Berrington Village Pump - Edition 152 Feb - Mar 2021

A SPECIAL THANK YOU TO ALL OUR PATIENTS
To protect patients and staff we have adapted to a different way of delivering services.
We would like to thank each and every one you for your continued understanding and
support during these challenging and difficult times.
Accessing GP Services
We are still providing general medical services to our patients as we always have but the way to
access these has changed a little:
On line Consultations - eConsult
eConsult is an online platform that enables patients to request medical advice from their GP by
simply undergoing an online consultation. During the online consultation patients may be
provided with advice for self-help or information on other services to receive the care that
aligns with their symptoms. If the GP feels that a patient needs a face-to-face appointment then
they will contact the patient within 48 hours and invite them in for an appointment. For many
medical queries the GP will contact the patient directly or instruct a member of the Practice
team to contact the patient with GP advice. We may respond to your e-consultation via
telephone, email or text message if you have given consent to receive text messages from the
Practice. In order to ensure we meet the increasing demand and needs of our patients whilst
ensuring our services are utilised appropriately, we encourage patients to utilise this service
and to find further information visit the practice website:
www.muchwenlockandcressagemp.co.uk.
If you are unable to utilise the eConsult method of contacting the surgery and wish to seek
advice from a GP you can book a telephone consultation with a doctor for a morning or
afternoon call back. The GP will discuss your issue with you and if necessary arrange an
appointment to see you face to face in the Practice. Please ensure you are available to receive
a call at any time during the 4 hour window as we cannot give you a definite call back time. If
you have an urgent on the day issue we are continuing to operate a duty doctor service and are
also providing home visits where necessary for housebound patients or patients who are too ill
to get to the Practice.
Nurse appointments and Health Care Assistant appointments
Appointments for essential treatments and tests are booked as previously by contacting the
Practice by phone to book in. Please note that there is a reduction in the number of available
appointments to allow for cleaning of areas in between appointments and to ensure social
distancing between patients coming in to and leaving the Practice.
Chronic disease reviews are continuing though some of these are taking place via the telephone
or video link rather than face to face. Patients are being invited for these appointments. Please
bear with us if your review is overdue as we are catching up from the first lockdown period
when all chronic disease reviews were suspended. If you are struggling to manage your chronic
disease then please let us know. Please note we are currently unable to offer online bookable
appointments.
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