Strand Flu Clinic 2020 – video

Welcome to Strand Medical website

We appreciate how difficult things are for many people at the moment, worrying about registering with a doctor shouldn’t be one of them. Therefore if you haven’t yet registered with a doctor, we would like to assure you that we are still registering new patients

Please look at the ‘New Patients’ section of our website

PLEASE NOTE: Due to the risks of Covid-19 infection, and as instructed by the NHS, we may not be conducting all procedures. Please ask a team member for confirmation.

Covid-19 Vaccination Clinic

The above photo is of two of our patients that made an extra special effort when attending the Strand to receive their Covid Vaccination, they certainly brought a smile to everyone’s faces.

But don’t worry, formal attire isn’t necessary , if you are over 70, or classed as critically extremely vulnerable, all you need to do is call the number below and speak to a team of dedicated call handlers to book your first Covid Vaccination.

May we also take this opportunity to thank all the staff, clinicians, Marshalls and Volunteers that have worked tirelessly over the last couple of months, and always with a smile…without you we would not have been able to provide this life changing service – THANK YOU

Covid 19 Vaccination booking line: 0333 370 4111

Please note: we are not yet authorised to book a 2nd vaccination date, we are working with the NHS to try and change this.

We are working hard to roll out the covid vaccine as quickly as possible, often 14 hours a day 7 days a week. The number of vaccines we receive dictate the number of patients that we are able to vaccinate. Please note: we have no control over how many or what type of vaccine is delivered, but please be assured both vaccines (Pfizer and AstraZenica) are deemed safe and extremely effective.

Due to the scale of the task, we are working with IPC (Innovations in Primary Care, a not for profit organisation formed by local GP surgeries)  to book vaccination appointments for patients in line with government and NHS guidelines and these cannot be influenced. If you are eligible and we have not been able to contact you, please call the number above to book your Covid vaccination appointment

Update on the COVID-19 vaccination programme: national vaccination letters

We are aware that some of our patients are starting to receive letters from the national vaccination booking system. The letters is labelled only from the NHS and invites you to book your vaccination appointment.

Please don’t worry, our service is not affected.

These letters are offering the opportunity to book an appointment at one of the larger vaccination centres, such as the Brighton Centre or a local pharmacy. You cannot book at our vaccination service through this system.

Our vaccination service at the Strand is working alongside these other services. You have a choice where you receive your vaccination – at our service, at a larger vaccination centre like the Brighton Centre or at a local pharmacy service.

Our team will contact you directly to arrange an appointment at our vaccination service. Appointments for the larger vaccination centres and pharmacies are available through the national booking system set out in the letter – either online or by phone.

You can either follow the details in the letter to book at one of those services, or we will be contacting you in the next few weeks to arrange an appointment in our local service.

We thank you for your on-going support.

Process – COVID-19 Vaccine

We appreciate this is a very emotional time for many, and understand that patients and relatives are keen to be invited in for their vaccine. However as explained due to vaccine availability and logistics we ask that everyone bears with us as stock availability is determined by the vaccine manufacturers, therefore some patients will need to wait a while longer until they receive their invite, but we would like to assure everyone that we are doing everything possible to vaccinate as many patients as quickly and safely as possible.

Please do NOT call the surgery directly to book a Covid-19 vaccination appointment otherwise patients with urgent medical needs will wait longer for their call to be answered, please call the number above.

Given the scale needed for the Covid-19 vaccination programme, all local GP surgeries will be using a range of ways to contact patients to book their appointment. This includes phone call and text message. You will never be asked for anything other than a few personal details to confirm your identification and you will certainly never be asked for anything financial

House Bound patients – COVID-19 Vaccine 

Our aim is to vaccinate all of our Housebound patients that fall into the top 4 categories by 15th February 2021. Housebound patients will be contacted by a member of the Strand team before we visit.

Care/Nursing Homes – COVID-19 Vaccine

Due to the high number of patients in care/nursing homes that are registered with different surgeries, we are working with local Practices to administer the vaccine. Therefore it is probable that a nurse or doctor from another surgery will visit the care home and administer the vaccine. This will save multiple nurses attending the same home to deliver the vaccine to different patients.

Patient Leaflets (Click on name of leaflet below to open it up)

Covid-19 Vaccination – What to expect

Why do I have to wait for my Covid-19 Vaccination?

Covid-19 Vaccine – A guide for older adults

Covid-19 Vaccine – Pregnant patients

Covid-19 Vaccination for Healthcare workers

Covid-19 Vaccination for Social Care workers

COVID-19 Vaccine – UPDATES & SCAM ALERT

We are aware that some people are receiving fraudulent calls and text messages offering the COVID-19 vaccination. In some cases, people are asked to press a number on their keypad or to send a text message to confirm they wish to receive the vaccine. Doing so is likely to result in a charge being applied to their phone bill. In other cases, callers are offering the vaccine for a fee or asking for bank details.

People are warned to be alert to these scams.

The vaccine is only available from the NHS and the NHS will contact you when it is your turn. At present, appointments are only being offered to members of the public over 80 years old.

The NHS will:

• NEVER ask for payment for the vaccine or for your bank details.

If you receive a call you believe to be fraudulent, hang up. If you believe you have been the victim of fraud or identity theft you should report this directly to Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040. Where the victim is vulnerable, report it to Sussex Police online or by calling 101.

For more information please follow this link: https://www.westsussexccg.nhs.uk/covid-19-vaccination-scam-alert/

We are aware that some patients might be understandably anxious about the Government’s recent announcements around the use of face masks in various public settings.

GPs are unfortunately not in a position to provide individual risk assessments or letters for patients who feel that they should be exempt from wearing a face mask.

The government guidance on exemptions suggests there is no requirement for evidence for exemption therefore it is sufficient for an individual to self-declare this.

The responsibility for issuing exemptions does not lie with your GP. Practices are under no obligation to provide letters of support for anyone who does not fall under the list of exemptions but considers them to have another reason to be exempted.

Government advice on the use of face coverings can be found here:

Please remember some people do not have to wear a face covering for health, age or equality reasons.

UPDATE 16/09/2020

We know there has been a lot of discussion in the news this week about GPs providing face- to-face appointments. We wanted to explain some of the reasons why we have been offering a reduced number of face-to-face appointments. We also wanted to reassure patients that NHS Digital have confirmed that in July over 50% of the 22.8 million appointments carried out were conducted face to face.

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, we have remained open to patients. We have offered appointments using new ways of working and new technology. We have worked hard to make sure we remained available to speak to, and to offer appointments to anyone who needed them. While we appreciate that patients sometimes prefer to see a GP face to face, there are reasons why we have offered additional online or telephone consultations, and government guidance has played a big part in this. It has remained the case that if we have needed to see a patient face to face, or felt it was important for their care, we have asked those patients to come in to see us.

Offering new ways of working has helped some patients to access appointments they wouldn’t normally have been able to attend due to their commitments, such as their work or caring responsibilities. It remains the case that bringing patients into the surgery while coronavirus is with us presents some significant challenges. We want to explain more about these challenges.

We always pay close attention to the cleaning of our premises. However, the level of cleaning required between patients during the pandemic means that if all our patients were to come into the surgery, we would not be able to offer the same number of appointments because of the increased cleaning time that would be needed.

Additionally, changing PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) between each patient adds additional time to the end of each appointment. The difficulty in obtaining PPE has also meant that we have needed to be more cautious about the way we use scare resources.

Another challenge we face is how to make sure that social distancing is as good as it possibly can be, and that we maintain a ‘COVID-secure’ environment. Some of the things we need to take into account when considering this are: the number of people in the waiting room, the number of people who cross in the corridors and the toilet facilities that are available.

As caring employers, we need to ensure that we keep our staff safe as well. Our staff are people too, and some may have ethnicity or health issues that make them more vulnerable to the effects of COVID-19.

Finally, and we think most importantly, we need to consider you, our patients. We have many elderly and vulnerable patients with health conditions that make them more vulnerable to COVID-19 than most. We also know that there are young and healthy people who have been seriously affected by COVID, so it isn’t just the elderly or infirm we need to protect.Increasing the number of patients in the surgery means that we increase the risk for everyone – particularly if some of those people have symptoms of COVID-19 and are unwell enough to need to be seen.

As doctors and staff working in GP practices, we really want to do the best we can for our patients. We do the jobs we do because we care about the people we look after.

We would all love to see a return to ‘normal’ life , but at the moment offering fewer face-to-face appointments keeps patients safe and provides the maximum number of appointments we can.

As always, we are available to talk to patients, and we want to hear from those who need us. While we understand patients’ frustrations with the current situation, we hope that you will continue to help and support us, as you have always supported the NHS, so that we can go on providing you with care and support in the coming weeks and months.

Please also remember that our phone lines are busier than usual and our teams are working as hard and as safely as they can to deal with every call. Due to the way in which patients are accessing our service, it may take us a little longer than usual to answer your call, please remember the staff are here to help you, they are doing the best that they can we thank you for your patience.

DOOR CLOSURE

Unfortunately due to Covid-19 our Surgery doors are closed, however you can still access the Surgery via telephone and you can now order repeat medication by email (please see below for link). When you call us a member of the Reception team will take a few details and one of our Duty Team will call you back, if required a face to face appointment will be booked by the Duty Team and you will be given arrival instructions by the clinician.

Where possible, please only attend appointments on your own.

Please ensure you wear a face covering when attending an appointment

Flu Vaccine 2020

If you are eligible, please call the surgery after 10:30 am Tuesday to Thursday to book an appointment, as these tend to be quieter times. Please do bear in mind many patients wish to book a flu vaccine this year, so our lines will be busier than normal and our teams are working as quickly as they can to answer your calls.

Aged 50 to 64?

Please note that, if you are aged between 50 and 64 and not in a clinical at risk group, the earliest you may be offered a flu vaccination is November, providing there is sufficient vaccine stock. No appointments will be offered for people in this age group until then. This is to ensure that those who are most at risk are vaccinated first. If you are aged 50 to 64 and are in a clinical ‘at risk’ group which is eligible for the flu vaccination, for example you have a health condition which puts you at risk from the flu, you will be invited earlier.

HOW TO CONTACT US

For appointments or advice please call us on 01903 243351. 

To request a prescription please either post your request through our letterbox, complete the online request form via your online log in (please ask reception if you do not have a log in) or email us: CWSCCG.strand-prescriptions@nhs.net

APPOINTMENTS

The Clinician will give you arrival instructions when they speak with you, if they do not or if you forget please ring the buzzer by the front doors and await instructions. Where possible attend alone, if assistance is needed please restrict this to one person.

We are encouraging parents to continue to bring children/book children in for their childhood immunisations. However we do ask that you restrict attendees to one parent per child.

We are encouraging patients to contact us if they have received a cervical screening letter, these are important procedures, please contact us to book your appointment 

We are now asking patients to wear a face covering when coming into the surgery, this is now a mandatory requirement. Wearing a face covering may help you and our staff to stay safe, please note due to national shortages with PPE, the surgery is unable to issue face masks. Please follow the link for official guidance on how to make and wear your own face covering.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/how-to-wear-and-make-a-cloth-face-covering/how-to-wear-and-make-a-cloth-face-covering

PRESCRIPTIONS

Important information regarding your repeat prescription during the Covid-19 outbreak:

Due to an increased demand for prescription items, all pharmacies are currently extremely busy and struggling with demand.

We kindly ask that you:

Allow 1 WEEK between ordering and collecting your repeat prescription (you may order early to allow this to happen)
Only order items that you currently need. Please DO NOT order just in case or stock pile. 
Ask a friend / relative / neighbor to collect if they can and you are in an at risk group (communication sent by NHSE to high risk patients)
Expect to wait outside your pharmacy to be able to collect your prescription and stand the required distance from the next person (2 meters)

Please only phone your surgery or pharmacy regarding your prescription if it is an emergency.
Please bear with us during this difficult time; GP practices and pharmacies are working together to help as soon as they can.

Thank you

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

ALL requests must be made:

•  via the NHS APP (please download from the app store available for IOS and Android)
•  on-line (you need online access, please post a request for online access though our letter box if you do not already have this)
•  paper requests posted through the letterbox
•  requests can also be made via email:    

CWSCCG.strand-prescriptions@nhs.net

PLEASE NOTE: ALL prescriptions will be sent to a pharmacy for collection and we will not accept requests to stock pile medication

Please ensure you write your chosen pharmacy on the hand written or emailed prescription request IF YOU DO NOT they will be sent to Lloyds the Strand for collection – to minimise foot fall, NO PRESCRIPTIONS will be collected from the surgery

Our phone waiting times will inevitably rise with more care being provided on the telephones. Our staffing levels are likely to be depleted and we need to ensure our clinicians can offer assistance to those in most need, including the vulnerable, therefore please bear with us during the foreseeable future, please remember we are here to help and abuse of our staff will not be tolerated.

We will notify you ASAP of any changes to this policy. You can find information about Coronavirus on the NHS website https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/

CORONAVIRUS INFORMATION PAGE (Click here)

Please also follow the web link for Government information https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/staying-alert-and-safe-social-distancing

IMPROVEMENTS TO ACCESS – Hearing impairment

The Strand Medical is delighted to announce that we have made a big step forward in how patients who are hard of hearing can access our service. We have recently employed a new staff member who is trained in British Sign Language, this means that any patient or carer who has a hearing impairment has another avenue for accessing and using our service. With your consent, the staff member can also be present in consultations to assist you and our medical teams.

As a surgery we always take on board feedback and are constantly looking at ways to improve our service, we believe this is a step forward in the right direction for both the surgery and for patients.

For more information please contact the surgery. Please note: Whilst the staff member is very flexible please bear in mind they work shifts, therefore a mutual agreement will need to be reached with regards to appointment dates and times.

Thank you

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