Madeira MedicalMessage from Madeira Medical Practice
Firstly, we want to reassure you that the practice is open and available to support our patients and has been throughout the coronavirus outbreak.
What we have done is change the way we are asking you to contact us, in line with guidance from NHS England. This is to limit face-to-face contact whenever possible and help stop the spread of coronavirus.
To help us with this, we are asking patients who have access to the internet and are comfortable using it, to make their request through our website. So please do this if you can. It helps keep our phone lines available for patients who are not able to access the internet, many of whom are amongst our more vulnerable patients.
Appointments are being provided face-to-face, online and over the telephone. Please do not come to the surgery unless you have an appointment.
If you are asked to come into the surgery for a face-to-face appointment, please remember to wear a face covering. Measures are in place to keep you safe from infection during your visit to the surgery.
In the last few weeks, the number of requests we’ve received has increased significantly. To make sure we can review and respond to all patient requests in a timely manner, we may need to switch off our website forms sometimes, especially out of hours.
If you find our forms are not available but need healthcare support, please either speak to your local pharmacist, or contact NHS 111. You can also visit our online Treatment Room for self-help information on physical health requests or our online Wellbeing Centre for information about mental health services, including crisis support.
Please also be aware that GP Practices are not able to help patients’ with COVID-19 swab testing. If you or a family member have a new fever, continuous cough or loss of sense of smell, please contact the NHS COVID-19 Testing website and self-isolate until your result comes back. Find more information here: www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/testing-and-tracing/get-a-test-to-check-if-you-have-coronavirus
Thank you for your understanding and support for the changes we’ve put in place to help keep our patients and staff safe during the pandemic.
Kind regards,
Madeira Medical Practice