NEW TELEPHONE SYSTEM

We are having a new telephone system installed on Thursday 25th November 2021.

We will endeavour to make the transition as smooth as possible for patients and staff.

Once implemented patients will be able to select from our options list and contact Dispensary, Secretaries, Insurance and Reports and request Test results

without going through reception.  

Our receptionists will be able to help you book appointments and answer any queries you have.

Thank you for your patience during this time.

Face Coverings 

We continue to ask that you wear face coverings 

Please help protect Staff and all Patients when attending the Practice

Our Covid-19 Vaccination Programme 

• The Covid Booster vaccination programme is now administering vaccinations to the over 50 year olds.  If you want to book you appointment call 119 or visit www.gov.uk website.

STAFF NEWS

25th November 2021

Welcome

• We would like to welcome our new Trainee Nurse Associate - Louise Southam to our nursing team.  She comes to us with lots of Health Care Assistant experience.  Louise will be undertaking a university course to become a qualified Nurse Associate enabling her to provide support to our three practice nurses.

Please DO NOT call the surgery to ask when you will be able to receive your vaccination

Please note - For urgent enquiries, please ring our surgeries at Holbrook or Shotley.

For non-urgent issues, please use eConsult above

eConsult is only available during surgery hours.

We are now face to face and telephone appointments on a daily basis as well as continuing to deal with video consultations and electronic consultations as far as possible. If you have a telephone consultation the doctor may offer you a face to face appointment if required.

Demand for appointments continues to increase with Mondays being exceptionally busy. Fridays are also busy and should be for urgent queries only, that cannot wait over the weekend.

To help with the demand for appointments we would appreciate it if you can ring Tuesday to Thursday to help spread the workload.

• Face masks and coverings: The Government recommend that patients entering a health care building should continue to wear a face mask or covering. If you believe you are exempt, please note that we are not able to issue exemption letters for patients and these are not required by law. Please visit the government website for further guidance on this.
• Appointments: We continue to offer both face to face and remote appointments. Both are always available to patients according to what is clinically appropriate.  We will continue to review the appointment system ensuring we put patient and staff safety first.
• Nurse’s appointments: Nurse appointments can now be booked three weeks in advance.
• Annual Checks – We are inviting patients to come for their Long Term Condition Annual Checks. These are being scheduled to the month of birth. You may be invited slightly earlier than a year to bring your check in line with your birth month.  The check can be done partially or fully on eConsult. Please go to https://holbrookandshotleysurgery.webgp.com/reviews and click on your condition. There are templates for Asthma, Diabetes, Thyroid, COPD, Hypertension, Contraceptive pill and medication reviews. Please complete the information as fully as possible. Submitting the form will reduce the time of your appointment as we can gather information before you attend.
• Physiotherapist: We now have a physiotherapist attached to our practice for musculoskeletal problems. The appointments will be either a telephone call or a face to face appointment.
• Medication reviews: Our Clinical Pharmacist is now undertaking medication reviews face to face as well as over the telephone. If you have a medication review with our pharmacist, you will still need to order your repeat medication as normal. 
• Covid-19 Boosters – Covid-19 Boosters for all eligible patients are being delivered at the vaccination hubs (ie Gainsborough Sports Centre) and pharmacies in Ipswich. You can book your booster via 119 or the gov.uk website.  You can also attend a walk-in clinic.  A list of walk-in clinics can be found Find a walk-in coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccination site - NHS (www.nhs.uk)
• Blood tests – We continue to undertake blood tests at both Holbrook and Shotley Surgeries. Please ensure you book an appointment and wear a face mask or covering to your appointment.
• eConsult – we recommend patients use eConsult for non-urgent queries including repeat Fit For Work Note/Sick Certificate requests, medication queries, referral to hospital which will send details to our GPs and staff and we can respond via a one way message. Visit https://holbrookandshotleysurgery.webgp.com/
• PPE: if you are being seen for an appointment, our clinical staff will wear appropriate PPE. This may include a face mask, gloves, apron and visor depending on your appointment type.
• Coronavirus symptoms: when you telephone the practice or visit in person, you will be asked if you have if you have any Covid-19 symptoms. If you are symptomatic we can still offer you a telephone or video appointment to discuss your symptoms.
• Repeat medication can be ordered online via eConsult, the NHS App or SystmOnline. If you have no online access, you can drop your repeat slip through the letterbox at either site.
• Coronavirus testing is available for patients with symptoms via the NHS website https://www.nhs.uk/ask-for-a-coronavirus-test website or ring 119 .
• A lip speaker is available for those who are hard of hearing. Contact Natalie Farrugia at nfbslpro@gmail.com or on 07860 373317. Natalie has kindly offered to help but is not employed by the practice. By contacting Natalie directly you understand the confidentiality issues.
• Childhood immunisations and baby checks –Parents should still bring their children for their immunisations and baby checks.
• Postnatal checks: our usual 6 week postnatal check will now be combined with the 8 week immunisations so you only need to attend once and will see both the nurse and doctor.
• Cervical screening – please phone us to book these as normal
• For mental health issues due to coronavirus visit https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/coronavirus/

Our hope is that from October we can return to some sort of normal and continue to open up our services as and when it is safe to do so. We will follow Government guidance in this respect. In the meantime, please keep our staff and patients safe by following the guidelines and social distancing. 

Opening Times (please ring wherever possible)

Prescription collection times

Welcome to Holbrook and Shotley Surgery

There are two main Surgeries, in Holbrook and Shotley. Both surgeries have dispensaries which will issue prescribed drugs to eligible patients (if you live within one mile of an independent Pharmacy we are not permitted to dispense to you.).

Both surgeries are well equipped, purpose designed buildings and are conveniently situated in the centres of their villages on bus routes.

Wheelchair access, disabled toilets and baby changing facilities are provided at both premises. In addition to the main surgeries, there is a surgery held at the Royal Hospital School, Holbrook, for pupils only.

We are confident that our website will provide clear and concise help and give our patients the information they require in an easy and convenient format. It has been designed with the patient’s needs at the forefront of everything, from checking surgery times to letting us know what you think of us.

Serving You

Our dedicated team are here to treat those minor ailments that occur as well as providing specialist management of long-term conditions and clinics covering a wide range of healthcare issues. The technology also means you can now do a lot of things from the comfort of your home such as order a repeat prescription or cancel an appointment.

Partners in Care

Once registered, patients and healthcare professionals work together to ensure the most appropriate care is provided. This partnership philosophy extends even further and our active patient group exists to make sure that patient needs and the practice offering are always heading in the same direction.

Our organisation is part of the My Care Record approach which is supporting the work of health and care organisations across the East of England as they respond to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. For example, we are working to make sure doctors, nurses and co-ordination staff at places you may receive advice or treatment can see important information from your patient record. This could include NHS  treatment centres such as the London NHS Nightingale Hospital. This will make it easier and faster for them to deliver effective care.

Exercising guidelines for patients with a diagnosis of dementia, learning disabilities or autism, or who has significant mental health needs.

Click here for more information.

Suffolk Wellbeing Service

Click here for more Information.