COVID Vaccination Invitation Letters from the National Booking System

 If you are aged (75) or over, and have not yet had a vaccination, you may get a letter from the NHS national booking system inviting you to make an appointment at a large scale centre or community pharmacy.

 These are being sent to people who live within 45 minutes of one of the centres that has been opened, which might be in a different area to where you would normally receive your healthcare.

Please note that you do not have to book an appointment at one of these centres if it is not convenient for you to get there. You can:

• choose to wait for an invitation from your GP practice OR 
• choose to wait until one of the West Yorkshire centres open and are added to the national booking system, which will happen over the next few weeks.Please do not contact your local practice about an appointment until you receive an invitation from them. They will not be able to advise you on when you will get an appointment or which centres are available. All this information is available on the national booking system website.The centres in West Yorkshire that are currently on the national booking system are:

• Boots pharmacy in Halifax
• Superdrug in the Merrion Centre, Leeds
• Pharmacy2U at the Village Hotel, Leeds
• Pharmacy2U at Morrisons, Dewsbury Road, Wakefield
• Four large scale vaccination centres will be opening in West Yorkshire between now and mid- February. This will be at: 

• Navigation Walk, Wakefield
• The John Smith’s Stadium, Huddersfield
• Jacob’s Well, Bradford
• Elland Road Football Stadium, Leeds

PLEASE NOTE THE NATIONAL BOOKING SYSTEM IS A CENTRALISED SERVICE AND IS NOT RUN BY THE PRACTICE.  IF YOU HAVE ANY QUERES, PLEASE TELEPHONE THE NUMBER ON THE LETTER AND NOT THE PRACTICE.  THANKS

Invitations by telephone from the Practice

We have now vaccinated the majority of our 80+ patient group and are moving on to the 75-79 year olds.  You will be contacted shortly by telephone (or letter if you are hard of hearing) with an appointment.  Our team is working as fast as possible to get to you, please bear with us.  If you are in the 80+ category or you have a relative that is in this category and they have not received a telephone call, please contact the surgery.

The NHS is now offering vaccinations to people who are most at risk from Covid-19. This follows the approval of both the Pfizer BioNTech and Oxford AstraZeneca vaccines as safe and effective, after extensive trials.

The first vaccinations are being offered to people in the priority groups identified by the Joint Committee of Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), starting with people in care homes and those aged 80 and over. Groups of GP practices are working together to provide local vaccination services and will contact eligible patients when it is their turn.

 When it is your turn, you will receive an invitation via the phone or through a letter either from your GP or the national booking system.

We know lots of people will be eager to get protected but please could we kindly ask you not to contact the practice for information about the vaccine or to ask for an appointment, as you will not be able to get one until you receive an invitation.

If you are invited for a vaccine, please act on your invite straight away and make sure you attend your appointments when you arrange them.

Please note that vaccinations are free of charge and only available through the NHS. Anyone who claims to be able to provide you with a vaccine for a fee is likely to be committing a crime and should be reported to the Police online or by calling 112.  The NHS will never ask you to press a button on your keypad or send a text asking you to confirm you want the vaccine.

In the meantime, please continue to abide by all the social distancing and hand hygiene guidance, which will still save lives

For more information about the vaccine, please visit www.nhs.uk or click here to view the F.A.Q.

In addition, the following leaflets from Public Health England are available on the gov.uk website

• Why do I have to wait?

• Guide for adults

• Guide for healthcare workers

• What to expect after the vaccine

• Pregnancy

We now have stock of the new 50-64 flu vaccine.  We have clinics on the 15th and 17th of December.  Please book ASAP as we have a limited amount of vaccines.

We are experiencing extremely high volumes of telephone calls.  Please wherever possible use our online system by following the blue link on our home page.  The online system called GP Online allows patients to have an online consultation with the surgery without attending in person or having to wait in the telephone queue. You can use this system to make an admin enquiry eg about a sick note, or a clinical enquiry. PLEASE NOTE THIS SYSTEM SHOULD NOT BE USED FOR URGENT MEDICAL ISSUES. Once you have logged your query, someone from the surgery will contact you either the same day or the next day, depending upon the time you log the enquiry. Please click on the blue link on the home page of our website and try it for yourself! This system is particularly useful during this coronavirus outbreak as it avoids you having to come to the surgery in person.

Face coverings when accessing GP practices in the Wakefield area

 We are asking all our patients to wear a face covering or something else that can cover the mouth and nose, such as a scarf, if you come to the surgery for an appointment.

 You can use a simple scarf or bandana that ties behind your head or make your own ‘no-sew’ face coverings using the advice available online at the gov.uk website. Simply search for ‘face covering’. Face coverings are also available to buy in shops or online.

Face coverings should not be worn by children under three and people who would find wearing them difficult (such as people with breathing difficulties).

Clinicians that are seeing patients face-to-face may be wearing personal protective equipment (face mask/gloves/aprons). This is for your safety as well as theirs.

Further advice about wearing face coverings can be found here

www.gov.uk/government/publications/face-coverings-when-to-wear-one-and-how-to-make-your-own/face-coverings-when-to-wear-one-and-how-to-make-your-own

PLEASE SEE OUR CORONAVIRUS TAB AT THE RIGHT HAND SIDE FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION TO HELP OUR PATIENTS

For the latest information on this year’s flu vaccination schedule, please click here.

2020/2021 Flu Season

We are now booking for the new flu vaccine for the 50-64 year olds and have two clinics available on the 15th and 17th December.  We have early morning slots for workers and afternoon slots available.  Please book ASAP as we have limited amounts of vaccines.

 BUILDING WORK STARTS AT NORTHGATE - WARNING ABOUT CAR PARKING

On Monday 10 August 2020 the building work will finally start at the surgery.  This will involve a new roof and a mezzanine floor in reception to provide extra clinical rooms.  We will also be upgrading the patient toilets and existing clinical rooms as well as being newly decorated and carpeted in all communal areas.  This has been long-awaited and we hope that patients will be pleased with the results and it will make the surgery a nicer place to visit.  The project is approximately 18 weeks long and during this time the surgery will remain open but there will be no parking for patients at the surgery other than the disabled space.  This is to accommodate the builders requirements and to keep patients safe.  We would ask all patients to keep the disabled parking space clear for disabled badge users.  Patients parking at the surgery who are not using the disabled space will be asked to move their car.  Please use Morissons' car park.   We hope that the disruption will all be worth it and that you will bear with us.  Many thanks

RESULTS OF 2020 PATIENT SURVEY

The national patient survey results are out and we are pleased to announce the we have scored equal to, or above the national and local average in ten out of eighteen areas.  Our best results were as follows :-

92% of patients find the reception team helpful

87% of patients waited 15 minutes or less to be seen

88% of patients said the professional they spoke to gave them enough time during their appointment

88% of patients said the professional they saw was good at listening

86% of patients said the professional they saw was good at treating them with care and concern

96% said they had trust in the professional they saw

91%  said their needs were met during their last appointment

84% of patients describe their overall experience as good

If you want to view the full report, go to www.gp-patient.co.uk

Obviously we are not complacent and always want to work hard to improve on our results so that the service we offer is the best it can be.  Thanks to our hard working team.

GP ONLINE CONSULTATIONS

We have a new system that allows patients to consult with the surgery online - this can be for an admin query such as a sick note or a clinical query.  Once you have logged the details of your request, a member of the surgery will contact you with a response.  PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS SYSTEM IS NOT TO BE USED FOR URGENT MEDICAL ISSUES.  To use the new system, please click on the blue box on the home page.  If you require any help using the new system, please contact a member of our administration team.  Using this system is particularly useful during the current coronavirus outbreak - it avoids you having to visit the surgery which protects you and our staff

Electronic prescriptions help save the NHS money.

You will receive your prescriptions in the same way as you do now.

Read more about EPS on the NHS Digital website.

https://digital.nhs.uk/services/electronic-prescription-service

GET YOURSELF ONLINE AND BEAT THE QUEUES!  If you need helping logging in with your password, please contact reception who will be able to help.

The law on how we process your personal data has changed.  There are new regulations called the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR).  Please see our fair processing notice for adults and children under the Practice Policies tab on the right hand side.

Carers Packs.  We have put them together for Carers and the Elderly which contains a wealth of information on the services available to you.  To obtain a free copy of Northgate's carers pack enquire by telephone and we will send you one out.

PLEASE SEE BOTTOM OF PAGE FOR ONLINE SERVICES.

Young Person's Telephone Advice Clinic - On Wednesdays between 12.00 noon and 12.30pm we run a young person's (13-19 year old) telephone advice line for dedicated advice on any matter that you would like to discuss with someone clinical on a totally confidential basis.  Please feel free to contact reception during these times and someone will help you.