September 19, 2020

If you are eligible for this year's flu vaccination, and a patient of Downend Health Group, we now have available appointments for you to book online through https://www.patientaccess.com  or the NHS App

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We recommend that all our eligible patients are vaccinated, for further information regarding eligibility please visit https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/vaccinations/flu-influenza-vaccine

August 31, 2020

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May 20, 2020

 The UK Chief Medical Officer has updated the symptoms of coronavirus to include:

• new continuous cough and/or

• high temperature (of 37.8 degrees centigrade or higher)

• a loss of, or change to, your sense of smell or taste

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If you have any of the above symptoms you need to follow the current government guidance to stay at home/self isolate for 7 days. For the full guidance please click below.

Symptoms

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The most common symptoms of coronavirus (COVID-19) are recent onset of:

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• new continuous cough and/or

• high temperature (of 37.8 degrees centigrade or higher)
   

For most people, coronavirus (COVID-19) will be a mild infection.

Travel and contact history are no longer important for diagnosis, which is on the basis of symptoms alone.  If people who have travelled do not have symptoms, they do not need to stay at home, regardless of their travel history.

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Key messages

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• if you have symptoms of coronavirus infection (COVID-19), however mild, stay at home and do not leave your house for 7 days from when your symptoms started. Please do not come to the surgery.

• this action will help protect others in your community whilst you are infectious.
   

• plan ahead and ask others for help to ensure that you can successfully stay at home.

• ask your employer, friends and family to help you to get the things you need to stay at home.

• stay at least 2 metres (about 3 steps) away from other people in your home whenever possible.

• sleep alone, if that is possible.

• wash your hands regularly for 20 seconds, each time using soap and water.

• stay away from vulnerable individuals such as the elderly and those with underlying health conditions as much as possible.

• you do not need to call NHS111 to go into self-isolation. If your symptoms worsen during home isolation or are no better after 7 days contact NHS 111 ONLINE. If you have no internet access, you should call NHS 111. Due to the high call demand please only call 111 directly if you cannot access the online service.
  
  Further Information
   

• Testing will not be offered routinely to individuals self-isolating.

• A cough may persist for several weeks, in some people, despite the coronavirus infection having cleared.  A persistent cough alone does not mean someone must continue to stay at home for more than 7 days.

• After 7 days of self-isolation, people who feel better and no longer have a high temperature can return to their normal routine.  If they have had no signs of any improvement after 7 days and have not sought medical advice, they should use NHS 111 online before they leave their home or let visitors in.

• For a life threatening emergency dial 999.

February 26, 2020

You may have noticed in the news recently that a new virus has been confirmed in the Wuhan area of China.  This new virus has been named COVID-19 or 2019-nCoV.

The UK Chief Medical Officer has raised the risk to the public from low to moderate. This permits the government to plan for all eventualities. Please be assured that the risk to individuals currently remains low.

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Due to the fast spread of the virus the list of countries where consideration must be given to travellers has extended.  Areas now include China, Macao, Hong Kong, Thailand, Japan, Republic of Korea, Taiwan, Singapore and Malaysia and Italy. Public Health England have allocated categories to the affected countries with the following guidance:

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Category One Countries

If you have travelled from one of these countries/areas, you should immediately self-isolate, even if you don’t have any symptoms and call NHS 111 to inform them of your recent travel.

Countries that fall into this category include Daegu or Cheongdo ( Republic of Korea), Iran, Wuhan City & Hubei Province in China. Also any Northern Italian town under containment, in the Lombardy and Veneto regions. Please follow the link below for a detailed location map which hi-lights the containment areas:

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https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/868103/Map_showing_specified_areas_of_Italy_250220.pdf

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Category Two Countries

Countries within this category include Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Laos, Macau, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Republic Of Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam and Northern Italy. The latter two excludes the areas specifically referred to in Category One.

If you have travelled from any these regions you are not required to undertake any special measures, but you are requested to self-isolate and call 111 should you develop symptoms.

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If you are concerned we ask that you contact the surgery by phone or contact NHS111 to describe your symptoms and travel details. Please do not come to the surgery.

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February 21, 2020

At the end of March 2020, I will be leaving the Willow surgery after 24 years.  I am moving to Dorset in the summer to continue work in General Practice. Dorset is where I grew up and now my children are older there is an opportunity to move back to the seaside where I can enjoy sailing.

I have been lucky enough to have had very interesting work and many of you I have seen throughout your lives.  I will miss seeing your familiar faces and helping you through your problems.

I would like to thank all the staff who have helped me do my job, as without them it is very hard to provide a good service to you the patients.

I wish you all the best of health.

The UK Chief Medical Officer has raised the risk to the public from low to moderate. This permits the government to plan for all eventualities. Please be assured that the risk to individuals remains low.

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If you have travelled from China or have been in contact with someone confirmed as having Coronavirus in the last two weeks, you may be at risk of Coronavirus. Please do NOT leave the house. Instead, ring the surgery or NHS 111 if:

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• You have been in China in the last 14 days and develop cough, fever or shortness of breath; or

• You have been in Wuhan or Hubei Province in the last 14 days or have been in contact with someone confirmed as having Coronavirus, even if you feel well.
  
   

Travellers returning from other parts of China and specified areas:

If you get a cough, high temperature or feel short of breath within 14 days of returning from any of the areas below please telephone either the surgery or NHS 111:

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• other parts of China, including Macao and Hong Kong

• Thailand

• Japan

• Republic of Korea

• Taiwan

• Singapore

• Malaysia
   

In the above circumstances, if you require further information or feel you need medical advice or assistance please TELEPHONE US or NHS111 to inform us of your concerns. To prevent the potential spread of any infection please do not attend the surgery in person. 

January 28, 2020

You may have noticed in the news recently that a new virus has been confirmed in the Wuhan area of China.  The outbreak has been pinpointed to the Huanan Seafood Market within Wuhan, China, which sells live animals and exotic meats as well as seafood. This new virus has been named Wuhan novel coronavirus (WN-CoV).  The virus can be spread not just by animals but from person to person and is an airbourne high consequence disease.

PLEASE BE REASSURED THAT AT PRESENT, PUBLIC HEALTH ENGLAND STATES THAT THE RISK TO THOSE IN THE UK IS LOW.
 

• If you have visited Wuhan recently and have difficulty breathing or a cough within 14 days, you should seek urgent medical attention.

• If you have been in contact with someone who has visited the area and have difficulty in breathing or a cough within 14 days, you should seek urgent medical attention.

• If you have been in contact with someone that has contracted the virus, and have difficulty in breathing or a cough within 14 days, .0you should seek urgent medical attention.
   

DOWNEND HEALTH GROUP REQUESTS IN THE FIRST INSTANCE, TO TELEPHONE THE PRACTICE OR 111 INFORMING US OF YOUR SYMPTOMS AND YOUR TRAVEL DETAILS. IT IS IMPORTANT THAT YOU STAY INDOORS AND AVOID CONTACT WITH OTHERS UNTIL YOU HAVE BEEN ASSESSED BY A MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL.

Further information can be found on the Gov.uk website.

October 09, 2019

We now have flu vaccinations in stock! We will be getting in touch with you by letter or text message to offer access to the vaccination through a pre-booked appointment which you can make directly through 'Patient Access' (recommended) or by calling the surgery.

Following the successful walk-in flu clinic at Willow surgery (Over 65s only) on Saturday 5th October, brilliantly supported by your patient participation group, we will run a further supported Walk-in clinic on Saturday 26th October at Willow Surgery for the over 65's.

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If you are unsure about eligibility for the free NHS flu vaccination, further details can be found by clicking the link.

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August 29, 2019

IMPORTANT NOTICE

FROM 3PM ON WEDNESDAY 11th September 2019

WILLOW SURGERY AND CHRISTCHURCH SURGERY WILL BE CLOSED FOR ESSENTIAL WORK TO OUR COMPUTER SYSTEM

PLEASE ENSURE YOU COLLECT ANY PRE-ORDERED PRESCRIPTIONS REQUIRED FOR THAT DAY BY 3PM

ONLY CALLS FOR IMMEDIATELY NECESSARY CONCERNS WILL BE DEALT WITH BY OUR TRIAGE GPs DURING THIS TIME BUT WE MAY NOT HAVE ACCESS TO YOUR ELECTRONIC MEDICAL RECORD.

BOTH SURGERIES WILL RE-OPEN AT NORMAL TIMES ON THURSDAY 12th September 2019

Thank you for your co-operation and understanding - DHG

July 30, 2019

IMPORTANT NOTICE

FROM 3PM ON WEDNESDAY 7TH AUGUST 2019

WILLOW SURGERY AND CHRISTCHURCH SURGERY WILL BE CLOSED FOR ESSENTIAL WORK TO OUR COMPUTER SYSTEM

PLEASE ENSURE YOU COLLECT ANY PRE-ORDERED PRESCRIPTIONS REQUIRED FOR THAT DAY BY 3PM

ONLY CALLS FOR IMMEDIATELY NECESSARY CONCERNS WILL BE DEALT WITH BY OUR TRIAGE GPs DURING THIS TIME BUT WE MAY NOT HAVE ACCESS TO YOUR ELECTRONIC MEDICAL RECORD.

BOTH SURGERIES WILL RE-OPEN AT NORMAL TIMES ON THURSDAY 8TH AUGUST 2019

Thank you for your co-operation and understanding - DHG

May 22, 2019

We are very happy to inform you that Southern Brooks (a local voluntary sector organisation commissioned by South Gloucestershire Council) now provide wellbeing courses delivered from our Christchurch site.

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If you are interesting in learning more and accessing the service please click the link button below. 

February 26, 2019

OUR NEW TELEPHONE SYSTEM AS FROM 27/2/2019

When calling the surgery during our telephone ‘Opening Hours’ you will be met with a phone message providing you with the following options:

For appointments please press 1

APPOINTMENTS

Our trained Patient Assistants will ask relevant information to enable them to book your appointment appropriately

Please be reminded - appointments can also be booked via our patient on-line facilities – for use of this service please speak with a member of our Patient Assistant Team

To cancel an appointment please press 2

CANCELLATIONS

You will be asked to leave:

• patient name

• patient date of birth

• the date of the appointment

• the time of the appointment

Please be reminded - appointments can also be cancelled via our patient on-line facilities– for use of this service please speak with a member of our Patient Assistant Team

To request a home visit please press 3

HOME VISITS – must be received no later than 11.30am

• our trained Patient Assistants will ask the reason for the request

• visits will only be made to patients who are housebound due to disability or illness

• the triage GP may telephone you back as your problem may be suitably managed with telephone advice or by sending an alternative healthcare professional

Please be reminded - several patients can be seen in the practice in the time that it takes to make one home visit. There are also better facilities for examining and treating patients at the surgery

For medicine related enquiries please press 4

MEDICINE ENQUIRIES

This line will be open between:

            10.00 - 11.30     Monday–Friday

            15.00 - 16.30     Monday–Friday

Please be reminded - prescription requests will not be taken over the telephone, other than for patients registered with us as housebound.  Requests can be made:

• via our patient on-line facilities – for use of this service please speak with a member of our Patient Assistant Team  

• through a Pharmacy – please speak with your Pharmacy about arranging this facility

• by completing a prescription request form or the right side of your previous prescription and posting it, out of hours, into our surgery letterbox, or during surgery hours into our prescription request box

For other Health Care Professionals please press 5

If you are another Health Care Professional calling to request information relating to one of our patients, members of our administration staff are available to provide you with prompt assistance.

Please be advised - calls received to this line inappropriately will be directed back to the main line

For results please press 6

RESULTS

This line will be open between:

            11.30 – 13.30     Monday – Friday

            17.00 – 18.00     Monday – Friday

Please be reminded - results can also be viewed via our patient on-line facilities– for use of this service please speak with a member of our Patient Assistant Team

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CHANGES TO PRESCRIPTION REQUESTS FROM 1ST APRIL 2019

The medicine management team will be based at CHRISTCHURCH SURGERY

You will still be able to put your prescription request in the box; however the Patient Assistant on the desk WILL NOT be able to issue ANY prescription requests.

Please familiarise yourself with the 72 hour prescription request chart, our Patient Assistants will ONLY be able to direct requests to the Medicine Management team

 at Christchurch surgery.

If you collect the prescription yourself, and would like to continue to collect from the Willow Surgery then please advise our Patient Assistant team.

However we would urge you to consider nominating a Pharmacist to enable the prescription to be sent

 directly to them.

Without organising this, you may have to

COLLECT YOUR PRESCRIPTIONS FROM CHRISTCHURCH AS THE ISSUING SURGERY.

We thank you for your assistance and understanding.

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February 11, 2019

Healthwatch South Gloucestershire is inviting members of the public to take part in a survey called ‘How do you look after yourself in South Gloucestershire?’.

As services, such as the NHS, come under increasing pressure, people are being encouraged to take greater responsibility for looking after their own health and wellbeing, in order to prevent the likelihood of them needing to receive treatment and support both now in the future. This is called ‘self-care’.

Self-care can be simple – such as treating minor ailments like coughs and colds at home. It can be making choices that help you to live a healthier lifestyle, such as walking or using public transport to the shops rather than driving, choosing healthy food, or stopping smoking. It can be giving people the skills and knowledge to manager long-term conditions at home, such as diabetes.

The online survey will be open until 28 February 2019. We will also be speaking to members of the public at a selection of events and locations across South Gloucestershire. If you see one of the team please come and speak to us!

Your voice matters and by taking part you will help provide valuable insight into what people do to keep happy, healthy and well. If you need a paper copy of the survey please contact us by emailing or info@healthwatchsouthglos.co.uk or calling 01454 543 402.

Healthwatch will analyse the results once the survey closes and present its findings in a report.

About Healthwatch

Healthwatch South Gloucestershire speaks to local people about their experiences of health and social care services, such as hospitals, pharmacies or care homes. 

We are independent and give people the opportunity to voice their views – good or bad – about the treatment they have received in South Gloucestershire.

We then share the information anonymously with commissioners and service providers. The feedback we receive can help shape local services so it’s important that people keep telling us their stories to help make positive changes.

February 04, 2019

With the improving weather conditions we plan to run normal surgeries across both sites on Monday (4.2.19).

Given the reduction in services over the past 3 days we anticipate a higher than usual demand on Monday, particularly on the telephone, and hope you will understand if it takes a little longer than usual to respond to you. 

February 01, 2019

Due to the heavy snow overnight, for your safety and that of our staff, we will be operating a reduced service today and NOT opening over the weekend (Saturday 2.2.19 and Sunday 3.2.19).

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You will be able to access advice on the phone from a healthcare professional until 18.30 hrs today (Friday 1.2.19) however we have a very limited number of face to face appointments and request that you phone us first so that we can advise you on how best to support your needs.

The Christchurch site will close at 13.00hrs today (Friday 1.2.19)

We will provide access to clinical assessments at the Willow Site until 18.30 where appropriate and necessary.

If you are intending to request a home visit please appreciate that a clinical member of staff will need to assess your request first by phone.

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Please also appreciate that although some of the pavements have been gritted, the car parks have not been gritted and we would advise you NOT TO DRIVE and park at either of our surgeries.

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Please check this newsfeed for any further information about services / changes to opening hours from Monday 4.2.19

December 11, 2018

We now have enough stock for all of our community. Please book in for you flu vaccination with us. 

September 30, 2018

We are now vaccinating the following groups as a priority:

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Over 75 year olds

Housebound

Care homes

Under 65 year olds, adults and children, in at risk groups as defined by Public Health England.

Please be aware that there is a national shortage of flu vaccines for the over 65 year old age group.  This year, if you are 65-74, and are not in an at risk group, you may need to book your flu vaccine at a local pharmacy.

As advised by Public Health England,  we will be contacting the 65-74 year olds in at risk groups as our next priority.

June 29, 2018

Are you, or anyone in your family, aged 16-25 years old?

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Have you had 2 measles vaccinations?

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You may be aware that there has been a number of measles outbreaks in our area. People who have not been vaccinated with 2 doses of MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) vaccine are more likely to catch these diseases. They can make adults very ill and cause problems for women who are pregnant and people who have weakened immune systems.

Measles is a serious illness that is highly infectious.

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To be protected from measles, mumps and rubella, you need to be immunised with 2 doses of MMR vaccine.

If you receive a text or letter from us offering you a vaccine it means you are at risk of catching measles.

Please book an appointment at one of our clinics, we have many times and days available, including weekends. If you haven't received a text but think you need a measles vaccination, please contact our patient advisors and we can check for you.

June 29, 2018

National advice on looking after yourself and your family in the hot weather

June 24, 2018

Thank you for your support over the past few weeks. This weekend our electronic patient records merged. This week we hope to have uploaded the healthcare professionals appointment lists and we should have our pre-bookable appointments available on the system. These can be booked as usual through Patient Access.

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Our triage system will continue to operate for urgent care (click the link to understand more about urgent care)

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We would welcome your continued support and understanding over the following 2 weeks as we, your healthcare team, settle into the new changes and work towards providing you with a consistent and reliable service. 

June 21, 2018

PATIENT INFORMATION

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Christchurch and Willow electronic patient records will be merging during the weekend of 22nd June 2018.  As a result there will be disruptions to our normal appointment booking system from 22nd–25th June 2018 as we will be unable to access any clinical or patient contact details. 

To prepare for this, over a six week period commencing 14th May 2018, we will have limited pre-bookable appointments available to offer patients to see a Doctor, however there will be appointments on the day for immediately necessary concerns.

On Friday 22nd June 2018 the surgery will be closed for appointments from 1pm and will not open again until 8am on Monday 25th June 2018.   

Between 2pm and 6.30pm on the afternoon of Friday 22nd June 2018 the duty Doctor will be available to speak with patients with immediately necessary concerns only.   To access this facility patients, will be required to contact the surgery via the telephone.  However, we will be unable to access clinical records, pre-book appointments or issue prescription requests.  Patients are asked to ensure that they request any repeat medication no later than 2pm on Tuesday 19th June 2018 if they wish to collect it during that week.

On Monday 25th June we will hold open surgeries AM and PM, where patients with immediately necessary concerns will be seen by a Doctor.   As from Tuesday 26th June, patients will have the flexibility of booking appointments at either Christchurch Surgery or Willow Surgery.  It will take approximately two weeks to reinstate our appointment books when normal pre-bookable appointment availability will resume.

We apologise for any inconvenience resulting from this essential transitional period and assure you that we will continue to provide our patients with the best possible level of care and support.

Thank you for your understanding.

Christchurch Surgery, The Downend Health Group

June 08, 2018

CONFIRMED CASE OF MEASLES at Christchurch Surgery 

Did you attend the surgery on the 22nd May or 25th May 2018 . If so please read the letter below for guidance on any action needed. 

April 01, 2018

Christchurch Family Medical Centre and Willow Surgery merged to form the Downend Health Group

April 30, 2017

We are working together with other local practices to offer more appointments in the early mornings, evenings and at weekends.  Visit ‘Our opening hours’ within the ‘About Us’ tab to find out more or speak to a member of our team.