 111 to decide whether a GP visit is required, but to recommend that the patient contacts their own GP services.

Doctors will always encourage people to come into the surgery because this is where the best care can be provided. Specialist equipment is there, tests can be carried out more easily and drugs issued if necessary.

It is not the job of the doctor or the surgery to arrange transport to the practice. This is in line with local and national guidance from various health care providers and GP professional bodies.

Nationally and in line with guidance endorsed by the Royal College of GPs, a home visit occurs for the following three reasons:

• The patient is terminally ill
• The patient is housebound
• The patient has a severe learning or physical disability

Test Results

Routine blood test results take 3-5 days, but some less common tests result take longer. We will attempt to contact you if there is an urgent abnormal result- so please make sure we have an up to date contact number.  In all cases the doctor will review your results and comment on them.  If no action is required we will not routinely contact you.  You should call the surgery in 7-10 days after your test to obtain the result.

Appointments

DUE TO CORONA VIRUS WE HAVE CHANGED OUR APPOINTMENT SYSTEM TO ENSURE WE ARE MEETING COVID SECURE REQUIREMENTS.

If you need advice or treatment from a GP and you have internet access we are advising you to use eConsult which can be found on the Home Page of this Website.  Patients can detail all their symptoms and questions.  This is read by a doctor in the practice within 36 working hrs.  The doctor will then decide if you need to come into the surgery for an examination, deal with your issue over the telephone or provide some other course of action.  Once you have submitted your eConsult the practice will contact you either by phone or text message.  Please ensure your provide up to date mobile/home numbers.  Please see Practice News for more details.

For patients without internet access our staff can help you submit an eConsult on your behalf, but this cannot be done until the afternoon, due to workload.  

If the doctors require you to attend surgery to be examined you MUST wear a face covering to enter the building.

We offer routine appointments on a Saturday morning. These appointments can be booked up to two weeks in advance and we cannot accommodate walk-in patients or emergencies during these clinics.

I-Plato / MyGP Mobile Phone App – CURRENTLY SUSPENDED

If you have a smart phone you can receive text reminders from the above app, and can also make and cancel appointments. Please download the app from www.mygp/io/ood Please ensure we have your current mobile number in order for you to receive text reminders.

Online Services 

EMIS Patient Access is the facility to book and cancel appointments online. You can also order medication if you are on long-term ‘repeat’ prescriptions. Please ask at reception for registration details, for which you need two forms of acceptable identification.

To use EMIS Patient Access you will need a Practice ID number and Access ID number which is obtained from the practice, and, in conjunction with a password, will be unique to you.

You need to call in to reception to pick up a registration form.

Click here to access EMIS Patient Access.

Diabetic, Hypertension, Asthma and Menopause

We have clinics for people with the above complaints run by the doctors, dietitian and practice nurses.

Child Health Surveillance

We offer child development checks at the intervals agreed in local guidelines. Parents will be notified of their children’s appointments.

Maternity Care

All the doctors have had postgraduate training in obstetrics. Antenatal care is provided during the normal surgeries or at designated clinics.

Family Planning

We offer advice about family planning.