CURRENT STAFF SHORTAGES
As with many organisations we are experiencing staff shortages due to covid isolation requirements. If staff are well enough, and are able to work from home they are, but some staff are too unwell or their job does not allow them to work from home. Please be aware that their may be some delays in answering telephones or issuing prescriptions or sick notes etc. Also if you are expecting a telephone consultation the caller may ring from an unknown number.
We thank you for your co-operation and understanding.
ROUTES TO GAIN CLINICAL ASSISTANCE
If you have a major bleed, suspect you or someone you know may be having a stroke or Heart attack, or have been involved in a serious (? life threatening incident) call 999.
If you think you may need to visit A&E please call 111 or access 111 online who after triaging you will, if necessary arrange a time for you to go up to A&E, to avoid congestion in the department and to ensure that it is appropriate for you to attend A&E.
Please be reminded that when attending ANY healthcare setting, including surgery, you are required to wear a face mask or if this is not possible (due to a clinical exemption) a face covering (shield).
We continue to require you to contact surgery by telephone to make an appointment to consult with a Clinician at the surgery.
For a GP or Advanced Nurse Practitioner consultation, in most cases you will initially require a telephone consultation. A face to face appointment will then be arranged if it is decided during the consultation that this is necessary.
When booking a clinical consultation, it may be evident to the receptionist triaging the call, that it would assist the clinician if a photograph of the problem was sent prior to the telephone call. If this is the case a link will be sent to your mobile phone for you to upload the photographs, this uses NHS approved software that can be uploaded into your clinical record. Please DO NOT just send photographs to us at the surgery generic email address and request a Clinician “take a look” and ring you back, this is not the way to gain access to a clinical opinion and you will receive a polite request to contact reception and make an appointment.
Nurse and Health Care Assistant appointments will, due to the nature of the appointment, often require a face to face appointment and these can be arranged via a telephone call.
Prescriptions can be requested via SystmOne Online / the NHS App / the surgery prescription email address prescriptions.mm@nhs.net / via the surgery letterbox or by post. Please do not call surgery to request a prescription.
If you require assistance out of hours please call 111 or access 111 online to seek medical assistance.
FLU VACCINES
If you are over 65 and require a flu vaccine you can call surgery any weekday after 12 and book into one of our clinics being run from our PCN hub at Chelmsley Wood Primary Care Centre, Crabtree Drive, Chelmsley Wood. If you are between 18 and 64 and normally receive an invitation for a flu vaccine because you have a long term medical condition which qualifies you for a free vaccine or are a registered carer please also call surgery, as detailed above, to book into one of the hub clinics.
Flu and Covid Boosters
The surgery are working with other local practices the give all of the Covid Booster Vaccinations and most of the Flu boosters at the PCN run hub at the Primary Care Centre, Crabtree Drive, Off Bosworth Drive on Chelmsley Wood. This will reduce the footfall within the practices and allow us to continue seeing vulnerable patients when needed at the practice. We will however still be administering Flu vaccines, on our sites, to 2 and 3 year olds, pregnant patients and those 17 and under who have underlying medical conditions which make them eligible for a flu vaccine but are not having a vaccine at school. Please call surgery if you are one of the patients detailed above to book an appointment.
Surgery Access
We have received update guidance on how changes on 19th July 2021 will impact on General Practice, needless to say with the high level of the Delta variant in Birmingham and Solihull, at present, and the fact that social distancing and mask wearing measures outside of the surgery environment will be at the publics discretion (albeit the government guidance is to continue to be careful in higher risk situations), there are concerns that vulnerable patients attending surgery for monitoring and staff who need to be in surgery to undertake essential daily tasks would be at more risk if we just opened the doors and allowed people to wander into surgery unmasked and in numbers greater than the surgery limited space would safely allow.
Therefore, we will continue to telephone triage most patients wishing to consult with a GP or Advanced Nurse Practitioner and as has always been the case if the clinician and patient agree that a face to face appointment is required one will be arranged. We are increasing the number of Face to Face appointments steadily.
Nurse and Healthcare Assistant appointments will continue to be undertaken for monitoring / phlebotomy / dressings and Public Health services (vaccinations, smears etc).
Any patients attending surgery premises will still be required to ring on the doorbell and wait to have access to the premises. Face masks, face coverings or face visors will still be required whilst patients are in the surgery premises to protect themselves and other vulnerable patients and staff who are essential to the surgery.
We have increased the number of patients who are attending surgery for appointments steadily this year and are now returning to inviting patients in for routine monitoring of long term medical conditions, these patients need to feel safe when they attend appointments.
Practices around the country have seen an increase in the number of staff having to self- isolate due to covid illness or contact with covid positive patients and it is having a massive impact on the services these practices can offer. We do not want Manor House Lane or Marston Green Surgeries to be one of the surgeries that this happens to. Please help us to help you by adhering to the above guidance and having understanding when the guidance has to be enforced.
Please remember prescriptions can be ordered in various ways as previously detailed and collected from a nominated pharmacy. This helps reduce the number of patients visiting surgery and queuing outside.
Thank you for your continued support of the practices and staff.
Accessing Urgent Treatment Centre
Urgent Treatment Centre’s (previously known as walk-in centres)
UTCs can now only be accessed via an appointment system, booked by NHS111. Patients can no longer access a ‘walk-in’ service, without an appointment.
Please advise all patients to call 111 or visit online at https://111.nhs.uk first.
Here is an updated list of the 6 Urgent Treatment Centre’s within the Birmingham & Solihull area that NHS111 has access too:
Warren Farm Urgent Treatment Centre
Warren Farm Road, Birmingham, West Midlands, B44 0PU
Opening times: Monday – Sunday 8:00 – 19:00
Erdington Urgent Treatment Centre
Stockland Green Primary Care Centre
192 Reservoir Road
Erdington B23 6DJ
Opening times: Monday – Sunday 10:30 – 22:30
Washwood Heath Urgent Treatment Centre
Clodeshall Road, Washwood Heath , Birmingham, West Midlands, B8 3SN
Opening times: Monday – Sunday 09:00 – 20:30
Birmingham NHS Urgent Treatment Centre (“Boots”)
Lower Ground Floor, Boots The Chemists Ltd, 66 High Street , Birmingham, West Midlands, B4 7TA
Opening times: Monday – Friday 8:00 – 18:00
Saturday: 9:00 – 17:00
Sunday 11:00 – 15:00
South Birmingham GP Urgent Treatment Centre (“Katie Road”)
15 Katie Road, Selly Oak, Birmingham, B29 6JG.
Opening times: Monday – Sunday 8:00 – 20:00
Solihull Urgent Treatment Centre
Hurst Lane Clinic, 62 Hurst Lane
Castle Bromwich
Birmingham B36 0EY
Opening times: Monday – Sunday 10:30 – 22:30
for more information on Mesothelioma and the Mesothelioma Veterans organisation please follow the above link.
National Data Opt Out
Please see our GDPR Privacy Notice -June 2021 in the Practice Policies Section of the website for more information about the National Data Opt out also www.nhs.uk/your-nhs-data-matters . New date for implementation is 1st September, 2021 (as per House of Commons announcement on 08.06.2021)
Access to surgeries
Following todays announcement about General Practice access, we want to advise patients of our plans moving forward.
Whilst social distancing rules still apply (if the Government plan goes ahead rules may change on the 21st June) and both practices being limited in waiting room space it is felt, following an assessment of the risks, that we should continue to use the intercom system for patients to gain access to the premises, it is the only way we can control the number of patients in the building and experiences early in 2020, pre lock down, have influenced our need to be cautious, we had patients attend surgery, standing next to other vulnerable patients, who were knowingly Covid positive, with no regard for other patient or staff health and safety.
We will continue to run a telephone triage system when Clinicians will consult with patients and if there is a clinical need for patients to be seen a face to face appointment will be made available and our Nursing Team will also continue to see patients face to face when required - these numbers are increasing all the time and in the last week alone in excess of 300 patients have been seen face to face.
Even after the possible changes after June 21st we feel that for our vulnerable patients to feel confident enough to attend surgery when required to do so we will still need to limit the number of patients who are allowed into surgery at any one time, we are working on a process to enable this to happen.
Many thanks for your continuing cooperation.
FACE COVERINGS EXEMPTION GUIDANCE
Guidance for patients requesting exemption letters
We are aware that some patients might be understandably anxious about the Government’s recent announcements around the use of face masks/coverings in various public settings.
GPs are unfortunately not in a position to provide individual risk assessments or letters for patients who feel that they should be exempt from wearing a face mask/covering.
The government guidance on exemptions suggests there is no requirement for evidence for exemption therefore it is sufficient for an individual to self-declare this.
In respect of public transport, the responsibility for issuing exemptions lies with the transport provider not your GP. Similarly, practices are under no obligation to provide letters of support for anyone who does not fall under the list of exemptions but who considers themselves to have another reason to be exempted.
Government advice on the use of face coverings can be found here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/face-coverings-when-to-wear-one-and-how-to-make-your-own
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-safer-travel-guidance-for-passengers#face-coverings
Some people don’t have to wear a face covering including for health, age or equality reasons. Some transport staff may not wear a face covering if it is not required for their job.
SURGERY FACEBOOK PAGE
The surgery now has a Facebook page which enables us to keep you up to date with news about surgery, awareness weeks and generally useful health information. Please use the facebook search function to search for Manor House Lane & Marston Green Surgeries.
WHEN THE SURGERY IS CLOSED
Please ring the usual surgery number and listen to up to date advice about out of hours assistance. ( please note this is subject to regular changes to keep up with the COVID 19 Pandemic situation).
REPORTING MODERN ADULT SLAVERY CONCERNS
If you suspect that you or someone you have come across may be an adult victim of modern slavery and in need of help please contact The Salvation Army's confidential and anonymous referral helpline on 0800 808 3733 available 365 days a year 24/7, with interpretation services where needed.
Did you know you can book appointments and order your repeat medications online?
If you haven’t yet signed up for GP Online Services simply download the form below, complete it and call into the practice with two forms of photo ID and proof of address. We can sign you up for GP Online Services which makes it easy to book appointments online, request repeat prescriptions and view some of your medical records.
If you are not able to attend an appointment you have booked, for whatever reason, please let us know. We can then offer that appointment to someone else who needs it.
Please remember that A&E is for serious injuries and illnesses only
You can call the 24-hour NHS 111 helpline, visit a pharmacy or a walk-in centre, or click on the NHS Choices Website
More advice to help patients choose the right urgent care service to use is available on www.choosewellmidlands.nhs.uk. You can also download the ‘Choose Well West Midlands’ app on iPhones and Android phones.
Have you heard about the community pharmacy minor ailments scheme?
The scheme means that you don't need to wait for an appointment to see your doctor about the problems listed below but can call in and see your pharmacist instead.
The conditions included are:
Athlete's Foot, Cold Sores, Cold, Flu or Earache, Constipation, Cough, Diarrhoea, Hay Fever or Allergies, Head Lice, Nappy Rash, Nasal Congestion, Sore Throat, Temperature, Threadworms, Vaginal Thrush, Verrucae and Warts
CLICK HERE TO SEE AVAILABLE PHARMACIES
If you don’t pay for your prescriptions then you won’t be charged for any medication provided by the pharmacist. You'll need to show proof of exemption and sign the pharmacist's prescription form in the normal way.
GET WELL / KEEP WELL
Of course we’re not just here for when you are unwell. Our team of healthcare professionals and back-up staff offer a number of clinics and services to promote good health and wellbeing whatever your medical condition.
KEEP ANTIBIOTICS WORKING
Please check out the BSol CCG campaign videos explaining the importance of only using antibiotics when absolutely necessary to ensure that when you need them they are effective.
https://www.birminghamandsolihullccg.nhs.uk/news/blogs/835-keep-antibiotics-working
PAPYRUS - PREVENTION OF YOUNG SUICIDE
If you are having thoughts of suicide or are concerned for a young person who might be, you can contact HOPELINK for confidential support and practical advice.
CALL : 0800 068 4141
TEXT: 07786 209 697
Email : pat@papyrus-uk.org
Opening hours: Weekdays 10am to 10pm / weekends 2pm to 10pm / bank holidays 2pm to 10pm.
CHAT HEALTH - HEALTH VISITORS
A text helpline has been set up for Solihull health visitors questions. The hours are Mon - Fri 9am to 4pm ( Excluding weekends and Bank Holidays). Your messages will be seen in hours and they aim to respond to all messages in one working day. If something is more urgent please contact NHS 111 or call your GP or dial 999 or visit A&E if appropriate.
Text 07507 332 563
KOOTH.COM for young people
Free, safe, anonymous online counselling and support on www.kooth.com
SOLIHULL LIFESTYLE SERVICE
Free weight management advice. Ring free on 0800 599 9880 and start your weight loss journey.
(Site updated 10/01/2022)