Practice News
Snow Plans
We have changes to our Doctor team
Dr Ben Rowley sadly left us in January 2023 to relocate to Cumbria with his family. Dr Rowley had been with the practice since 2014.
Dr Matthew Hackett will be leaving the practice as GP Partner at the end of March but will continue his diabetes clinics. Dr Hackett has been with us for 25 years.
We are pleased to announce that Dr Helen Farrah will be joining the practice in April as GP Partner and Dr Kate Thomas will join us as a salaried GP in March.
Dr Amy Rowan is on maternity leave from mid-March and Dr Jenny O'Brien joins the team to provide cover.
Dr Tom Rowley has been away from the practice for a few weeks on paternity leave following the birth of his second child.
Big changes which has left us in a period of transition and fewer short-notice and routine appointments than we would normally have. We do have agency staff working with us to try and support the demand.
In April, we will be doing a piece of work to reassign patients with a named/usual GP.
Friends and Family Results - January
Thank you to all of our patients who continue to complete the Friends and Family survey on a monthly basis.
We review the comments on a monthly a basis make changes where possible - we can't do everything and it often takes a little time to implement some improvements - but we do listen, so thank you to everyone who takes the time to give us feedback.
Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm (AAA) Screening
GP PATIENT SURVEY
ONLINE ACCESS AND ORDERING REPEAT MEDICATIONS
SMEAR CLINICS
APPOINTMENT REMINDERS - HCA ROUTINE APPOINTMENTS
BLOOD PRESSURE AND PULSE APPOINTMENT INVITATIONS
Our Practice in Numbers
Many moons ago, the practice published performance figures and we are now in a position to start publishing monthly stats again. A newsletter is planned but for monthly stuff the News section is the place to find this information. Watch this space for the February update and more information about the practice.
New Faces to The Weardale Practice
Covid Boosters
Following the announcement by Boris Johnson on Sunday, we are looking to increase our vaccination clinics. We are constrained by the vaccination ordering process and await further information from our CCG. We will make further announcements as soon as we have dates and vaccines.
Please do not phone the practice to try and book an appointment.
Why we ask for PCR Testing
COVID-19 remains a serious health risk and you should stay cautious to help protect yourself and others. For this reason we continue to ask you to respect our policy on the requirement for all patients to have a PCR test prior to coming to the practice if you are displaying symptoms.
When booking your appointment at the practice, you will be asked if you have any symptoms, even if mild, (a high temperature; a new, continuous cough or you've lost your sense of smell or taste or they have changed). If you do, you will need to provide a negative PCR test prior to coming to an appointment. This is to protect other patients and staff. Please do not come to the practice if you are displaying symptoms- if you do, you may be asked to leave and go through the PCR testing process.
We have seen a number of comments on social media regarding the requirement to have a PCR test following a negative lateral flow and we have a large number of patients calling who are disgruntled that we are then asking for testing prior to an appointment. This is for your safety, the safety of our staff and the safety of the wider community.
if you do have a negative lateral flow test result but are displaying symptoms, you must have a PCR test prior to an appointment at the practice. These are easy to book online or by dialling 119.
There are two main tests to check if you have Covid -19.
- PCR tests – mainly for people with symptoms, they're sent to a lab to be checked Click here to book your appointment
- rapid lateral flow tests – only for people who do not have symptoms, they give a quick result using a device similar to a pregnancy test
For further information Coronavirus (COVID-19) - NHS (www.nhs.uk)
If you do have symptoms, use the 111 coronavirus service for further infomation on what to do.
Covid Accelerator Booster Programme
Following the recent announcement regarding the accelerated covid booster programme, we are currently working to increase capacity for further booster clinics starting in December. Despite various news outlets asking patients to call their GP practice to book an appointment - please do not contact us. We will be adding the clinics to the online booking system and further announcements will be made when these are available.
As all 'at risk' patients, over 50s and immuno-surpressed patients have now been invited for their booster or third dose, all eligible patients will be able to book appointments via the online system.
We will be organising further pfizer clinics for under 18s only and again, the appointments will be made available and annoucements made on our website when you can book.
Don't forget that you can book your appointment at one of the national vaccination centres on the NHS mobile app.